14 February 2023 , 16:09
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The Great British Bake Off has been praised for championing LBGTQ+ bakers - and that's something Janusz Domagal wants to see more of in the future across the board.
At the inaugural Gaydio Awards, which aim to highlight queer excellence, Janusz took home an award for 'LGBTQ+ champion of the year'.
The Bake Off star spoke passionately about the need for more people in the community to be shown in all types of television.
He also told a heartwarming tale of how his appearance on Bake Off led to a mother and child having an important conversation about sexuality.
Janusz was a much loved Bake Off contestant and he thinks it was because he was 'himself' (Channel 4 / Love Productions)Janusz puts his nomination for the award down to the fact that he was completely able to be 'himself', but stated that he understands that there are still some countries where members of the LGBTQ+ community aren't able to be open about who they love.
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The Bake off Star said that even in his native Poland queer people are persecuted, and according to Wikipedia, 'the status of LGBTQ rights in Poland is the worst among European Union countries'.
"I was myself, but in some countries, like Poland, being gay is still not entirely okay. I was nominated because I represented part of the LGBTQ+ community - and that made it even more special", he explained.
Describing representing the LGBTQ+ community on Bake Off as "very important", Janusz continued: "From the minute I walked into the tent, I felt proud. Even with the bake I went home on I was proud, because one of the tiers represented the transgender community, which you don't hear about often on mainstream shows.
Janusz was proud to represent the LGBTQ+ community (Mark Bourdillon)
Janusz bakes cakes that celebrate the LGBTQ+ community (@januszbakes/Instagram)"Representation is really important for the people who are watching it, and Bake Off is so broadly broadcasted and watched by so many people, so to see different communities shown on TV is crucial.
"For me, the representation matters. Even after I went home I was getting messages from people supporting me, and there was one that really touched my heart which was from the mother of a six-year-old child and she said that she had a very nice conversation with her child about which tier represented on one of my bakes.
"She said one tier represented the LGBTQ+ community, the middle tier is the representation of the trans community, and the top tier is the representation of the gay community, and she said she could explain to her child really well what each of those means which is amazing.
"If there's even one life that is changed now because of me, it's been a massive success and actually I'm really happy about it. We need to open up these conversations."
Janusz also opened up about the WhatsApp messages between contestants, sharing that there's a "massive group chat".
He said: "We've got a massive group chat going on, and one of the producers is in this group chat, so of course we created another one which is a bit more secret.
"We are all in touch and we actually have something planned for next month (March) which is top secret and I cannot say what, but we're all going to meet again!"
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