Lauren Katz: Where Are They Now?

Spoiler note: this post confirms that Lauren Katz won her season of The Great American Baking Show.

Lauren Katz was the first American ever to win the US version of the tent, taking the inaugural 2015 season of The Great American Baking Show, which aired on ABC under its original title, The Great Holiday Baking Show. A decade on, she has one of the busiest and most local-minded post-show careers of any American winner. Here is the full arc.

The first American champion

The 2015 season was a four-episode holiday run judged by Mary Berry and Johnny Iuzzini and hosted by Nia Vardalos and Ian Gomez. Katz, a home baker from Ashburn, Virginia, beat finalists Nicole Silva and Tim Samson to take the first title, a win her local paper covered with the delighted headline energy of a hometown victory. There was also a lovely wrinkle the Jewish press enjoyed: a Jewish baker winning a Christmas-themed baking competition. She leads off the full list of Great American Baking Show winners.

A serial competitor turned professional

Katz was a competition veteran before the tent and stayed one after it: a three-time Pillsbury Bake-Off participant, winner of a $25,000 "Build a Better Burger" contest in Napa Valley, and a guest on Food Network shows including The Kitchen. But her lasting work has been closer to home. She became head pastry chef at The Difference Baker, an Ashburn bakery specializing in gluten free and allergen friendly baked goods, and has taught for years, including teaching fifth grade Judaics and Hebrew at her synagogue. She lives in Ashburn with her husband and their three kids.

The 2026 twist: farmers market CEO

The most recent chapter is the most unexpected. In June 2026, local outlets reported that Katz had taken over as CEO of EatLoco Inc., the company behind some of Northern Virginia's biggest farmers markets. It is a fitting evolution: from winning a baking show to running the infrastructure that connects local food makers to their customers.

The takeaway for fans

Ten years out, Katz is the model of a winner who converted the title into deep local roots rather than national fame: a bakery kitchen, a teaching practice, and now a farmers market company. If the American show's later chaos (see season 3) makes you wonder whether the franchise was ever wholesome, its very first champion is the answer.