Who is Tim Key? Meet the Great Celebrity Bake Off 2023 contestant

Here’s everything you need to know about Tim Key as he takes to the Bake Off kitchen!

By Morgan Cormack

Published: Sunday, 26 March 2023 at 12:00 am

Another week, another episode of The Great Celebrity Bake Off to get excited over!

This week, another batch of celebrity contestants take to the tent to show off their baking prowess (or not) in a bid to raise awareness for Stand Up To Cancer.

While Week One saw the likes of David Schwimmer and former Little Mix star Jesy Nelson take to the kitchen, this week sees a slew of new faces trying to impress judges Paul Hollywood and Prue Leith.

One of this week’s being Tim Key, the radio personality, actor, comedian and poet who is best known for playing Alan Partridge’s sidekick Simon in Mid Morning Matters, Alpha Papa and This Time.

While we know that Key can most certainly make us laugh, is he a dab hand in the baking stakes?

Read on for everything you need to know about Tim Key.

Who is Tim Key?

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Tim Key

Age: 46

Job: Poet, comedian, actor, screenwriter

Instagram: @timkeypoet

Twitter: @timkeyperson

Tim Key is a man of many talents but is perhaps best known as a poet and most recently wrote and starred in BBC short film Wonderdate, which earned him a BAFTA nomination.

He is obviously well recognised for his role as “Sidekick Simon”, Alan Partridge’s sidekick, a role which he reprised in 2013’s Alpha Papa but has appeared in multiple comedies throughout his career including Time Trumpet, Gap Year, Inside No. 9 and had minor roles in shows like Plebs, Brassic, Skins, Never Mind The Buzzcocks and more.

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Tim Key in The Witchfinder.
BBC/Baby Cow Productions/Steve Peskett

Most recently, Key has starred in BBC Two’s The Witchfinder alongside Daisy May Cooper, Here We Go and See How They Run. In 2014, he was also a panellist on the first series of Taskmaster and has been credited a ‘Task Consultant’ on the series since.

Key is also a prominent figure on the airwaves, regularly being heard on BBC Radio 4 and hosting Tim Key’s Late Night Poetry Programme. He has also written a total of five books, with his most recent, Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush (An Anthology of Poems and Conversations from Outside), being released in 2022.

Who will Tim Key be competing against?

Each week, a different batch of contestants will be flexing their culinary skills in the tent and this week will see Key compete against comedian, writer and director Jessica Hynes, TV presenter AJ Odudu and TV personality Gemma Collins.

At the end of each set of challenges, the contestants will be told who the Star Baker of the week is by judges Prue Leith and Paul Hollywood. Of course, Matt Lucas and Noel Fielding will be on hand to present, provide jokes and support to our struggling celebrities.

This will sadly be Lucas’s last season, but it has now been confirmed that Alison Hammond will be his presenting replacement.