The Great Pottery Throw Down’s AJ Simpson has revealed the support they have gained on social media from fans after the show crowned them their first non-binary winner.
AJ, the youngest-ever competitor of the show aged 21, had their ‘dream come true’ after wowing judges and viewers with a garden sculpture reflecting their life story.
Their passion for the art shone through as they secured potter of the week three times throughout the competition, and won the Channel 4 show’s second challenge an incredible five times.
And it’s not just AJ’s pottery skills that have impressed viewers on the show, as many praised the show’s inclusivity of a non-binary candidate.
One viewer shared on Twitter: ‘A non-binary person won The Great Pottery Throwdown – trans excellence at its finest!’
Great British Bake Off contestant Michael Chakraverty wrote: ‘AJ making it to the #PotteryThrowdown is genuinely groundbreaking,’ adding that the inclusion ‘will truly make the world of difference to non-binary people everywhere.’
Speaking about their win and the support they’ve received, AJ reflected: ‘The response from the public and social media has been so positive the whole way through and it has been so nice to get messages from people online that they are enjoying the show.
‘I have had great messages from non-binary people all sending encouragement.’
After host Siobhan McSweeney revealed AJ had won the competition during Sunday’s final, they enthused: ‘I’m feeling totally overwhelmed, I’m so happy.
‘It’s a dream come true – a dream I never thought would happen.’
AJ’s winning piece represented their time at university, a garden totem with eight pieces including their well-worn boots, a gaming dice to reflect their love of fantasy board games, and a half-lion-half-rabbit teddy to represent AJ’s close bond with their little sister.
Judge Keith Brymer described AJ as having ‘a real sense of style,’ adding that they were: ‘Just a wonderful, worthy winner.’
Hosted by the makers of Bake Off, the feel-good pottery show is judged by Keith and Richard Miller, and filmed in Gladstone Pottery Museum in Longton.
AJ was up against two finalists, Anna McGurn from Fermanagh, Northern Ireland and Christine Cherry, a youth art worker from Preston.
From a child’s dinosaur-themed beaker to a treasure chest clock, to a ‘creepy’ gnome, AJ’s glory followed the 10 intense and emotional weeks on the Channel 4 show.
The Great Pottery Throwdown can be streamed on All4.
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