Baker Ali Mitter at Stephens Green Dublin when TV3 launched its second series of the hugely successful The Great Irish Bake Off. The highly anticipated new series will be returning to Irish screens on Wednesday 21st May at 9pm on TV3, with 12 new passionate home bakers looking to test their skills to the limit as they battle it out to be crowned The Great Irish Bake Off's Best Amateur Baker 2014.

Pix Brian McEvoy
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Ali Mitter



AGE: 31

OCCUPATION: IT Sales in Salesforce (On maternity leave)

LOCATION: Bray Co. Wicklow

NATIONALITY: Czech

SIGNATURE BAKES: Rye Sourdough Bread, Cinnamon Rolls, Black Forest Gateaux

RELATIONSHIP STATUS: Married



Alena grew up in Czech Republic (Czechoslovakia) near the border of Poland and Slovakia. Her mother was a Dentist and her father was an Engineer. Her older sister is a lawyer in Prague. Her father was hugely into healthy eating and his ideas were ahead of his time. He said no to red meat and all processed meat foods such as pate, salami, ham etc. They were not allowed eat from the school canteen growing up as it was too bad quality! So this is how Ali entered the world of baking at a young age.



Her first job in Ireland was with Lufthansa and later she got a job with IBM in IT. There she met her husband Michael who is German. They have two children, Yannick (4) and Jonas (7 months). Alena describes herself as competitive! She enjoys a good challenge and learning new skills and trying new things. At first Ali just wanted to get on to the show, now she wants to win the competition! Ali says she is slightly impatient, very spontaneous & smart but bordering on being a smart ass too! . She was very artistic always painting and creating but baking was not seen as a career option for her then though, people didn’t do it unless they were less educated and she took a different path. For a long time now she has been watching all the different cooking and baking shows that have come out and how the likes of Jamie Oliver and Gordon Ramsay have made it more mainstream and she feels that if she was 16 now it would be the path she would definitely take.