THE hotly anticipated new series of Great British Bake Off airs tonight with fans eager to see how the change of channel has affected the show.

We once again have a baker flying the flag for Sussex, but little is known about her.

Bake Off bosses introduced her only as Julia, 21, from West Sussex. Ahead of tonight’s episode here is all you need to know about our Julia.

Julia Chernogorova, 21, is originally from Siberia but moved to England after a teenage holiday romance.

She now lives in Ifield, near Crawley, with her husband Matt Laughton, 24. The pair met while on holiday in Turkey in 2013. She was just 17.

After it was announced his wife was picked to appear on the show, Mr Laughton, an electrical engineer working at Gatwick, tweeted: “I am SO proud of my amazing wife for getting on The Great British Bake Off 2017, my waistline is going only one way.”

Her mother also spoke of her pride. In an interview with the Daily Mail mum Natalia said: “I’m very proud of my daughter for her achievement [but] I am naturally nervous for her.

“I’m worried for how she will perform and I hope that she will at least make it all the way to final.

“Even if we don’t make it to the final, just the fact that she is taking part is a huge step for her.”

She added: “Once she got to England she got interested in baking and - for some time - I didn’t even know that she applied there.

“But when the information came that she got through, you know, it was unbelievable.

“I think this is the first time in history that a foreigner is taking part, and not just a foreigner, but a Russian.

“It doesn’t even matter that she is from Siberia, but just the fact that she is Russian - because the show is so English, and I thought it was only British people who take part in it.”

Julia told how she quit her job after hearing she was on the show.

She had worked booking clients on to private jets. Speaking to The Sun, she said: “As soon as I heard, I quit my job. I knew I had to leave, otherwise I would not be focused 100 per cent. My husband Matt was fully supportive. He knew how much Bake Off meant to me.”