Sweet! Chula Vista cake artist Jose Barajas represents West Coast — and gay cake decorators — on TLC’s ‘Next Great Baker’

TLC’s Next Great Baker returns to our screens June 24 for season four. Hosted by Buddy Valastro, the star of his own reality series, Cake Boss, the show features contestants participating in challenges that test their baking and decorating skills.

According to TLC, this new season comes with a whole new set style and spice. For the entirety of this season’s competition, Valastro is joined by famed chocolatier Jacques Torres and Magnolia Bakery’s Chief Baking Officer Bobbie Lloyd, who will evaluate competitors on their baking skill and execution of each challenge.

Also new to this season, teams of two will compete in hopes of winning the ultimate prize, a chance to work for Buddy at the new Carlo’s Bakery at The Venetian in Las Vegas, as well as the grand prize of $100,000.

Adding local flavor to the already intense competition and representing the West Coast will be our very own Jose Barajas from Chula Vista, together with friend Aimee Anderson, from Bonita.

San Diego LGBT Weekly caught up with Barajas to talk to him about the show and what competing at this level really entails.

San Diego LGBT Weekly: How long have you been in the cake decorating business and how did you get involved with it?

Jose Barajas: I’ve been cake decorating for – it’s almost going to be ten years. My mom used to be a cake decorator, so I remember being there watching her decorate. It didn’t come to mind that I wanted to be a cake decorator; first I wanted to be a zoologist, then I wanted to be a psychologist. Psychology is still a big thing for me; that’s probably something that I want to get into still. But just the art part of cake decorating is amazing. I mean I did the baking, pastry and culinary school, but when it comes to cake decorating, it’s nothing but art, which is really cool.

What are some of the favorite cakes that you’ve created?

Obviously, the Disney ones.

Obviously, yes, we can see from the Disney tattoos on your arm.

My obsession, yeah. I love Disney, and this arm, my little Disney arm – it’s a little project that I’m working on with my tattoo artist, Pancho Perez. His work is just amazing. I tell him that I want to do a Disney arm and he just gets excited too. He has a lot of tattoos lined up for me. That’s all I love, just – Disney. I hope they [Disney] will see the show too – I want to see why they didn’t hire me. I actually applied for them at the Disneyland Resort for their central bakery cake decorating department, and they did offer me the job, but once they asked me about the tattoos, I said yes I have tattoos, and that was one of their strict rules, so they scratched the whole idea of hiring me in September, so I was pretty bummed out and things happen for a reason, obviously.

Was it the Disney tattoos or was there a limit on where they could appear?

I couldn’t have tattoos on my hands because I was working with food. And even though regardless I was going to be 95 percent behind the scenes, nobody was going to see me with tattoos, and I was going to be wearing gloves at all times, it’s still their old-school rule about no tattoos. I mean, they just lifted the beard ban, so people can wear beards now! Maybe in the future, when people can work with tattoos exposed, maybe I’ll get a job there, or maybe it’ll be too late for them. (laughs)

How did you decide to apply for Next Great Baker?

In September, after I got the job rejection from Disneyland, and that kind of was a low blow for me. In October, work was actually pretty slow, and I actually got freshly out of a relationship, so that was going downhill too. I was helping a friend out that owns a wholesale bakery that I used to work for. I went to go help him and he had an email about Next Great Baker. He asked me, “Why don’t you just turn in an application? Just try it, just try it.” I tried it, just for me to say that I applied. Once that happened, I got an email to turn in a video, then I got an email to do a Skype interview, then I got a phone call to apply in New Jersey for the final interview, then I got a phone call to pack my bags and – “It’s go time!” as Buddy says.

Who is Buddy Valastro?

He’s the Cake Boss. He’s a really cool guy. A lot of people ask, “Oh, is he a hardass?” He is tough when it comes to judging, because we are picked as the best cake decorators in the country, so of course he has high expectations for us, but at the end of the day he is a really cool mentor and a great businessman and he’s there for just that, to help us out, so we can flourish just the way that he did.

So would you say he’s the Heidi Klum of the cake decorating business?

Oh yeah, like 100 percent, I mean he’s everywhere now. Everywhere you go, the grocery stores, Michael’s, everywhere – there’s products left and right. He outdid himself. He created something out of just a small bakery that he and his family own. That’s amazing, and I think that’s what we all went into the show for, to become what he already is.

What’s new and different in season four of Next Great Baker?

This season, they’re doing teams of two. This is the first time they’ve ever tried it, and it’s pretty interesting the reasons why they’re doing teams of two, because now you have your say, and then you have the say of another person. So that causes a lot of drama, but then that also helps a lot because you have a helping hand. And this season, also they have two permanent judges, Jacques Torres, the world-renowned chocolatier; and Bobbie Lloyd, the Chief Baking Officer of Magnolia Bakery – her cupcakes are famous because of Sex and the City. So they’re pretty big people – and Buddy of course.

Tell us about the reality show experience – what was it like living with the other contestants, cut off from society for, how long was it?

It was a good amount of time, but being away from family and friends, it was really difficult for everybody – I mean, the majority of these people are parents, so that was a big thing. There was a team from Florida, a married couple, and for both of them to be gone from their children, that’s a lot of hurt for their kids, and they knew that, and that just broke them a lot. And that was just one of the most difficult things, that you know you’re there for a reason, you know you’re there to make life better for yourself and for your family, but just the fact that you’re completely off-communication from them for so long, it’s really, really – it’s a mind game. That’s all it is, it’s a mind game. You know you have to give it all, physically, in cake decorating, but then mentally too – you have to kind of cut them away, and be like, “You know what? This is work.” There’s a lot of work. And reality TV, you only see one hour each week, but we were there for hours. There was probably over 30 hours of footage for each person, and you’re probably only going to see five minutes of each person.

Where are you working now and do you expect business to increase from your exposure on the show?

I was working only probably like two days a week at a cake supply shop in Chula Vista called Standlee’s, and I was working from home, and also like when work was really intense, I was able to use the kitchen of my friend’s wholesale bakery in La Mesa. He’s a cool guy, his name is Marcello Alvarez. He’s always had the doors open if I wanted to use his big industrial kitchen and hopefully I’ll get a lot of business after this where I can open a storefront, or even if I get a cool job offer – I already started getting some job offers, so that’s exciting.

What kinds of relationships did you form with the other contestants?

I made a lot of great friends, and a lot of not-so-great friends. I grew friendships with a bunch of the cast members, and I’m actually really excited, because in the summer some might visit me and I might visit them during the fall, so that’s really cool.

All from around the U.S., not just locally?

It’s really crazy that each team represents a different state, and it’s kind of insane that me and my teammate, Aimee Anderson, are representing California, but not just California, the entire West Coast, because we are the only West Coast people on the show.

Any teams you found it difficult to get along with? What kind of drama can we expect?

You can expect some good arguments, you can expect a lot of accusations, so yeah – there’s a lot of drama involved. There are even a few little dramas between team members so … it’s good TV.

So for bakers, pastry chefs, cake decorators – this is a big deal?

This is the best exposure any cake decorator can get. I mean, there are a lot of cake decorating competitions on television, but this is an entire season where you will get exposed. And it’s TLC! TLC is owned by Discovery. This show gets aired internationally, in so many countries, so this is the best exposure anybody can ask for.

Is there a premiere party?

Yes, we are going to have a season premiere party at the Eastlake Church in Chula Vista. My partner, Aimee, she’s actually a pastor’s wife, so we’re titled the “unconventional duo” because I’m the gay one and she’s a hardcore Christian, but we get along. That’s one of the main things we want to get across, because there’s a lot of controversy with Christians and gays, and we just want to let them know that at the end of the day, we’re human, and we really love what we do and we get along amazingly.

Aimee’s from San Diego?

Aimee’s also from San Diego. She actually lives in Bonita.

Have either of you seen an uptick in same-sex wedding cake orders since the overturn of Prop. 8?

I haven’t yet. I’ve only done one same-sex wedding cake. And I kind of want to make more! So I’m pretty excited about that. Hopefully I’ll get hit up for some more.

Will be there any live online interaction during the show?

I’m going to be live Tweeting on my Twitter account, and I’m also going to be blogging about the episode the day after the episode airs. So I’m going to be probably explaining the stressful situation of those cakes in that episode. Hopefully I’ll get followers so they can check out all that cool stuff!

Any romances, or showmances, on set?

No romances, no showmances – just pure friendship with everybody. We’re just there to give everybody a good show with cake decorating and pastries, but that’s pretty much it. Still single. (laughs)

Some of us might think of cake decorating as stereotypically gay like florist or flight attendant. You’re the only gay contestant on the show?

Yes, I was the only gay contestant on the show. And actually, cake decorating is not a “gay” occupation. It’s a lot of art, and it’s a lot of – I mean you work with food – you think head chef, you think these tattoo-covered heterosexual men, and then you think of an artist … you’d be surprised, there’s a lot of straight people in this business, because this isn’t a gay guy just playing with his Easy-Bake Oven. This is full-on cake decorating, this is extravagant work. We’re not just making frou-frou wedding cakes. We’re making cakes that look like people, we’re making cakes that look like cars, we’re making cakes that look like anything a customer desires. We’re not just making a Martha Stewart chiffon cake or anything like that.

Serious cakes, not a rectangle from a grocery store?

Professional cakes. Full-on cakes that make you think that these are not cakes.

What kind of price ranges are we talking about?

The cakes that we all do on the show, they’re probably worth over five grand minimum, each. These cakes are beyond like anybody can think of, dream of.

That’s about ten times the budget of a dress on Project Runway, is it not?

Oh of course it is, but I mean it’s the caliber – the work we put in this and the crazy part about it is we only have limited time for each cake, so these cakes are cakes that we truly take days making, and we all have to make them in eight hours, which is pretty intense.

Are you tied to your teammate through the entire series? Or do you compete head-to-head against a single person at the end?

No. We’re always with our teammates, we’re always competing with our teammates. We all go down together, we all are victorious together, so Aimee is pretty much my ride-or-die.

Any special moments you want to tease us with?

I wish I could share it with you, but … there are a lot of cool guest celebrity judges and there are a lot of cool prizes. Can’t tell you what I won, can’t tell you what I didn’t win – it’s just a matter of watching it!

Season Four of Next Great Baker premieres Tuesday, June 24 on TLC at 9 p.m.