A former Coronation Street actor has hit out at an “utterly bizarre” row over birthday cakes which stemmed from claims that a bakery owner was asked to bake 102 of them for nothing.
The bakery owner, Rebecca Severs, of the Three Little Birds bakery in Keighley, West Yorkshire, took to Facebook to say that free cakes had been requested by a party planner in exchange for social media and magazine plugs.
They were to be for a then unnamed celebrity having a 40th birthday party. The request was for one main cake for the party – theme: “camp as tits” – one smaller cake and 100 cupcakes.
Severs included screenshots of the request in her post. “In return for being a supplier at the event, payment would be in the form of promotion on their socials with over 700k followers, as well as promoted [sic] in OK magazine.” The company making the request, Nvrlnd, a Leeds-based event management agency, would also use the bakery for future events and parties, it said.
Severs was asked for her thoughts. They were “no”, and: “I’m so sorry to hear that your client has fallen on such hard times they can’t afford to pay small businesses for their products.
“Unfortunately, as my mortgage provider doesn’t take payment ‘in the form of promotion on their socials’, and my staff can’t feed their kids with exposure on Instagram, I’ll have to decline your very generous offer. Those are my thoughts,” she said.
The Daily Mail then revealed that the party planners were organising the bash for Catherine Tyldesley, an actor best known for playing Eva Price in Coronation Street and partnering Johannes Radebe on Strictly Come Dancing in 2019.
On Wednesday morning Tyldesley herself waded into the baked goods debacle. In an Instagram post titled Cake Gate – The Truth, the actor said she had no idea those emails were sent.
In an accompanying statement she said: “I would never ask anyone to work for free or provide product for free. I’m not working with the lovely OK magazine on anything.”
She said Nvrlnd was an amazing company which had been completely misrepresented. She continued: “I genuinely do hope the bakery have got some exposure and receive lots of new orders! I’ve always supported local and small businesses.
“The abuse I have been receiving online is horrendous so hopefully this will put an end to it. And here’s to turning 40. Love, Cath!”
Nvrlnd told the Daily Mail its email had been “completely misconstrued”. Its founder, Victoria Eames, said: “We would never expect any business to be out of pocket and nor would our client.”
The bakery, meanwhile, said it had been blown away by support and was happy to see so many people agreed that small businesses should not be taken advantage of. It is fully booked for cake orders until mid-September.
