Bake Off a test of European flair

Gabriel Weibl was a rare face of LGBTQ+ rights on television in Slovakia – now he is sharing his European heritage in the TVNZ series The Great Kiwi Bake Off.

Descended from Hungarian parents, the now Timaru-based former university lecturer, who has a PhD in political science, is completing his primary school teacher training study as he waits to see the rest of the edited episodes of the third series of the show, which began on October 14.

‘‘Baking is part of the culture of my family. It’s traditional to make a cake for family celebrations,’’ Weibl said.

Cakes were a large slice with cherry, chocolate or apricot toppings and a pizza-like base.

‘‘They have custard and cottage cheese. They’re heavy and creamy.’’

It is not Weibl’s first experience in television.

Growing up in Slovakia, he knew he was gay at about the age of 12 but did not come out to his family until he was in his early 20s. It took them a while to accept his sexuality.

‘‘Slovakia is one of four countries that does not recognise gay marriage. I knew if I stayed in Slovakia I would be expected to marry a woman and have children.

‘‘I would be pretending, and it would not be fair on who I married.’’

To support the cause he was interviewed regularly on live television on the subject of LGBTQ+ rights, ‘‘as noone else wanted to’’, he said.

He came to New Zealand for the first time in 2002 as an English language student.

Trips back and forth eventuated and in 2003 he met his future husband in New Zealand a month before returning to Europe.

Back in New Zealand a few years later, Weibl studied and completed his PhD at Canterbury University and the couple married in 2014. They moved to Timaru in December 2020, after a few years in Slovakia.

‘‘Now I just need to find a job as a teacher, once I finish later this year,’’ Weibl said.

Ten amateur bakers compete against one another in The Great Kiwi Bake Off. He enjoyed filming the show.

‘‘It was busy and lots of hard work. There were cameras everywhere, and you don’t know which bits will be used.’’

The hardest part for him was the technical challenges with a recipe and no picture of the finished product.

‘‘You don’t know what you are getting ahead of time, and you don’t know what it is supposed to look like.’’

The time pressure meant there was no room for mistakes, he said.

‘‘If you don’t do things in the right order or burn something and lose time there is no leverage. You can’t catch up.’’

It also took a while to get used to the small bench space and appliances.

‘‘I did my best.’’

Bound by confidentially in his contract, he could not say who out of the nine contestants left on the show get to the finals.

‘‘It was busy and lots of hard work.’’

Gabriel Weibl reflects on being in The Great Kiwi Bake Off.

The Great Kiwi Bake Off screens on Thursday nights on TVNZ 1 and TVNZ OnDemand at 7.30pm.