Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Tom Allen: I ate so much cake during Bake Off filming that my waistcoat exploded

Tom Allen (Matt Alexander/PA)
Tom Allen (Matt Alexander/PA)

Tom Allen has said he had to change some of his outfit choices while filming Bake Off: The Professionals because he had eaten so many cakes.

The comedian, who hosts the show with Liam Charles, said the pair embrace the opportunity to taste as much of the cooking as they can.

He said: “I think when Liam and I first started the show, we were quite timid about it because we were younger and more naive and we didn’t get to try very much because there are various people that try it including the judges but now we’re much better at elbowing our way to the front, I would say.

“Often if we’re very worried about it, we just eat during the judging now, but we have to do it in a secretive way.

“Liam and I are very much the children who have broken into the kitchen and are scampering around trying to steal cakes a lot of the time.

“I certainly ate a load of cakes. I think we both did. I had to change some of my outfit choices after the show had finished filming because I had eaten so many cakes.

“On one occasion, I was wearing a waistcoat and I sat down and it exploded! I definitely enjoyed some cakes.”

He added: “I think I need to wear Spandex, actually, I think I need some spanx or something.”

Discussing if hosting the show has improved his own cooking, he said: “I’ve done absolutely nothing. I learnt to eat things, though, that’s the main thing. And really enjoy things before I shove them in my gob.

“I did have a dream during filming that I knew how to make croissants, but even in my dream I messed them up. So, I guess no is the answer!

“But I do appreciate things more and I think that I’ve never been able to see short crust pastry in the same way since doing the show.

“This year my favourite one was mille-feuille which I always thought was a custard slice but I upped my game and it’s not a custard slice, it’s a mille-feuille and when it’s done properly it’s really nice, not like those slightly damp skanky pastries I experienced in my youth and I really learnt how to appreciate the many layers of a cake like that.”

Bake Off: The Professionals airs on Channel 4 from May 26