The third collective of stars entering the tent included TV presenter and broadcaster Kate Garraway, Actor, writer and director Gbemisola Ikumelo, Comedian Phil Wang, plus Actress, writer and comedian Sophie Willan. (main image credit: Joy Coker at http://www.alt-africa.com)
Taking on mini loaf cakes in the Signature and things get spicy in the Technical. In the Showstopper the celebrities reveal their hidden talent in choux. This series continues Sunday 30 March, 19:40 on Channel 4, and on catch-up at Channel4.com.
Can you bake?
No… Well… I think it’s a spectrum. I can follow recipes, but I think, under the pressure of baking for others, I’m not great. On my own, less pressure, great, but baking for other people, who are judging me? That’s a different matter.
Describe your baking style in one word.
Chaotic. No, inventive.
What’s your favourite baked good?
Oooh, I love a chiffon cake, with lots of cream in it. That’s always a winner.
Would you describe yourself as a foodie?
I don’t even know what foodie really means. If it means a person who loves food, then absolutely. If it’s a person who likes to talk about how food should taste and whatnot, no. I just consume it and enjoy it, or not enjoy it. I don’t know if that puts me in the foodie camp.
Do you cook much in everyday life?
Honestly, no. But I do enjoy cooking, and I can cook. But I am from a family of amazing home cooks, and I find that if I just pretend that I’m not very good, they all make me stuff.
That’s a genius move…
Yeah, weaponizing incompetence.
What have been your biggest culinary triumphs and disasters?
My culinary triumphs – I was doing a job and we all had to come over and bring some food, and I did a lot of cooking, and some of it was great. I would say it was my culinary triumph and disaster all on the same day. I made a couple of dishes that went horribly wrong, and then I realised “They don’t know what this is supposed to taste like, so I’ll just tell them this is exactly how it’s meant to be.” I realised if you serve something with confidence, it will be a triumph. But the idea of people coming together and eating together is just such a beautiful thing, that transcends experience and culture. We all do it. I love that.
What’s the food like when you’re on set filming a series? Is that a big part of the experience?
Food can make of break a show on a set, because you’re working so many hours, and it’s all about morale when you’re doing something so high-octane for such a long period of time, in energetic bursts. If you don’t have good food, you will see the morale dip quite quickly on a shoot. I remember on Famalam, we had some really good catering, and you see it in the crew and the cast, everyone is energised, you don’t get that afternoon slump. It’s so important.
Is it true that you took eight tubs of jollof rice home with you from the set of Famalam?
Oh my God, my reputation precedes me! Yes, I did! And I froze it, and I proceeded to eat it over a few weeks, maybe a month. And I don’t regret it – it was great.
Can you still eat jollof rice, or are you sick of the sight of it?
Never! To be sick of jollof rice is to be sick of life. I think it was Oscar Wilde who said that.
What are the strengths and weaknesses you’ll bring with you into the tent?
The strengths are I can think on my feet, and if things go wrong I can respond to things in the moment. I wouldn’t say I can keep a cool head, but I can keep a head of some sort in the midst of chaos. The weakness is that if I make a mistake, I will not let it go. It will haunt me for months. I find it really hard to drop it and move on. I’m my own worst critic.
Are you a fan of Bake Off?
I am!
What’s it like, walking into the tent for the first time?
It’s absolutely beautiful. It’s so iconic – and not just the tent, but the surrounding area. There’s a beautiful, idyllic vibe. It’s like a hug of a show, there’s just this warmth, and that warmth translates into real life as well. You walk onto the set and it’s all so pretty, the aesthetics of everything. There’s milk in really beautifully rustic jars, and I’ve got a plastic bottle in the bottom of my fridge that’s past its use by date. It’s got a really romantic feel to it. It’s pretty iconic, walking in.
What’s the worst thing you could be asked to make in the technical?
Something I’ve never heard of. Which is quite a few things. If I’m like “What the heck is that?” if I can’t perceive it in my mind, then I won’t be able to make it in reality. So that would be a nightmare.
Have you sought advice from anyone ahead of the show?
I haven’t. Oh, actually, Nicola Coughlan told me to make sure my oven was on!
That’s key… but also quite basic.
Very basic. But you can imagine how easy it would be to forget to preheat an oven. So that was the first thing I did when I came in, I put my oven on. So that was good advice.
Is it an intimidating moment when you look up and see Caroline or Paul studying you?
Yeah, kind of! But I try not to let it get to me. Paul is a tough nut to crack. But hopefully he’ll be putty in my hands before the end of this.
Are you competitive? How badly do you want to win?
I secretly really want to win. I can’t show it too much, because I’m competitive to the point that people will start going “Whoa, calm down, this is for charity. Relax!” So I need to rein that part of me in, so I don’t forget the camaraderie and joy and fun. I tend to take myself VERY seriously when it comes to competitive things.
So you’ll be in there putting on a façade of bonhomie, and inside you just want to crush them?
The camera will see my smile, and if you zoom in, you’ll see behind the eyes there’s a well of pain that I’m secretly holding in. But, if I’m honest, there’s such a beautiful sense of joy and laughter on the show already that even if it doesn’t go 100% my way, it’s just been a beautiful experience for a really important cause. And so I feel quite honoured to be here, really.
You’ve won a BAFTA and an RTS award, but presumably they would be eclipsed if you got a Hollywood handshake?
I mean, if I got a Hollywood handshake, I might just tell the BAFTA guys that they can have it back. “Guys, I don’t need this, because Mr Hollywood gave me a handshake.” Not sure I’m going to get one, to be honest. I’ll just be happy if he doesn’t spit the food out into his hand. He doesn’t have to give me a handshake, just keep that food down, that’s all I ask.
Why are you doing this? Why is SU2C important to you?
I have people in my life who I really love who are battling cancer, even as we are speaking. And they are living their lives and they are trying to get through it, and they are trying to stay hopeful, but there is a lot of pain and sadness that comes with it, and readjusting about how your life is going to change. It’s a life-changing thing. And so if I can just be here and do this thing for a charity that helps in some way, in whatever way that is, and people live better as they’re going through the journey, or if they’re completely coming out of the journey and we’re finding cures, it’s just a no-brainer for me.
Stand Up To Cancer is a joint national fundraising campaign from Cancer Research UK and Channel 4 that brings the UK together to speed up progress in life-saving cancer research.
