ITV's have issued an apology to independent baker Rich Myers after crew members begged for freebies from his business Get Baked.
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ITVs The Voice Apologizes to Upset Baker
ITV's The Voice have issued an apology to independent baker Rich Myers after crew members begged for freebies from his business Get Baked. On Friday, the Manche...
On Friday, after he was contacted by The Voice Team to supply free food for high profile celebrity guests.
Now a spokesperson for Lifted Entertainment, which is owned by ITV Studios, has told Daily Mail: 'We apologise for any upset this has caused and are reaching out to Rich Myers directly.
'Immediate steps have been taken to ensure this type of request is never made again'.
There is no suggestion that the host Emma Willis or the judges Will.I.Am, , and have anything to do with the requests.
Bakery owner Rich took to Instagram to roast bosses after they emailed him asking for his business to provide free food for The Voice 'dressing rooms and green rooms' to help 'boost long working days'.
Sharing the email from ITV, it read: 'The Voice. I hope you're well. My name is XXX and I'm working on ITV's The Voice this year. We have a very high calibre of talent lined up for the show, along with our celebrity coaches who are soon to be revealed.
ITV's The Voice have issued an apology to independent baker Rich Myers after crew members begged for freebies from his business Get Baked; pictured host Emma Willis
On Friday, the Manchester based baker branded ITV a 'total disgrace' after he was contacted by The Voice Team to supply free food for high profile celebrity guests
'We start filming in a couple of months, and we are looking for amazing products to boost their long working days!
'I wanted to reach out to you and ask if there would be anything you could help us with in terms of products for our talent dressing rooms and green rooms.
'We'd love to open up the discussion and see if you'd be up for supplying your amazing products!
'Unfortunately, we at ITV are unable to offer anything monetary or otherwise in return for your products but if you did agree to provide us with your products, it would have exposure to our highly influential coaches and presenters in the studios, as well as our contestants on the show, all of whom are incredibly talented.
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'Thank you for taking the time to read this request, and please do get in touch if this is an opportunity you might be interested in. Thanks, The Voice Team'.
Rich was left furious after reading the email and told Daily Mail: 'In all seriousness, a conglomerate posting pre-tax profits of circa £350m asking for free cake from an independent bakery is an absolute disgrace, and should be made illegal.
'I’ve never seen The Voice, but a quick search shows that their viewings have gone from 8.6million in 2015, to 2.8million in 2024. They can reach out to me if they want any marketing assistance, although that won't be free either.'
Rich went on to share his email reply to ITV on Instagram, writing: 'I must admit, I'm trying really hard not to bite at this stuff as of late, but on this occasion I simply cannot resist.
'I'm not blaming you because I don't doubt it's obviously part of your job to send this email, but I would please ask that you tell the following people to f*** off on my behalf.
'1. Your boss, 2. Your boss's boss, 3. Your boss's boss's boss, 4. That'll probably suffice, thanks Rich'.
Rich added in the caption: 'I actually thought this was a wind up, but it’s totally real. ITV and Lifted Entertainment, you’re a total disgrace.
'Honestly, how did we get here? Stop whatever this is because I wanna get off.'
A spokesperson for Lifted Entertainment told Daily Mail: 'We apologise for any upset this has caused. Immediate steps have been taken to ensure this type of request is never made again'; pictured judge Will.I.Am
Rich shared the email he recieved from ITV on Instagram, it read: 'I wanted to ask if you could help us with in terms of products for our talent. Unfortunately, we at ITV are unable to offer anything monetary'
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Rich shared his email reply to ITV, which reads: '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 [your boss] to f*** off'
Rich told Daily Mail: 'In all seriousness, a conglomerate posting pre-tax profits of circa £350m asking for free cake from an independent bakery is an absolute disgrace, and should be made illegal'; pictured The Voice judge Tom Jones
The Manchester based baker owns GET BAKED and is known for his famous Bertha cake, which costs £20 for a massive slice that consists of 24 layers of sponge and ganache
But if you think ITV's attempts to secure a quick freebie are shameless, they are far from alone as there are hundreds of stars, including Binky Felstead who was publicly called out by a bakery owner for seemingly asking for a free cake
Back in 2023 Catherine Tyldesley ended up cancelling her 40th birthday party after being 'blindsided' by online backlash surrounding a fierce row over free cake
She went on to brand the scandal 'utterly bizarre' and suggested Rebecca was 'seeking exposure' with her Facebook post sharing the email.
The email from the celebrity management team, which was posted on Facebook by Rebecca this week, read: 'We are organising a 40th Birthday Party for a well-known celebrity on the 1st of September 2023 in Manchester.
'In return for being a supplier for the event, payment would be made in the form of promotion on their socials with over 700K followers, as well as promoted on OK Magazine.
'They will be crediting all the suppliers on these platforms.'
It continued: 'The party has a guest list full of celebrities and industry people from tv/film and music, so loads of work would come from it.'
The email went on to outline that the birthday theme has been designed with 'pinks, sparkles and a touch of flamingos'.
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They then requested one birthday cake with the theme 'camp as tits', as well as 100 cupcakes.
Finally, they asked for another, smaller, birthday cake because 'it's actually her husband's birthday that day and we wanted to surprise him.'
In return, the small bakery would be rewarded ‘in the form of promotion on their [the celeb's] socials with over 700k followers, as well as promoted in OK Magazine,’ while the party promised ‘a guest lists full of celebrities and industry people from TV / film and music, so loads of work would come from it’.
Rebecca did not know it was the former Strictly star and mum-of-two she would be providing for but it mattered not.
In a statement, Leeds-based event management firm NVRLND said its email had been ‘completely misconstrued’.
Founder Victoria Eames said: ‘NVRLND contacted Three Little Birds Bakery to offer them the opportunity to collaborate with one of our clients to cater for a party.
‘As part of the collaboration, our client would cover all of Three Little Birds Bakery’s expenses and costs in exchange for social media content and local and national exposure for their business. To confirm, NVRLND are also retained on the same expenses-only basis.
‘We selected Three Little Birds Bakery to collaborate with a view to support a local business and help them grow.
‘Our aim is to connect small local businesses with the opportunity of growth and the possibility of a full diary which is what we have experienced when working on past collaborations. We would never expect any business to be out of pocket and nor would our client.
‘Our email communication to Three Little Birds has unfortunately been completely misconstrued.
‘Due to contractual obligations, we are unable to comment on the identity of our client.’
