She won The Great British Bake Off nine years ago, but now it’s cleaning not cakes that gets Nancy Birtwhistle up in the morning. At 69 she’s become a green guru – with almost half a million fans hanging on her every word
If Nancy Birtwhistle were to list her proudest achievements, she’d have plenty to choose from: a long career despite a tough start in life, raising two children and gaining an MBA on the side, not to mention, of course, winning The Great British Bake Off at the age of 60, in a final watched by 12 million people.
So who would have thought that sitting near the very top of her list is inventing a recipe for a homemade ‘miracle’ cleaner? ‘It’s true,’ says Nancy, now 69. ‘If I had to name the top ten things I’ve done that have brought me joy and been life-changing, Pure Magic is up there.’
Nancy originally created it in 2018 as a toilet cleaner free from nasty chemicals and chlorine bleach but has since discovered its potential seems endless. ‘It can clean jewellery, kill mould, whiten whites, shine up brass and copper, dissolve algae and rust,’ she says.
Half a million social media followers seem to agree. Her Instagram is crammed with daily messages and photos from fans. ‘We had this stubborn orange stain on the hull of our boat and nothing would shift it – until I found Pure Magic,’ says one. ‘I thought I needed to replace my shower hose as no matter what I used, it wouldn’t get clean. Five minutes with Pure Magic and all that stuff has come off!’ adds another. ‘Nancy, I thank you!’ says someone else. ‘I think you must be a genius!’
Nancy certainly never planned to become a ‘Queen of Green’ – although that’s what she is, with 483,000 Instagram followers of all ages, and a series of bestselling green living manuals to her name. Her latest book, The Green Budget Guide, is packed with more inspired hacks and household tips to save both money and the environment.
Really, though, her entire ‘retirement’ has been a surprise adventure. She stepped down from her role as a GP practice manager at 52 as she’d been working non-stop since the age of 15 when she left school and got her first job at Hull Docks. She was living in the North Lincolnshire town of Barton-upon-Humber with her second husband, Tim, a retired GP, and they had five children between them, and several grandchildren. They now have ten.
‘I thought I’d like to spend more time in the garden and with the grandchildren, and travel
