Interview: Gregg Wallace on Cake and Bake Show

By Graham Chalmers
Gregg Wallace. (Picture by  Jonathan Gawthorpe)Gregg Wallace. (Picture by  Jonathan Gawthorpe)
Gregg Wallace. (Picture by Jonathan Gawthorpe)

For anyone who doubts that TV presenter Gregg Wallace’s bubbly, plain-speaking persona is entirely spontaneous on Masterchef, listen to what he says when I ask him what he’s going to be doing at the forthcoming Cake and Bake show in Harrogate.

“I have absolutely no fixed role in Cake and Bake. I may well be a compere at a couple of the demos. I don’t know.

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“I plan to move from stand to stand and exhibitor to exhibitor chatting and tasting their food and chatting to visitors. That’s all I want to do.”

For Masterchef fans the event is obviously a brilliant opportunity to talk to Gregg.

While not the only big name from the ‘foodie’ world appearing as a ‘celebrity ambassador’ in Cake and Bake at Harrogate International Centre next month – there’s also Rosemary Schrager, Lisa Faulkner and Phil Vickery – Wallace is certainly the best-known.

Wallace’s relationship with John Torode on Masterchef is more than professional. The good-natured bonhomie and banter between the two of them on the small screen is genuine, he assures me, a reflection of their genuine friendship off screen.

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Gregg said: “I know John very well. We’re ridiculously close, I just saw him this morning.

“We’ve not only known each other for 11 years on Masterchef, I first met him 10 years before that. I used to supply his fruit and veg. “

Surely he must be laying his love of puddings on a bit thick for the cameras, I ask him via his ‘hands-free’ as he drives to a rugby club dinner.

“There is no script at all on Masterchef. I do love desserts. I’ve got a sweet tooth. I think I love them because they remind me of being a child.

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“The wonderful thing about desserts is they are completely indulgent and utterly unnecessary.”

The Cake and Bake Show is at Harrogate International Centre from June 19-21.

For information and tickets, visit www.thecakeandbakeshow.co.uk

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