Great British Bake Off star Luis Troyano dies at 48

Former Great British Bake Off finalist Luis Troyano, who starred in series five of the show in 2014, has died from oesophageal cancer at the age of 48.

"Sadly, my lovely client lost his brave fight against oesophageal cancer last week," tweeted his agent Anne Kibel.

"A fantastic man with a love of baking that saw him get to the finals of GBBO, write a wonderful book, Bake It Great, and do so much more," she added.

After the show, Troyano said Bake Off had "totally changed my life".

"As well as being given the opportunity to write a book, I now also bake for a living, which is simply amazing. As far as baking goes, I can certainly bake a lot faster now than before the GBBO," he told Food and Drinks Guide.

Following his stint on Bake Off, Troyano made appearances on BBC Good Food and BBC Breakfast shows. He released a book called Bake it Great in 2015.

Luis Troyano (R) and his fellow GBBO finalists Richard Burr and Nancy Birtwhistle, who won the competition

Writing on a Just Giving page she set up to raise money for Macmillan Cancer Support, his wife Louise wrote: "Your life was a blessing, your memory a treasure, you are loved beyond words and missed beyond measure.

"This page has been set up for Macmillan Cancer Support but in truth, Luis gave a big thank you to everyone involved in his care."

She then posted Troyano's own words, in which he thanked Macmillan, the NHS and East Cheshire Hospice "for trying to save my life and their tireless work to try and eliminate cancer. But more importantly a massive thank you to all the amazing professionals who really did try their absolute best for me, showed me absolute compassion and gave me more time than what was seemingly possible. I thank you sincerely."

Before competing on the show, Troyano was a marketing manager, hailing from Poynton, near Stockport. During the contest he memorably created a tribute to his hometown in one of his showstopper bakes.

He also made a caramel-gilded cake depicting The Cage, a tower in the National Trust's Lyme Park in Cheshire.

In an interview with Cheshire Life he said: "I'm a proud Stockport guy. I have no shame in saying where I'm from.

"I did The Cage mainly because it's my wife's favourite place to visit. I never expected that cake to get the response it did. When it aired, it went crazy with people going, 'Where is this and what is it he's done?'"

Nadiya Hussain, who won the baking contest in 2015, paid tribute, writing "RIP" on Twitter.

The official Great British Bake Off account tweeted it had been a "huge honour and pleasure" to have Troyano as a contestant.

Former Bake Off host Sue Perkins said she was "gutted" to learn of Troyano's death.

Troyano's fellow 2014 contestants Chetna Makan and Martha Collison, also honoured the baker.

And Manchester City Football Club, the team Troyano supported, expressed their sadness.

In 2014, Troyano opened his first bakery in his hometown, called The Hive Bakery and in 2015, he was announced as the patron of Beechwood Cancer Care Centre.

He told Manchester Evening News his father died of cancer when he was 16.

"I have lived in Stockport all my life and wanted to support a charity that was close to home," he said.

"It feels great to be a patron at Beechwood. There was nothing like Beechwood when I lost my dad and it was a tough time.

"My time on The Great British Bake Off has been life changing and I feel honoured to support Beechwood."