Catherine Tyldesley cancels 40th birthday party months after outrage over request for 100 free cakes from baker

27 August 2023, 19:34

TV star Catherine Tyldesley has cancelled her 40th birthday party - months after she was slammed as her party planner tried to source 100 free cakes for the bash but only offered 'exposure' as payment.

Party planner Nvrlnd asked baker Rebecca Severs for more than 100 free cakes - a birthday cake for the former Coronation Street actress, a smaller cake for her husband, and 100 cupcakes.

Now the bash has been cancelled altogether, according to the Sun, following the backlash.

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NVRLND offered no payment other than exposure, saying that "payment would be made in the form of promotion on their socials with over 700k followers", as well as being covered in a celebrity magazine.

"The party has a guest lists [sic] full of celebrities and industry from tv / film and music, so loads of work would come from it," the publicist added.

The baker turned the offer down, saying: "I'm so sorry to hear that your client has fallen on such hard times that they can't afford to pay small businesses for their services."

"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."

Ms Severs has since revealed that her business is booming after ‘cakegate’.

Ms Severs, from Keighley in Yorkshire, sells cakes and provides baking classes through her bakery, which she founded seven years ago.

Her business, The Three Birds Bakery, has been inundated with demand after she called out a company for requesting 100 free cakes for a celebrity birthday party in exchange for “exposure”.

Posting the email exchanges online, Rebecca’s post went viral and attracted the support of hundreds - much to her surprise.

“I don't have a huge social media following, so I thought it would just be a bit of fun,” she said.

The mum-of-three was shocked to find the sudden surge in demand that followed, with customers queuing outside the door of her small business, her phone ringing off the hook and staff having to work into the early hours of the morning to meet demand.

Rebecca started baking as a toddler alongside her mum and late aunt, who inspired her love of cake decorating.

“It was always the dream to open a shop in Keighley,” she told the Daily Mirror.

Initially she was so keen to get her feet off the ground and working from her family kitchen, she realised she wasn’t charging enough to make a profit.

“I remember working it out after one Christmas — I made £2 an hour — and thinking, why am I doing this? It's so stressful and it's so time-consuming but I'm not really making a proper wage.”

“It's gone better than I could ever have hoped,” she continued.

“We've already had to recruit more staff, and we've had brilliant support from the local community. Keighley is a town full of friendly, supportive and close-knit people.”