He wanted to be a savage political cartoonist – but ended up drawing Stacey’s Tropical Trifle Terrine. On the eve of the Bake Off final, the show’s artist reveals his own star bakes
‘I’m more of a savoury kind of guy,” says Tom Hovey, the illustrator who has now made around 3,500 drawings for The Great British Bake Off. “I would have been very happy illustrating a show about, say, barbecuing – but that is not the hand life dealt me. I am quite a foodie, though, and really like to cook.”
Even if he doesn’t have a sweet tooth, Hovey has had his favourite contestants over the years. “I really liked Helena,” he says, referring to the Spanish goth from last year’s series. “She was a vampire-bats-at-home kind of woman. Her bakes reflected that and it was a pleasure to illustrate them. I also loved Kim-Joy [2018’s Belgian-British winner]. I like people who embody their worlds through their bakes. For them, it’s not about producing stuff – it’s about expressing yourself. I love that.”