Yara Shahidi On How She Turned Reality TV Into A Personal Adventure
Her Campus article
By: Trinity Polk
In Her Campus’ series Next Question, we rapid-fire interview talent Gen Z loves about what it’s like to rule over pop culture. This month, Yara Shahidi is in the hot seat to answer our burning questions.
Known for her standout roles on Black-ish, Grown-ish, and Sitting in Bars with Cake, Yara Shahidi is no stranger to television sets. But when she stepped into the fast-paced Bake Off kitchen of The Great American Baking Show: Celebrity Edition, she wasn’t playing a character. For Shahidi, a longtime fan of the series, it was a dream come true. “This is the one show I’ve wanted to be on,” Shahidi tells Her Campus in an exclusive interview. Unlike other competition shows built on tension, she admired the show for its camaraderie. “There’s an actual wanting people to succeed and win, and a focus on the craft.”
The show is a lighthearted competition set in a tent, where bakers take on challenges that test their creativity, skill, and presentation. This summer, the celebrity edition brought four stars, including Shahidi, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, June Diane Raphael, and Andrew Rannells into the mix, judged by Paul Hollywood and Prue Leith. “This show was always a dream to be on because it felt like good vibes, [even though] I’m not the most confident baker. I love baking — it felt like a great entry point,” Shahidi tells Her Campus.
Even with her years of experience on scripted sets, Shahidi quickly realized that reality TV was a whole different world. “It felt night and day,” she explains. “On a set, you’re a character. Everything about you is altered. In the tent, the goal is to be yourself.” The constant cameras, real-time pressure, and the ticking timers were things she wasn’t prepared for. “On set, there may be a scene that takes place for five minutes, but we’ve been shooting it for three hours. In the tent, when they say two hours, they mean two hours,” she adds.
Tasked with creating a summer cupcake, Shahidi turned to her roots, mixing the influence of her own heritage with flavors that shaped her childhood. “Being Black and Iranian is something that even subconsciously plays into what I bring to a role,” she says. “It was cool to be able to bring that element, combining the classics I grew up with, like Arnold Palmers, but being like, ‘Well, what makes this me?’”
That sense of identity carried into her baking. “So much of my own food and baking journey has been inspired by the fact that I come from two cultures with just absolutely delicious food, and it’s always influenced and informed my taste,” Shahidi says. “It’s become part of my habit and ritual of morning tea, and that comes from being part of a culture that loves tea. I really enjoyed that there were such subtle ways I could bring that into the challenge.”
As for the results? “I loved the cupcake,” she laughs. “It was really delicious.”
Aside from baking the perfect dessert, Shahidi says her time in the tent taught her lessons she plans to carry both in and out of the kitchen. In the final challenge, she attempted a self-portrait cookie that didn’t go as planned. “There’s a version of Yara after making that horrendous cookie I made that would have really been down in the dumps, like reflecting on what went so wrong,” she laughs. “When I made that cookie, I was like ‘This is a joke, this feels very abstract.’”
Though the cookie didn’t turn out as she hoped, it perfectly illustrated the lesson she carried through the competition. “I find, at times, I struggle to try new things that I feel like I’m not good at,” Shahidi says. “It’s not about appearances or needing to seem like I’m good at everything — it’s that I can easily stop myself from trying because I know I’ll get frustrated. So my goal in the tent wasn’t to become a master baker overnight, but simply to have a good time. And I feel like I succeeded.”
For someone used to excelling at everything she touches, Shahidi says the competition helped her rethink what success looks like. “It was such a nice way to approach a literal competition of just being here for the vibes,” she says. “I was here to do a good job, of course, but I wasn’t focused on ‘I have to win at all costs.’ That allowed me to enjoy even the mistakes.”
Shahidi left the tent with new recipes and a new mindset, walking away with a reminder that it’s OK to laugh at yourself and savor the process. She says, “I walked out with so many positive memories, mistakes, and all.”
The following responses have been edited for length and clarity.
Sweet or Savory?
Sweet, which is why I was on The Great American Baking Show: Celebrity Edition.
What is your go-to late-night snack?
A handful of chocolate chips. Just a little late-night boost of chocolate.
What’s always in your fridge?
Cookie dough.
Who would be your dream dinner guest, alive or dead?
You know what, I never got to ask enough questions about why my brownie was so outstanding, and if I would have gotten second place. So let’s bring Prue and Paul Hollywood to dinner. I got some nice questions for them. We can clear out the tent.
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What’s your favorite college struggle meal from your Harvard days?
I was downing miso soup like nobody’s business, but not the full dashi broth kind — just miso paste, water, and some spinach. It was a struggle meal. It was during the height of my thesis, when I couldn’t even think about cooking, but I wanted to taste something.
What would be your dream reality TV show or competition show to be on?
I feel like it would be a cop-out since I’ve already been on my dream competition show. But I love the idea of keeping the good vibes going, and imagine if I brought Great American Bake Off vibes to Cutthroat Kitchen. I think that would be really funny.