The Bake Off contestant has over 400k followers on TikTok thanks to this unusual hobby, which may soon feature in the hit show
The Great British Bake Off returns to screens tonight, with a new batch of 12 contestants all ready to be introduced in the first episode. While this will be the first step into the spotlight for most of the bakers, one is already famous thanks to his peculiar hobby.
Iain Ross, 29, is a baker from Belfast who only started baking in his early 20s but has already amassed over 400k followers on TikTok. In his videos, which have attracted millions of likes, Iain paints musicians’ faces and album covers onto his bakes using edible foot colouring.
Taylor Swift, Queen, Oasis and more have all been painted on to a variety of baked goods, but most commonly bread. “It’s a really fun hobby to have a clash of worlds,” Iain told BBC Radio Ulster. “I have my baking and my love of music so I try to marry the two together the best I can.”
After he posted the news that he was joining the next series of Bake Off to his Instagram and TikTok, Iain’s fans flocked to the comments to share their excitement. One wrote: “This is so epic, I’ve been following you for so long, congrats!”
Another commented: “Best music taste to ever touch Bake Off and you’re amazing at baking.” Many also asked Iain to bring his signature artistic decoration to the show.
However, it’s not certain Iain will make it to Bread Week, as the teaser for the first episode shows a struggle for the Irish baker. In the ‘first look’, Iain is trying to mend his cake, which has fallen apart in the tent.
Reacting to his chocolate cake, he’s heard saying: “Oh God! Urgh! It’s just fallen apart.” He is then shown to scrape bits from the tray in an effort to put the cake back together.
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When the footage was shown on Lorraine Kelly’s talk show, the presenter teased that it looked like something she would bake and that it hasn’t started well for the baker.
Iain himself has described his time on the show as “chaotic”, telling the BBC that he thinks it will make good TV.
“The main word from my experience is chaotic,” he said. “I have a lot of plates spinning at a lot of times and if there’s one thing about me it’s that I’m not very good with multiple plates spinning, but I think it’ll make for good viewing.”
Luckily for Iain and his fans, it seems many of the contestants may have struggled in tonight’s episode. The teaser for Cake Week promised wonky cakes, over-baking and cake that Paul Hollywood says “looks like it fell out of a tree”.
Before the show began, Bake Off host Alison Hammond asked viewers to be supportive of the bakers, as it can be difficult when bakes go wrong. In a video message, she told fans: “It’s a magical experience they’ll never forget. What you don’t see at home are all the hours of hard work they put in behind-the-scenes.”
“So when something goes wrong in the tent, it can really hit hard. They’re all real people with real feelings who love baking and they’re just trying their best. So please, remember – it might look easy from the sofa at home but in the tent, it’s a whole other story.”
The Great British Bake Off returns tonight on Channel 4 at 8pm.
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