Meet Glenn Cosby

I am headed down to meet Glenn Cosby at the Cafe Royal Hotel, London, on a perfect sunny day in July. As a man who does not possess a TV, I’ve not watched The Great Bake Off – I have however seen the amount of attention and the kind of following Glenn’s got on Twitter. Given the opportunity to chat with him, it’s a no brainer.

First impressions? I suppose ‘big, friendly man’ would be one way of putting it. Or ‘laid back’. Glenn’s a soft spoken, articulate chap – but very expressive with his hands and prone to animated bouts of enthusiasm when he hits a conversational thread that really gets him going.

Glenn comments on the decor and on the ornate patterns on Cafe Royale’s walls – identifying the period they originate from and a few other details which I can’t recall. The Cafe Royale is designed in the French style and later I’d find out Glenn’s degree is in English Literature and French.

So, one can be knowledgeable about baking and French architecture? Seems legit.

The interview begins, and I start at the beginning…

The Beginning 

Glenn really got started watching his Nan at work. He learned early on that asking her to tell him stories about the war would result in her baking more, which ergo would result in more baked things for him to eat. Grinning, Glenn describes this as “essentially manipulation”

This is my first hint at his sense of humour, which is as much a part of him as his way with pastry.

Glenn’s a very good listener. One of the few that we’ve profiled who has the ability to make me start talking about my experiences. Which is a bit like getting your therapist to talk about themselves – not really the way things are meant to happen.

I sense that some of this may have come from his stint being a teacher and dealing with temperamental teenagers, or school staff with issues to gripe about.

Early Days

Glenn grew up in Bedford, which I learn was/is actually a very cosmopolitan place. From a young age he was exposed to cuisines and people from the world over. The area was home to a large Italian population, and Glenn learnt to make Pasta in the back of an Italian restaurant from an old Italian woman (a ‘wiley old bird’), who’d then sell him a pasta maker

By all accounts, he was a bit of a culinary prodigy. He started cooking around the age of 3-4 and by the time he was 10, Glenn was making meals for the entire family – having completely taken over the kitchen – with the family’s approval, of course.

He recounts one of his earlier memories from his school days, describing ‘food envy’ at a friend who had white bread and Philadelphia cheese in his packed lunch. Turns out that Glenn’s Mum was quite the ‘health enthusiast’ and would prepare Glenn home baked bread sandwiches with her own, nutritionally superior fillings. Glenn appreciates this much more in retrospect and thinks it might have been a contributor to his current career trajectory.

Glenn’s international food odyssey continued on at full speed. Completely self taught, he learnt all he knows from watching cooking shows on the BBC from combing through the cookbooks that often came with them. Evidence of a future in food might have been clearest when at age 12 he cooked an entire birthday banquet by himself for his step-dad – even hanging a duck to age for 3 days in his front room (much to mum’s chagrin…)

“People say that cooking is an art and baking is a science, but that’s nonsense!” Glenn goes on to explain the process of making mayo that’s the black swan to that theory.

But as you’ve probably gathered, Glenn’s not just about food. He sees an opportunity in combining comedic and culinary talents.

His sense of humour continues to pervade the interview. Full of one liners – in reference to his prodigious appetite? “I don’t go for seconds, I go for hours”. The copywriter in me is impressed.

What makes a comedian?

Glenn was always comfortable with performing for others, though again he won’t claim to be anything special – “I’m not a performer or chef. An above average cook, but an Olympian eater. A gourmand…not a gourmet”. This self deprecation/modesty is a recurring theme.

What about his comedic background? It apparently comes from being comfortable with showing off at a young age. He seems to have been the funny kid at school, with lots of roles in comic parts “I just did it. I had no self awareness”. And all this long before he came out , actually.

He’d continue with it –  performing drama at university. Apparently he was funny, but not physically adept “I danced badly and the audience loved it! “.

And, being overweight for much of his life seems to have taught him to be comfortable in his own skin. He comes across quite sagacious and generally unphased by the ups and downs of life in the spotlight.

Which leads us to our next subject – dealing with the celebrity and the notoriety off the back of the Bake Off.

Bake Off And Celebrity

What about the nuts and bolts of it? What’s it like being famous for something? “I am an inveterate show off and attention seeker. I’ve taken to it like a duck to water”.  

Apparently the response, on the whole, is pretty warm.  Alternatively, people will recognise him, but not know where they’ve seen him. Which leads to awkward situations when people try not to stare as they try to recall where they’ve seen this person before…

Apparently, an average of 8million people watch the Bake Off each week. What’s it like? Super tense, apparently – they’re not given enough time to finish any of the challenges, and of course the cameras are everpresent – which can get to you.

The experience of being known by everybody reminds him of his time as a teacher, which was a similar thing but on a smaller scale

Still, the publicity from that period of his life has died down a little now. What was it like? “…people everywhere asking me if I’d brought any cake? that got a little onerous”

What about the response on social media? Usually nice, with some criticism – someone once called him ‘the gay Noel Edmond’ – but on the whole people only have love for the big man.

“Z List Celebrity…it’s too hard to deal with, it’s nice… I have broad enough shoulders to fall flat on my face” – Glenn laughs at his own mangled metaphor

I ask him what a typical day is like these days. Lots of his time is now spent writing and recording material for his show, Bake It Big – which he describes as ‘part cooking, part panto’. When not at home working on this he’s doing lots of weekend gigs in the South West, not travelling too far from where he lives.

He’s also preparing for a radio show, which will apparently be quite like a regular show (think music and interviews) but with a strong foodie bias. Future requests include a VIP tent at Glastonbury.

The Industry And The Future

He finds it interesting that a lot of other chefs who cook onstage don’t share their food with the audience. Supposedly this involves insurance? Why attend one of his shows? “Every punter is guaranteed a piece of cake”. Seems only fair.

What about his future plans? “I don’t have a game plan…that’s her job” (as he points at his manager)

His greatest moment so far? The first Bake It Big show – and with a sold out audience too. The realisation, after the initial hesitation that he could make this thing work, and really work.

And finally – what is/was the secret to success in baking, TV and life?

His answer is uncharacteristically laconic – “Just do it”.

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