Kim-Joy

Kim-Joy (born Kim-Joy Hewlett, ) is a British baker and cookbook writer. She became one of two runners-up in the ninth series of The Great British Bake Off and won Bake Off New Year 2022 special. She has written three cookbooks and is known for creating decorative baked goods often featuring whimsical themes and cute renderings of animals.

Early life and education Kim-Joy Homsi was born c. 1991 in Ottignies, Belgium to an English father and a Malaysian Chinese mother; she has extended family in Malaysia. The family moved to London when she was five; she has described a "chaotic" childhood during which her family "just stopped" celebrating Christmas. She has described her extreme social anxiety as a teen, including selective mutism. None of her family has baked much, and her interest in baking grew when she began attending a university. She bakes in an effort to socialise more. She had as many as 150 patients at a time. According to The Guardian, she "became known on the show for her intense commitment to cuteness"; it called the decision to cast her in the show "genius". The Sunday Post said in 2020 that in the franchise's then ten-year history, "no contestant has embodied the wholesome warmth of Bake Off more" than Kim-Joy. On the show she was known for her colorful decorative bakes, often with whimsical animal themes.

Kim-Joy told only her partner and "a couple of friends" that she was competing, excusing her social absence to others with what she called "the most bizarre excuses". Kim-Joy won that competition.

Kim-Joy is known for her "signature" cute baked goods. She has written three cookbooks and as of 2021 was a baking columnist for The Guardian. Food & Wine, reviewing her first cookbook, said her bakes were "almost too adorable to eat".

Board game In 2022 Skybound Games published Kim Joy's Magic Bakery, a cooperative card game in which players run a bakery in a magic forest.

Personal life In 2022 Kim-Joy married long-time partner Nabil Homsi, whom she had met nine years earlier through their mutual interest in board games; Homsi owns four board games shops in Leeds.

Kim-Joy avoided using her father's surname publicly.