An independent bakery has lambasted ITV bosses after receiving an email from staff at The Voice asking him to supply his products for free.
Rich Myers, owner of Get Baked, shared a screenshot of the email, which requested his help in providing his “amazing products... for our talent dressing rooms and green rooms”.
Get Baked is best known for their viral multi-layered Big Bertha chocolate cakes and will soon open their first permanent store in London in collaboration with gourmet popcorn makers Godfrey’s Popcorn.
The screenshot, posted on both Get Baked and Myers’ Instagram accounts, read: “My name is [blank] and I’m working on ITV’s The Voice this year.
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The Voice includes celebrity coaches and talented contestants vying for the top prizeITV“We have a very high calibre of talent lined up for the show, along with our celebrity coaches who are soon to be revealed.
“We start filming in a couple of months, and we are looking for amazing products to boost their long working days!”
It goes on to ask Myers “if there would be anything you could help us with” in terms of supplying his baked goods for the production - but clarified that no payment would be made.
“Unfortunately, we at ITV are unable to offer anything monetary or otherwise in return for your products,” the email continued, adding: “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.”
It was signed off by “The Voice Team”.
Myers expressed his incredulity at the request in his post caption and said he initially did not think it was a real email.
“I actually thought this was a wind up, but it’s totally real,” he wrote. “ITV and Lifted Entertainment, you’re a total disgrace. Honestly, how did we get here? Stop whatever this is because I wanna get off.”
He also shared his blunt response to the email, which was littered with expletives aimed specifically at ITV bosses.
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“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,” he began his response.
“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 bosses [sic] boss. 3. Your bosses bosses [sic] boss. 4. That’s probably suffice.”
Myers added in the comments that he was “in no way [blaming] the person that sent this email”, and joked: “’Exposure to their highly influential coaches and presenters’. Who do they think I am, Gregg Wallace?”
The post has garnered more than 32.4k likes at the time of writing, with almost 1,300 comments expressing disbelief at ITV.
Comedian Abi Clarke pointed out: “LOL that they aren’t even promising exposure” while Great British Menu presenter Andi Oliver said: “’Monetary or otherwise’ is wild chat...”
Tony Award winner Jak Malone added sarcastically: “We can’t pay you, but rest assured the people who eat your stuff will be really talented!”
In a second Instagram post shared earlier today, Myers also his response to a request for comment from a reporter at The Daily Mail.
He wrote: “Yeah tell ‘em I said they were a set of f***ing mugs.
“And, 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.
“Lastly, I’ve never seen The Voice, but a quick search shows that their viewings have gone from 8.6m in 2015 to 2.8m in 2024.
“They can reach out to me if they want any marketing assistance, although that won’t be free either.”
ITV shared their full-year results in March and revealed a pre-tax profit of £338m for 2025, which was down 35 per cent from £521m in the year before.
Despite the decline, ITV said it performed ahead of market expectations, adding that it is “on track for another year of good growth in total revenue in 2026”.
During its peak years on the BBC from 2012 to 2015, The Voice drew an average of 8.5m viewers, but after ITV acquired the rights to air the singing competition, the figures declined steadily.
In 2024, the 13th series of The Voice only drew an average of approximately 2.7m viewers per episode.
The Standard has contacted ITV and Get Baked for comment.