A bakery manager from a Sittingbourne supermarket is one of the stars in a national Christmas TV advertisement.

Colin Hopper, who works at Morrisons in Mill Way, is shown stacking loaves and
adding cream to cakes for the company’s festive commercials.

The 44-year-old, from Teynham, said: “Taking part in the Christmas advert was a
special experience for me – you’ll see me stacking loaves of freshly baked bread and creaming the delicious cakes.

“It’s all about making Christmas magical again. I always make sure that my team only offer the very best quality at Christmas.

“My main priority is to brighten everyone’s mood in store and make our customers laugh – our Santa hats usually do the trick.”

All those who feature in the advert are Morrisons’ employees.

Colin, who has two children with partner Amy Brown – Borden Grammar pupil Cody, 16, and Jaycee, 14, who goes to Highsted – had to apply to take part and then attend an audition in Camden about two months ago.

“It’s really nice for the kids to be able to say dad’s on TV,” he said.

“The filming day and how everyone worked as a team was amazing. It was a long day – it started at 7.30am and some were still filming at 11 at night.”

Colin said he has always had a love affair with baking, his family having run Hoppers Farmhouse bakeries across Kent since 1816.

And being in the advert is not his first taste of fame; his face already appears on the side of Morrisons’ lorries and delivery vans, much to the delight of colleagues, said Colin.

“They like to take the mickey because it looks as though I’ve got lipstick on.”

Now he’s experienced stardom, Bake Off could be next. “I want to challenge Paul Hollywood,” he added.

The advert, of which there are a number of versions, was first screened on Friday during ITV’s Emmerdale.