John Mincher

Great British Bake Off contestant John Mincher might have made an early exit in week three, but he’s just getting started. We caught up with the talented baker to talk pesky bread week, keeping schtum and a possible book deal on the horizon 

John Mincher credits his Nan for getting him into baking as a boy. Fast forward a couple of decades and who’d have thought he’d be rustling up five-tier showstoppers on Channel 4 and being recognised in the bread aisle in Morrisons?

Auditioning for Bake Off 2024 wasn’t John Mincher’s first rodeo having been a reserve in a previous series. The auditioning process is intense, but second time round John nailed it and got the call up. Keeping it a secret wasn’t easy and in order not to blab, John distanced himself from friends which he says is very unlike him. Normally he’s sociable and has friends round for drinks often but John went mysteriously quiet. He says: “I had a kitchen full of random baking objects and stuff which I couldn’t have explained so I just avoided seeing people.”

Auditions took place in January and filming started in April with announcements regarding the contestants made in September, so it was a long old time to keep schtum. There was even a moment when his friends became a bit concerned about his welfare! When John was finally able to reveal his involvement in the show, he got his nearest and dearest round for the big reveal. He recalls: “I put the Bake Off music on and just said: ‘Here we go. I’m on Bake Off!’”

FRIENDS FOR LIFE

John’s day job in the NHS is busy which feels like a tremendous understatement. We caught up with him in the new year when hospitals were under immense strain – a far cry from the fluffiness of the Bake Off tent. The wholesome nature of the show is real and John says he’s made friends for life. “I know it’s hard to believe and people think, ‘they can’t possibly all like one another’ but it’s true. The other contestants, crew, production team – friends for life. We all stayed in apartments and had dinner together every night. We were like a little family.”

The contestants WhatsApp group is going strong, and they chat every day. John also bonded with the show’s presenter Allison Hammond which he puts down to their Midlands roots. “There was definitely a little bond between us. The accent was an immediate connection and we just had a sort of shorthand. She was really supportive.”

PRESSURE COOKER

On leaving during bread week, John says he bakes bread successfully all the time, so it was an annoying way to exit the show. He puts his under-par performance down to the pressure of the tent plus the novel gadgets such as the proving drawer that he’d never used before but also accepts, ‘a good workman never blames his tools!’ He says what you don’t see on TV is the behind the scenes chaos. There are roughly 100 people in the tent – a series of cameras down the middle aisle plus runners, crew and home economists, so it’s a bit of a pressure cooker.

While John’s roots are in Wolverhampton, he spends a lot of time in Birmingham and in particular brunching at Gas Street Social which inspired one of his bakes. The Mailbox bar has named a cocktail after him since John revealed that one of his showstoppers on the show was inspired by one of their drinks. Such is the mutual love, John took a cake into the bar for the staff last week.

Of Birmingham generally, John loves the city’s ‘great energy’. “It’s such a metropolitan city now. As well as Gas Street I love Fumo and Albert Schloss which has a great vibe. I can spend a couple of hours people watching.”

SWEET TREATS

We’re keen to know where John might get his sweet treats from when he’s in Brum. He says he largely bakes at home and doesn’t tend to buy cakes and pastries but if pushed the Selfridges food hall ticks all the boxes as well as Medicine which he says is really good and which started life in his home town before expanding into Birmingham.

Life’s changed in some ways since Bake Off. John says: “Little things have changed like being recognised in Morrisons in my joggers. Everyone’s lovely though.” Always writing recipes, we wonder if John might have aspirations of publishing a book. He says: “I can’t say too much, but there might be a book in the pipeline.” We’ll take that as a yes and look forward to seeing what the talented baker does next.