Interview with Joel Dommett

24 March 2020

Can you bake? Rate yourself out of 10.

I’d say a nought. I’ve never really baked before. It’s all a very new experience for me, and I feel like I’m going to learn a lot.

Has anyone ever taught you any baking skills?

Not at all. When I found out I was doing this, I tried to prepare myself. I did a day of baking with my parents, and they sort of helped me along a little bit, but I’m really in the dark. I love eating baking, but I’ve never made it before. So who knows what’s going to happen?

Are you a Bake Off fan?

Yeah, huge fan! It’s just the most endearing, wonderful show. It’s just so weird to be in the tent. It’s like a weird dream, but it’s great.

Nerve-wracking?

It is! It was really weird, starting off I thought “I haven’t felt this nervous in ages!” With baking, you just have no idea what’s going to happen.

Who do you want to impress the most? Paul or Prue?

I think everyone wants Paul to love them, because he’s the villain of the pantomime. With Prue, you know that if Paul is nasty, Prue will just tap you on the shoulder and give you a bit of advice. She’s an absolute sweetheart. I just want to impress Paul. 

Who do you see as your biggest competition?

I don’t really see anyone as competition. Tan clearly loves baking, me and Caroline are the naughty kids at the back of the class. I feel like we’re just trying our best not to embarrass ourselves. And then you’ve got the two at the front if the class who are very competitive.

Have you had any baking or culinary disasters in the past?

I’ve essentially attempted to bake twice in my life. The first one was food tech at school. I remember puting chocolate in the microwave to melt it, and I left it in there for, like, 15 minutes. I opened the microwave, smoke came billowing out, and the whole school had to be evacuated. And the second time, I was trying to make a meringue, for a girlfriend, and it ended up looking like some sort of body fluid at the bottom of the pan. It didn’t rise. It felt like I ended up going “Hey, here’s a romantic offering of PVA Glue.”

What do you think your strength in your baking might be?

I feel like I’ve not gone too crazy with my ideas, so hopefully I’ve not been too adventurous. So hopefully everything is going to look nice. But I’m worried it might be a bit boring, my stuff. I need to try and spruce it up a bit.

And why is Stand Up to Cancer important to you?

I feel like I’ve had a lot of experience with cancer, with family and friends. So anything I can do to help, really. It’s a wonderful cause, but also a wonderful opportunity to be in the Bake Off tent. It’s a dream come true. If I’m doing that at the same time as raising money to help fight cancer, it’s a win-win situation.

Have you practised your bakes for today? 

I practiced them both twice. But everything goes wrong once you’re in the tent. It’s partly the pressure, and it’s hard because you’ve got to talk to people. It’s difficult. It’s like trying to spin four different plates at the same time. It’s such a hard environment. You can do it a million times in your own oven, and it’ll just be different when you prepare it here.

Did you get any advice when you were preparing for this show?

Yeah, my mum and dad gave me lots of advice. And, like my cooking, they’re both great chefs, so they really helped me a lot.

Are you competitive? Do you want to be star baker?

I’d like to be star baker, but I don’t really mind if I’m not. I’m just happy to be here. Like all this showbiz life, I’m just happy to be taking part!  

How do you feel about the technical challenge? 

I’m not looking forward to it. I’m not very good at following directions, and the directions are really vague. I’m hoping it’s going to be something really simple like “Make a block of butter.”

What would be the worst thing you could be asked to make?

Almost everything. I don’t really know what anything even is. They’ve all got such fancy names. They’re all French. I don’t know enough stuff. There are so many different types of cake. I didn’t know until this week how many different types of flour there are. And so many different types of sugar. It’s blowing my mind right now.

If you were a baked good, what would you be?

I’d love to be cookie dough. That’s what I don’t understand about baking – often the thing is more delicious before you put it in the oven than it is afterwards. So why don’t you just eat the thing before. But if I was a baked good, I’d probably be a boring éclair. Looks okay on the outside, but it’s fairly boring, and there’s absolutely nothing inside.

Will you be particularly keen to do better than your mate Scarlett [Moffatt]?

Not really, I don’t really mind. I think it’s about being here. She beat me in the jungle, so it would be nice to beat her in Bake Off, but I’m used to being second to her first, so I’m happy with that!