Catherine Tyldesley Responds To Three Little Birds Bakery Cake Gate
Former Coronation Street star Catherine Tyldesley found herself at the centre of a bizarre controversy when a bakery owner refused to make 100 cakes for her birthday in exchange for social media and magazine plugs.
The incident sparked a heated exchange on social media, with Tyldesley hitting back at the bakery owner’s refusal.
The controversy began when Rebecca Severs, the owner of Three Little Birds Bakery, shared an email exchange between her bakery and a PR company representing a ‘well-known’ celebrity.
The email requested 100 cupcakes, a smaller birthday cake for Tyldesley’s husband, and a main birthday cake with a theme of ‘pinks, sparkles, and a touch of flamingos.’ The twist came when email exchange was posted on Facebook, expressing her disappointment that the celebrity couldn’t afford to pay for the cakes.
The founder of Three Little Birds Bakery wrote: ‘This poor celebrity apparently can’t afford to pay people for their products and services. Spare a thought! What happened to women supporting women.’
Tyldesley, who claims she was unaware of the email exchange taking place, responded to the controversy on her Instagram page. In a video, she expressed her confusion and labelled the situation “utterly bizarre.”
She clarified that she wasn’t working with Ok magazine, or the PR company mentioned in the email, and defended the reputation of the company, NVRLND, which had provided performers for her in the past.
Tyldesley suggested that the bakery owner was seeking exposure through the Facebook post, hinting at the possibility of ulterior motives.
Sharing a video this morning, she gave a thumbs up to the camera as she said: ‘Utterly bizarre. I don’t really know what to say. I mean I hope the cake lady got the exposure she was craving.’
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Starting the video, the actress said: ‘Cake gate! WHAT!’
‘So, I had no idea those emails were being sent. I’m not working with the lovely Ok magazine on anything that I’m aware of and NVRLND are an amazing company.
‘They’ve supplied me with performers in the past; They’re insane and they’ve been completely misrepresented in this matter.’
Catherine Tyldesley went on to brand the scandal ‘utterly bizarre’ and suggested the owner of Three Little Birds Bakery was ‘seeking exposure’ with her Facebook post sharing the email.
The email from the celebrity management team, which Rebecca posted online, read: ‘We are organising a 40th Birthday Party for a well-known celebrity on the 1st of September 2023 in Manchester.
‘In return for being a supplier for the event, payment would be made in the form of promotion on their socials with over 700K followers, as well as promoted on OK Magazine.
‘They will be crediting all the suppliers on these platforms.’
It continued: ‘The party has a guest list full of celebrities and industry people from tv/film and music, so loads of work would come from it.’
A number of requests were made, and the email stated that in return for the bakery supplying the cakes they would be rewarded in the form of promotion from the celebrity’s social media with more than 700k followers. They went on to say it would also be promoted in OK Magazine.
Replying to Leeds-based party planners NVRLND, Rebecca Severs confirmed she had availability but jokingly said: ‘I’m so sorry to hear that your client has fallen on such hard times they can’t afford to pay small businesses 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.’
With the response on social media, it is clear the majority of the people are on the side of Rebecca Severs leaving Catherine Tyldesley embarrassed.
The situation took a legal turn when Three Little Birds Bakery revealed that they had been threatened with legal action. The bakery updated their Facebook page, stating that they had received threats in response to their initial post.
They expressed gratitude for the overwhelming support and emphasized their commitment to fair pricing and supporting their staff. Rebecca Severs highlighted the importance of highlighting the issue of small businesses, particularly in female-dominant industries, not receiving fair compensation for their time and skill.
The owner of Three Little Birds Bakery updated her Facebook page and said: ‘Hi to all our new followers. We deal in delicious cakes and a generous side of sarcasm when necessary.
‘We are getting a massive amount of phone calls, emails and messages as a result of the media coverage of the news story that is us refusing to work for heart emojis.
‘We are blown away by all your support and so happy to see that so many other people agree that small business shouldn’t be taken advantage of!’
Speaking to a local radio station, Rebecca said: ‘It’s really important to highlight the issue of small businesses, especially in female-dominant industries, not earning a fair wage for their time and skill, especially in the cost-of-living crisis we are experiencing.
‘We are proud of our team who are all highly skilled at cake baking and decorating, and proud to have built a successful business based on correct pricing which means our staff are paid a decent wage and have job stability.
‘We wish the same for NVRLND and offer them and their clients our best regards for the future.’
Since the emails were posted online it has now been revealed that another baker claims they were also approached. The baker who wanted to remain anonymous said they also passed up on the opportunity.
In response to the scandal, Leeds based event management firm NVRLND released a statement and said its email had been ‘completely misconstrued’.
Founder Victoria Eames said: ‘NVRLND contacted Three Little Birds Bakery to offer them the opportunity to collaborate with one of our clients to cater for a party.
‘As part of the collaboration, our client would cover all of Three Little Birds Bakery’s expenses and costs in exchange for social media content and local and national exposure for their business. To confirm, NVRLND are also retained on the same expenses-only basis.
‘We selected Three Little Birds Bakery to collaborate with a view to support a local business and help them grow.
‘Our aim is to connect small local businesses with the opportunity of growth and the possibility of a full diary which is what we have experienced when working on past collaborations. We would never expect any business to be out of pocket and nor would our client.
‘Our email communication to Three Little Birds has unfortunately been completely misconstrued.
‘Due to contractual obligations, we are unable to comment on the identity of our client.’
