Tom, the first eliminated contestant of 2021’s GBBO, revealed the adorable, crocheted version of himself made by his sister as a good luck mascot on Friday’s first episode of The Great British Bake Off: An Extra Slice.
Reflecting with host Jo Brand and guests comedian Sarah Millican, Casualty star Sunetra Sarker and Love Island’s Iain Stirling about his time on the show, the 28-year-old showed off the sweet mini-me that had accompanied him into the tent.
Having described his time on the show as ‘fantastic from start to finish’, Tom good naturedly discussed the ‘running theme’ of him struggling to finish the challenges in time, as the amateur baker was seen in footage happily humming as he labelled his mini rolls ‘gooey mess’ ahead of presenting them to judges Paul Hollywood and Prue Leith.
When prompted by Jo to introduce his ‘friend’ who had come into the tent with him, Tom revealed the cuddly crocheted doll, which was clad in a green and white stripey T-shirt, dark brown trousers and a beige apron.
He explained: ‘I did bring a little mascot into the tent with me, to sit by my stand mixer and it was Mini Tom! So Mini Tom was crocheted by my little sister Lottie as a good luck gift basically, for going away to Bake Off.’
Gesturing to his mini-me’s outfit, he explained: ‘She crocheted me in the clothes she imagined I probably would be wearing with a little apron – and she ran out of time for the glasses, but I think it’s pretty good.’
Jo then exclaimed: ‘She ran out of time as well?’, as Tom laughed along and agreed it ‘seems to run in the family’.
The keen baker also revealed his passion for amateur dramatics and how much he enjoyed presenting to the cameras, so perhaps Bake Off is only the first stepping stone in a new TV career for the software developer?
‘I really enjoyed the presenting aspect of it, to be honest,’ he said. ‘I quite enjoyed chatting to the cameras and everybody else watching, saying, “Oh, this is what I’m up to, this is how I’m doing it.”’
He then added: ‘Just a shame the baking didn’t go to plan!’
The Great British Bake Off: An Extra slice airs on Fridays at 8pm on Channel 4. The Great British Bake Off continues on Tuesday at 8pm on Channel 4.
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