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Ruby Tandoh
Tandoh in 2020
Born1992 (age 31–32)
Southend-on-Sea, Essex, England
Occupation(s)Television personality, baker, newspaper columnist, author, model
Years active2013–present
EmployerBBC / ITV
TelevisionThe Great British Bake Off
SpouseLeah Pritchard (m. 2018)

Ruby Alice Tandoh (born 1992) is a British baker, columnist, author, and former model.[1] She was runner-up on series four of BBC's The Great British Bake Off in 2013 and has written four cookbooks. Her 2021 Cook as You Are was named to several best-of lists. Her online debates with many in the UK food world have also drawn attention.

Early life

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Tandoh grew up in Southend-on-Sea, as the eldest of four siblings.[2][3] Her father worked for the Royal Mail and her mother was a school administrator.[4] Her paternal grandfather came from Ghana.[2][4] To save money feeding a large family, they usually cooked from the vegetarian Moosewood Cookbook.[3]

Tandoh had an eating disorder as a teenager, which she describes as "akin to bulimia, with some binge-eating and anorexia on the side".[4] For a while she was vegan – though she emphasizes that being vegan is not an eating disorder for everyone, she says that for her it was.[4] Three years of this disorder led to a suicide attempt at the age of eighteen. She was admitted to a mental health ward but released after one day because she had good grades and "beautiful hair".[4] The eating disorder continued for a total of six years, including throughout her university studies, and her Great British Bake Off appearance.[4]

Tandoh studied philosophy and history of art at University College London, but left after four years without a degree.[4][5]

The Great British Bake Off

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Tandoh competed in the fourth series (2013) of The Great British Bake Off (GBBO) at age twenty, making her the youngest competitor in the series at the time.[6] She reached the all-women final, with Kimberley Wilson and Frances Quinn.[7]

Before the final episode, Tandoh was considered the favourite to win by London bookmakers.[1][8] However she attracted noticeable antipathy among some viewers, especially online.[9][1] These critics claimed that she got into the final by crying; or that she and judge Paul Hollywood were personally attracted to each other (enough that Hollywood had to make a statement that he thought Wilson prettier);[10] or that she was too self-deprecating; or even that she hit back at her critics (calling one Twitter poster a "bitter old witch").[1] Sarah Ditum addressed most of these accusations in a defence of Tandoh in The Guardian.[1][11]

Tandoh became one of runners-up to Quinn, who made a three-tier wedding cake inspired by A Midsummer Night's Dream which the judges said "beat the other two guys hands down".[7] After the conclusion, Tandoh published a much-cited editorial in The Guardian in which she hit back at the criticism that she encountered during the airing of the show, which she said was surprising, personal, and misogynist.[12][13][14][15] For the fifth series (2014) of GBBO, which included the youngest-ever contestant, seventeen-year-old Martha Collison, the BBC specifically warned contestants how to ignore online trolls in response to the unprecedented abuse that Tandoh received.[16][17]

By 2021, Tandoh said that she could no longer watch the series, despite still appreciating it, and that the theme song made her feel sick.[18]

Writing career

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Tandoh has written several books: Crumb: The Baking Book (2014), Flavour: Eat What You Love (2016),[19] Eat Up!: Food, Appetite, Eating What You Want (2018), and Cook as You Are (2021). Eat Up! explores aspects of food culture, such as eating disorders (which Tandoh suffered from in her teenage years), the wellness craze, food snobbery, and pleasure of food.[20]

Eat Up! addresses culinary culture from a social justice point of view, including the colonialist origins of tea, the classism associated with sugar, and food-associated body shaming.[21] It also covered the dangers of exclusion diets and eating disorders, encouraging the unconditional enjoyment of food.[22] It met positive reviews from Kirkus Reviews, which called it "engrossing", and a mixed one from i newspaper, which questioned its preferring tinned ingredients to raw ones.[21][22] Eat Up! was a top ten Sunday Times bestseller in 2018.[23][24]

Tandoh wrote for The Guardian,[25] but announced in June 2018 that she would stop, citing the "elitist" nature of the industry.[26] By March the following year she was again writing occasional articles for the paper.[27][28]

Along with her wife, Leah Pritchard, Tandoh published the one-off mental health zine Do What You Want in 2017.[3] All profits from the zine go to charities and non-profits.[29]

Eater said that Cook as You Are "is an exercise in creating room for every kind of recipe and every kind of cook", noting the lack of any photography.[30] Tandoh explained the decision to exclude photographs of food and kitchens as intentional, meant to encourage home cooks to assess their success at creating dinner "not by whether it matches up with a photo of a meal staged by a food stylist for a cookbook photo shoot".[31] The Atlanta Journal-Constitution describes the book as "focus[ing] on flexible, mostly low-effort, daily cooking, with charming illustrations of various down-to-earth home settings".[31] Publishers Weekly wrote, "For those seeking a no-fuss guide to feeding loved ones and themselves, this is a winner."[32] The book was named to several best-of lists.[33][34][35]

Public conflicts and criticism

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Tandoh's online criticisms of and conflicts with fellow chefs, often via Twitter, have drawn extensive news coverage.[4][5]

Prior to the airing of the Great British Bake Off 2013 finale, chef Raymond Blanc tweeted that Tandoh was the presumed winner and her emotionality and thinness made him doubt her love for cooking or baking.[36] Tandoh responded, calling Blanc an idiot.[37]

During Tandoh's stint on Great British Bake Off, comments had been made that she flirted with Paul Hollywood to gain favour. After coming out as gay in 2015, Tandoh responded to these accusations with a statement on Twitter.[38] In 2016, she made insulting comments about Hollywood when he announced that he was moving with GBBO--but without Mary Berry--from BBC to Channel 4, implying he was primarily interested in the money.[39][40]

In January 2017, Tandoh referred to wellness bloggers, and specifically food writer Ella Mills, as "dangerous".[41][4] In April 2017, she refused an offer to appear on Good Morning Britain, referring to host Piers Morgan as a "sentient ham".[42][43] In a series of tweets later in April 2017, Tandoh criticised multiple celebrity chefs including Jamie Oliver, Lorraine Pascale, the Hairy Bikers, and Tom Kerridge, for what she called elitism, selfishness, and fatphobia.[44] In May of that year, Tandoh criticised chefs Nigella Lawson, Kerridge, and Anthony Bourdain for supporting boring and privileged cooking.[45] In June, Tandoh jointly and separately criticised chefs Oliver, Nigel Slater, Lawson, the Hairy Bikers, and Hollywood for not speaking up before the 2017 United Kingdom general election.[46][47] In August she further criticised Hollywood for blocking her on Twitter.[48]

In 2018, Tandoh criticised former Made in Chelsea reality show contestant Lucy Watson, who had released a vegan cookbook in 2017, for tweeting that "most people" should be vegan. Tandoh listed reasons why people might not be able to be vegan, and said that Watson was writing from a position of social privilege. Watson replied by accusing Tandoh of taking offence because her own cookbook contained meat and dairy recipes.[49] An editorial by Ella Griffiths in The Independent supported Tandoh.[50]

In 2020, Tandoh joined a chorus of voices criticising the Horizon episode about "The Restaurant That Burns Off Calories", first tweeting, then writing in The Guardian, that it would encourage fat-shaming and disordered eating.[51][52] Host Fred Sirieix replied by sarcastically thanking her for drawing attention to the episode.[51][53]

Personal life

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Tandoh says that she accepted being queer soon after she came to terms with her relationship to food.[54] She writes in Eat Up! that before then she had denied herself both food and meaningful relationships.[4]

Tandoh came out in a Twitter tweet in 2015, with a link to the Diana Ross song "I'm Coming Out".[38] This drew extensive media attention, most reporting that she had announced she was gay.[55][56][57][58] In her 2018 interview with The Times, Tandoh identified herself as bisexual, saying that she had past boyfriends.[59]

Tandoh had been encouraged to come out by her girlfriend, Leah Pritchard, a musician training to be a psychotherapist.[60] Tandoh says she was lucky to meet her after only a couple of dates after accepting her bisexuality.[4] They met on Tinder, and announced their relationship soon after Tandoh's coming out tweet.[61] They live in Sheffield, where they married in a low-key ceremony on 31 August 2018.[61] They share episodes of depression and anxiety, such as Tandoh feeling trapped inside her home for multiple days at a time.[3]

Tandoh has spoken out about her struggles with eating disorders, criticising the body shaming common in "wellness" culture and advocating a healthier, more positive approach to food writing.[62] She was voted the Great British Bake Off's favourite past contestant by the Radio Times audience in 2016.[63]

Bibliography

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  • Crumb: The Baking Book (2014), ISBN 0701189312[30]
  • Flavour: Eat What You Love (2016), ISBN 0701189320[30]
  • Eat Up!: Food, Appetite and Eating What You Want (2018), ISBN 1781259593[64]
  • Cook as You Are (2021), ISBN 978-0593321546[30]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e "RUBY TANDOH: Why so much 'vitriol and misogyny'?". The Week UK. 23 October 2013. Archived from the original on 9 November 2022. Retrieved 17 November 2022.
  2. ^ a b "My perfect weekend: Ruby Tandoh, Great British Bake Off finalist" Archived 11 January 2023 at the Wayback Machine, The Telegraph, 4 November 2013.
  3. ^ a b c d Pullman, Laura (26 March 2017). "Bake Off's firebrand Ruby Tandoh turns the gas to low". The Times. Archived from the original on 11 January 2023. Retrieved 17 November 2022.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Billen, Andrew (30 January 2018). "Ruby Tandoh: 'Oh, there will definitely be angry tweets'". The Times. Archived from the original on 11 January 2023. Retrieved 17 November 2022.
  5. ^ a b McGuinness, Katy (4 February 2018). "The chef Critic". Irish Independent. Archived from the original on 11 January 2023. Retrieved 17 November 2022.
  6. ^ "Ruby". The Great British Bake Off. Archived from the original on 11 January 2023. Retrieved 17 November 2022.
  7. ^ a b Plunkett, John (22 October 2013). "Frances Quinn wins The Great British Bake Off". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 26 May 2021. Retrieved 25 November 2020.
  8. ^ "'Bake Off' fans shocked at defeat of favourite Ruby". Irish Independent. Archived from the original on 11 January 2023. Retrieved 17 November 2022.
  9. ^ "Why have Great British Bake Off fans got it in for Ruby Tandoh?". The Guardian. 20 October 2013. Archived from the original on 9 November 2022. Retrieved 17 November 2022.
  10. ^ Wyatt, Daisy (21 October 2013). "Paul Hollywood denies favouring Great British Bake Off's Ruby Tandoh". The Independent. Archived from the original on 9 November 2022. Retrieved 17 November 2022.
  11. ^ Ditum, Sarah (21 October 2013). "The Great British Bake-Off: Ruby Tandoh doesn't deserve this hostility | Sarah Ditum". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 29 October 2022. Retrieved 17 November 2022.
  12. ^ Tandoh, Ruby (22 October 2013). "The Great British Bake Off: why did our show attract so much vitriol? | Ruby Tandoh". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 17 November 2022. Retrieved 17 November 2022.
  13. ^ Swerling, Hannah (23 October 2013). "Ruby exposes Bake Off misogyny". ELLE. Archived from the original on 17 November 2022. Retrieved 17 November 2022.
  14. ^ Times staff (23 October 2013). "Bake Off finalist Ruby Tandoh shocked by misogyny and vitriol aimed at contestants". The Times. Archived from the original on 9 November 2022. Retrieved 17 November 2022.
  15. ^ Carter, Claire (22 October 2013). "Bake Off reaction was 'misogynistic' says Ruby". Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 9 November 2022. Retrieved 17 November 2022.
  16. ^ Furness, Hannah (5 August 2014). "Great British Bake Off contestants warned to ignore sexist web trolls". Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 9 November 2022. Retrieved 17 November 2022.
  17. ^ Wyatt, Daisy (6 August 2014). "Great British Bake Off contestants warned to ignore online comments". The Independent. Archived from the original on 9 November 2022. Retrieved 17 November 2022.
  18. ^ Nugent, Annabel (1 October 2021). "Former Bake Off star hits out at show, says theme tune makes her 'feel sick'". The Independent. Archived from the original on 9 November 2022. Retrieved 22 November 2022.
  19. ^ Rao, Tejal (3 January 2017). "Ruby Tandoh Just Wants You to Eat What You Love". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 4 January 2017. Retrieved 5 January 2017.
  20. ^ Fox, Killian (5 February 2020). "Ruby Tandoh: 'I want to remind people that it's fine to enjoy a ready meal'". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 1 March 2021. Retrieved 25 November 2020.
  21. ^ a b "Eat Up". Kirkus Reviews. No. 15 May 2022. 27 April 2022. Archived from the original on 9 November 2022. Retrieved 10 November 2022.
  22. ^ a b Markwell, Lisa (16 February 2018). "Eat Up! by Ruby Tandoh, review: A healthy appetite for life". inews.co.uk. Archived from the original on 9 November 2022. Retrieved 10 November 2022.
  23. ^ "Books: The Sunday Times Bestsellers, February 11". The Sunday Times. 11 February 2018. Archived from the original on 30 July 2021.
  24. ^ "Books: The Sunday Times Bestsellers, February 18". The Sunday Times. 18 February 2018. Archived from the original on 30 July 2021.
  25. ^ "Ruby Tandoh". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 29 January 2017. Retrieved 16 December 2016.
  26. ^ Coghlan, Adam (7 June 2018). "Food Writer Ruby Tandoh Announces She's Leaving the Guardian". Eater London. Archived from the original on 12 June 2018. Retrieved 10 June 2018.
  27. ^ Tandoh, Ruby (29 March 2019). "Pinch of Nom suddenly makes Delia and Heston look a little stale". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 13 May 2019. Retrieved 13 May 2019.
  28. ^ Tandoh, Ruby (13 May 2019). "Ruby Tandoh: how I was turned into a human cheese". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 7 January 2020. Retrieved 13 December 2019.
  29. ^ Tandoh, Ruby; Pritchard, Leah. "Do What You Want: About Us". Archived from the original on 7 May 2018.
  30. ^ a b c d Hansen, James (7 September 2022). "Ruby Tandoh Pushes Back". Eater. Archived from the original on 9 December 2022. Retrieved 25 November 2022.
  31. ^ a b Puckett, Susan. "Cookbook review: Meals within reach". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. ISSN 1539-7459. Archived from the original on 10 November 2022. Retrieved 25 November 2022.
  32. ^ "Cook as You Are: Recipes for Real Life, Hungry Cooks, and Messy Kitchens: A Cookbook by Ruby Tandoh". www.publishersweekly.com. Archived from the original on 5 December 2022. Retrieved 25 November 2022.
  33. ^ Bitker, Janelle; Ho, Soleil; Kadvany, Elena (23 November 2022). "These are the 10 best cookbooks of 2022". San Francisco Chronicle. Archived from the original on 24 November 2022. Retrieved 25 November 2022.
  34. ^ Beggs, Alex (16 April 2022). "The 27 Best Cookbooks of 2022". Bon Appétit. Archived from the original on 25 November 2022. Retrieved 25 November 2022.
  35. ^ "The 25 best cookbooks of 2021". delicious. magazine. 31 October 2021. Archived from the original on 25 November 2022. Retrieved 25 November 2022.
  36. ^ Kidd, Patrick (22 October 2013). "Rolling pins at dawn over Raymond Blanc's Bake Off tweet about Ruby Tandoh". The Times. Archived from the original on 9 November 2022. Retrieved 17 November 2022.
  37. ^ "Raymond Blanc called an idiot by Bake Off finalist Ruby Tandoh". The Guardian. Press Association. 21 October 2013. Archived from the original on 9 November 2022. Retrieved 17 November 2022.
  38. ^ a b Welsh, Daniel (2 April 2015). "'Bake Off' Ruby Just Came Out In The BEST Way Possible". HuffPost UK. Archived from the original on 9 November 2022. Retrieved 17 November 2022.
  39. ^ Hooton, Christopher (22 September 2016). "GBBO: Ruby Tandoh goes in on 'peacocking man child' Paul Hollywood". The Independent. Archived from the original on 9 November 2022. Retrieved 17 November 2022.
  40. ^ Welsh, Daniel (22 September 2016). "Former 'Bake Off' Contestant Ruby Lays Into Paul Hollywood On Twitter". HuffPost UK. Archived from the original on 9 November 2022. Retrieved 25 November 2022.
  41. ^ Sholl, Alice (26 January 2017). "Ruby Tandoh calls wellness bloggers 'dangerous', hits out at fellow foodie Ella Mills". Yahoo! Life UK. Archived from the original on 19 November 2022. Retrieved 19 November 2022.
  42. ^ Stolworthy, Jacob (11 April 2017). "GMB asked Ruby Tandoh to come on the show. Her 'sentient ham' response was brutal". The Independent. Archived from the original on 9 November 2022. Retrieved 17 November 2022.
  43. ^ Jackman, Josh (11 April 2017). "Ruby Tandoh utterly destroyed Piers Morgan, and he may never recover from the burn". PinkNews. Archived from the original on 17 November 2022. Retrieved 17 November 2022.
  44. ^ Nerssessian, Joe (18 April 2017). "Ruby Tandoh slams celebrity chefs in 'selfish, fatphobic food world'". Irish Independent. Archived from the original on 9 November 2022. Retrieved 17 November 2022.
  45. ^ Bagwell, Matt (10 May 2017). "Former 'Bake Off' Star Ruby Tandoh Lays Into Nigella Lawson And Tom Kerridge In Twitter Rant". HuffPost UK. Archived from the original on 9 November 2022. Retrieved 17 November 2022.
  46. ^ Ellis-Petersen, Hannah (8 June 2017). "Ruby Tandoh criticises celebrity cooks for 'suspicious silence' over election". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 11 January 2023. Retrieved 17 November 2022.
  47. ^ Swinford, Steven (8 June 2017). "Bake Off star Ruby Tandoh slams Nigella Lawson and Jamie Oliver for failing to back Jeremy Corbyn". The Telegraph. Archived from the original on 17 November 2022. Retrieved 17 November 2022.
  48. ^ Powell, Emma (30 August 2017). "Ruby Tandoh slams Paul Hollywood as new GBBO kicks off". Evening Standard. Archived from the original on 11 January 2023. Retrieved 17 November 2022.
  49. ^ Petter, Olivia (8 February 2018). "Former reality TV star slammed for saying 'most people' should be vegan". The Independent. Archived from the original on 9 November 2022. Retrieved 17 November 2022.
  50. ^ Griffiths, Ella (10 February 2018). "Ruby Tandoh is right – a vegan diet isn't for everyone, and we should respect that". The Independent. Archived from the original on 9 November 2022. Retrieved 17 November 2022.
  51. ^ a b Fenwick, George (21 April 2020). "The Restaurant That Burns Off Calories sparks concern from charity". Evening Standard. Archived from the original on 9 November 2022. Retrieved 17 November 2022.
  52. ^ Tandoh, Ruby (22 April 2020). "Why is the BBC trying to fat-shame the nation?". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 17 November 2022. Retrieved 17 November 2022.
  53. ^ Carr, Flora (21 April 2020). "Fred Sirieix's The Restaurant That Burns Off Calories sparks backlash". Radio Times. Archived from the original on 17 November 2022. Retrieved 17 November 2022.
  54. ^ Swindells, Katharine (2 February 2018). "The Great British Bake Off is totally queer, says Ruby Tandoh". PinkNews. Archived from the original on 9 November 2022. Retrieved 18 November 2022.
  55. ^ Singh, Anita (2 April 2015). "Ruby Tandoh: I'm gay... so the joke's on you, misogynists". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 9 November 2022. Retrieved 17 November 2022.
  56. ^ Riese (2 April 2015). "Ruby Tandoh Is Gay: Food Writer and British Bake-Off Contestant Comes Out, Already Has A Toaster". Autostraddle. Archived from the original on 9 November 2022. Retrieved 17 November 2022.
  57. ^ Grierson, Jamie (2 April 2015). "Ruby Tandoh comes out as gay". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 9 November 2022. Retrieved 25 November 2022.
  58. ^ "Bake Off's Tandoh comes out as gay". Irish Independent. 2 April 2015. Archived from the original on 9 November 2022. Retrieved 25 November 2022.
  59. ^ Billen, Andrew (30 January 2018). "Ruby Tandoh: 'Oh, there will definitely be angry tweets'". The Times. Gale A525588001 and ProQuest 1992306683. Archived from the original on 9 November 2022. Retrieved 18 November 2022.
  60. ^ Pointer, Anna (1 August 2016). "Ruby Tandoh: 'I Feel Sorry For People Who Document Every Meal In Pictures'". Grazia. Archived from the original on 9 November 2022. Retrieved 18 November 2022.
  61. ^ a b "Bake Off star Ruby Tandoh weds fiancé Leah Pritchard – and celebrates with a trip to the cinema". Irish Independent. 8 September 2018. Archived from the original on 31 October 2022. Retrieved 18 November 2022.
  62. ^ Haynes, Suyin (16 October 2016). "gal-dem in conversation with Ruby Tandoh". gal-dem. Archived from the original on 18 October 2016. Retrieved 16 October 2016.
  63. ^ "Ruby Tandoh is your favourite ever Great British Bake Off contestant". Radio Times. 5 August 2015. Archived from the original on 18 April 2017. Retrieved 18 April 2017.
  64. ^ Williams, Mary Elizabeth (13 August 2022). ""Great British Bake Off" veteran Ruby Tandoh: "I see the show and I feel a pressure from it"". Salon. Archived from the original on 30 November 2022. Retrieved 25 November 2022.
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