![]() |
| Moyin Odeniran Now: What Happened to The Great British Baking Show Contestant? |
Moyin Odeniran has hardly been sitting around waiting for his next baking challenge. Since appearing in The Great British Baking Show season 17/Collection 14, the young baker has continued juggling his dessert business, university studies, athletics and a remarkably busy life outside the tent. For Moyin, baking has always been about more than producing something that looks good on a cake stand. His Nigerian heritage, childhood memories and instinct for experimenting with flavours have become part of the way he approaches the craft.
His appearance on the Netflix competition gave viewers a closer look at that approach. Moyin was one of 12 bakers competing in the series, and while the pressure of the famous tent was hardly designed to encourage anyone to relax, he remained focused on making his work feel personal. Rather than simply trying to produce technically polished bakes, he wanted the judges to understand what made his style different.
That personality came through in his baking, particularly in the way he incorporated elements of his Nigerian heritage. The competition offered Moyin a chance to put those influences on a much bigger stage, and the judges praised aspects of his work as the challenges progressed. For a baker who had already spent years developing his own style, the experience was less about fitting neatly into a formula and more about showing what he could do when the clock was ticking and several people were watching every move.
Moyin's relationship with baking goes back much further than his television appearance. He was only five years old when some of his earliest kitchen memories began taking shape alongside his mother.
What started as a childhood interest gradually became something far more serious. By the age of 12, Moyin was already asking his mother for a stand mixer so he could learn how to make macarons. Two years later, he had mastered them.
That early determination has since developed into a baking style that combines precision with plenty of personality. Moyin has built his own small business, Mr Desserts, from his mother's home in Loughton, Essex. The venture gives him a place to sell the things he enjoys making, from cookies and brownies to cupcakes and decorated cakes, while also allowing him to test new ideas without a television judge standing nearby with a stopwatch.
He has taken the business beyond the kitchen, too, appearing at pop-ups and London food markets while documenting his baking and cake-decorating process on social media. His TikTok account has grown to more than 90,000 followers, giving his work an audience that extends well beyond customers who happen to find him at a food market. His growing presence has also seen him become an Enterprise Nation member and take part as a guest speaker at events.
And then there is university, because apparently running a bakery and appearing on a major baking programme were not enough activities for one person. Moyin is studying Political Economy at King's College London, adding lectures, assignments and university life to an already crowded schedule. He has also been working part-time, gaining practical experience alongside his studies.
His sporting ambitions make the schedule even more impressive. Moyin is a competitive sprinter and has competed in the 100 metres at National Athletics League events. In June 2023, he finished fifth in the 100m at the National Athletics League Eton, followed by fourth place in the same event at Glasgow two months later. He also became an Under-20 County Champion in the 100 metres. So, while some people struggle to decide whether they have time to bake a tray of brownies after university, Moyin apparently decided sprinting should be added to the list.
Away from baking, studying and athletics, family remains an important part of Moyin's life. He lives with his mother, Kiki, sister and grandmother, with his mother in particular having played a major role in encouraging his interest in baking from childhood. His wider family connections stretch beyond Britain, and he regularly spends time with relatives in Canada, Nigeria and the United States. His aunts Fumi and Titi are also among the family members he remains close to.
His interests outside his main pursuits are just as varied. Moyin has a strong interest in fashion, enjoys collecting vinyl records and occasionally heads to comedy clubs. He is also particularly fond of matcha lattes, which seems almost obligatory for someone attempting to balance university, entrepreneurship and competitive sport in the same lifetime. Music is another constant, especially before athletics competitions, when it helps him settle his nerves. His tastes include Afrobeats, conscious rap and R&B.
Moyin also has an interest in the arts and regularly visits galleries when he gets the chance. In July 2026, he travelled to Greece with his family, where the trip included horse riding. He has also enjoyed more adventurous activities such as jet skiing and often photographs moments from his day-to-day life. His social media presence therefore offers glimpses into a life that is considerably broader than what viewers saw inside the baking tent.
There is also a quieter side to Moyin's life. His faith remains important to him, while many more personal aspects of his life are kept away from social media. That balance seems deliberate: he is happy to share cakes, travels, interests and snippets of everyday life, but does not appear interested in turning every corner of his private world into content.
What makes Moyin's post-show story particularly interesting is that The Great British Baking Show was never the whole plan. Baking has been part of his life since childhood, but so are education, athletics, business, family, fashion, music and plenty of interests that have nothing to do with buttercream. The television appearance may have introduced him to a much wider audience, but his life afterwards has continued to develop on several tracks at once.
My take is that Moyin's story works because it feels refreshingly unidimensional in the best possible way: he is not simply trying to become “the baking guy”. He has built Mr Desserts while studying Political Economy, competes as a sprinter and still finds time for vinyl, galleries, comedy, travel and the occasional matcha latte. There is something quietly funny about that level of activity; most people would need a lie-down after one of those commitments, yet Moyin appears to keep adding another one to the calendar.
His baking also has a genuine personal thread through his Nigerian influences, which gives his work an identity beyond simply looking pretty on Instagram. The Great British Baking Show gave him a platform, but his story afterwards is arguably more revealing because it shows how he is building something on his own terms. Rather than treating television as the destination, he seems to have treated it as one stop on a much longer journey.
For now, Moyin Odeniran is continuing to bake, study, sprint, work and spend time with the people closest to him, with Mr Desserts remaining an important part of that mix. His life after The Great British Baking Show is clearly not limited to what happens in a tent with a dozen bakers and a suspiciously stressful technical challenge. If you watched Moyin on the show, what did you make of his baking style and Nigerian-inspired flavours? And would you try something from Mr Desserts if you had the chance?
