An independent Manchester-based bakery owner has publicly denounced ITV's "The Voice" after the show's production team solicited free food for celebrity contestants and coaches. Rich Myers, owner of GET BAKED, shared an email from "The Voice" team requesting products for "dressing rooms and green rooms," stating that the show could not offer any monetary compensation in return.
Myers, who gained attention for his £20 "Bertha cake," took to Instagram to express his outrage. He called the request from ITV, a conglomerate he noted had significant pre-tax profits, a "total disgrace" and suggested it should be illegal. In his email reply, shared on Instagram, Myers sarcastically instructed the sender to convey his refusal to their superiors.
"I'm not blaming you because I don't doubt it's obviously part of your job, but I would please ask that you tell the following people to f*** off on my behalf," Myers wrote in his reply, which he then shared with his 361,000 Instagram followers. He added, "ITV and Lifted Entertainment, you’re a total disgrace."
"The Voice" team's email, as shared by Myers, stated that they were looking for "amazing products to boost their long working days" and offered "exposure to our highly influential coaches and presenters in the studios, as well as our contestants on the show" in lieu of payment. Myers countered by noting the show's declining viewership, from 8.6 million in 2015 to 2.8 million in 2024, suggesting they might need marketing assistance, which would not be free.
GET BAKED, which reopened in 2021 after a hiatus, has previously gone viral for its unique baked goods and edgy marketing. The bakery offers items such as banoffee pie, lemon meringue pie, and various brownies and cookies, available both in-store and online for nationwide shipping.
This incident is not the first time businesses have publicly called out requests for free products in exchange for exposure. Previously, a London-based cake business owner, Reshmi Bennett, publicly criticized a request from the personal assistant of reality television star Binky Felstead for a free birthday cake for her son in exchange for an Instagram post. In another instance, a PR company representing a celebrity, later identified as Catherine Tyldesley, was criticized for requesting a free 40th birthday cake, additional cakes, and 100 cupcakes from a bakery in exchange for social media promotion and coverage in OK Magazine. The bakery owner in that case stated that her staff "can't feed their kids with exposure on Instagram."