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There is a star of The Great British Bake Off who you’ve never seen on TV, despite playing a key role on the show for the past 14 years.
Ever wondered who creates all those incredible illustrations of the bakes? The answer is Tom Hovey, an illustrator who lives in South Wales and has worked on Bake Off since its first episode in 2010.
Tom is the creator of the fantastic artwork that illustrates to the audience exactly what the bakers are trying to create – even if the bakers slightly miss the mark.
While you may not recognise his face you’ll most certainly recognise his work as it has become a staple feature in the show, providing a needed visual explanation to the audience.
The artist revealed that when he first started working on Bake Off, when the show was post-production but yet to air and he was doing ‘grunt work’, he made it clear to his bosses that he was a keen illustrator.
‘I obviously let them know that I was an illustrator, and I was there to, you know, make my fortune as an illustrator. No interest in TV work whatsoever,’ Tom told Metro.
After some discussion, the team decided there was a ‘visual element missing from the show’.
Tom explained: ‘They were like, “How about you pitch some ideas, imagine the bakers had got their kitchen sketchbook, you know, got their notebook and just scribbled in a drawing of what, of what they were planning to create.”‘
Initially, Tom was signed up to just work on Bake Off as a part-time summer gig.
‘It was only a small thing. I mean, it was a small show.’ he said.
Now, 14 years later, Bake Off has several spin-offs including Junior Bake Off, Bake Off: The Professionals, and Bake Off Stand Up To Cancer.
‘There was the hope that it would become something bigger, and it did. Thankfully,’ Tom said.
Tom admitted Bake Off fans are still very confused when he tells them about his niche work sketching how the bakers imagine their cakes will turn out.
‘A lot of times, people assume that I’m kind of drawing them before the bakers have cooked them.’
The truth is Tom (and his team of illustrators) receive photos from the bakers of their completed practice bakes at home – which can look a lot better than they end up on TV. However, in 2010, they hadn’t nailed down this method.
‘In the early days, people weren’t taking photos of everything they did. And so there weren’t, practice photos in the past,’ Tom said.
‘So in the early days if there was a big disaster, then there would be a conversation between the producers and whatnot. ‘
He revealed that even now sometimes the footage and practice images aren’t enough: ‘But sometimes we even have to ask the bakers to do us, a sketch of what their intentions were.’
‘We have artistic license to polish it up, straighten it up, you know, clean lines and all that kind of stuff,’ he said, explaining why the illustrations can end up far more polished than the final bakes.
‘So obviously we get a lot of “Why do the pictures look so much better?” We’re not under the same amount of time pressure as they are.
‘If we were drawing at the same time that they had in the tent with, you know, judges looking over us. Then I’m sure it would, they would look pretty much the same!’
Although he can spend months bringing a baker’s food to life with illustrations, Tom insisted he has no idea what they look like until the rest of us do too, and putting a name to a face is a highlight for him.
‘There are nice parts within the year. For instance, the first time the photos are released of the bakers a lot of the time you’re just drawing to a name, you’ve just got names and the cakes. And it’s like putting the cake, to the face.’
He added: ‘People’s bakes throughout the series do have personality.’
So after years of working on the show, has he managed to learn anything about baking by osmosis?
‘In the last six months, I started and pretty much perfected sourdough. Apart from that, no.
‘I couldn’t bake anything. So, no, I’ve got, I’ve got absolutely no clue. I’ve been asked to judge baking competitions in the past, you know, and I have absolutely no clue whatsoever.’
And why would he when he doesn’t even really like sweet food?
‘I’m not a sweet tooth. So luckily it’s the savoury things that I love. The sweet things aren’t my bag, so thank goodness I’m never hungry when drawing.’
The Great British Bake Off continues tonight at 8pm on Channel 4.
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