BGT’s Joe Baggs: People assumed I lacked depth because I came from social media

“I’m just so old now,” Joe Baggs tells me. He has recently celebrated his birthday, and it has taken him days to recover. Wearing a bright pink Von Dutch cap and sipping from a golden Stanley cup, he is, he tells me, 29. Hardly ancient – yet, Baggs is right… in a way: he is an elder in his industry. An early adopter of TikTok, he used it to post funny videos to pass the time during lockdown. In one viral post, he savagely rated each member of his family out of 10. Of brother George, he said: “He’s 5ft 7, convinced he can take your missus, and would trade the family to be balls deep in a Lamborghini. I’m gonna give him an 8 and a half.” It caught the attention of the casting team for Channel 4 series Gogglebox, who invited him, his parents Lisa and Terry, and George to become regular contributors in 2020. While giving his frank opinions on the week’s TV and posting online, Baggs realised that showbiz could be his calling. So, after two years, he made the bold decision to simultaneously quit his 9-to-5 in recruitment and step away from his “comfort blanket” Gogglebox to launch a podcast, Not My Bagg, and see what opportunities would present themselves. “It was just a one-day decision to make a go of it,” he recalls. “I don’t regret it.” That’s not to say that things were easy. It was a “massive adjustment period” going from a regimented job to his whole life becoming potential content. “It was hard to find a balance. My boundaries were gone. I’d vlog everything with my family and never switch off. I constantly thought: ‘When’s the next gig? Will people still like me in a month?’ “It is like starting any new job; you just want to impress people and do well,” he says. He quickly figured out that it wasn’t a sustainable way to live, and burned out. “I realised I needed confidence in myself and to give myself the grace to take time off.” Baggs is now in both the social media space and the TV world, including being a regular on ITV daytime shows (presenting competitions and doing some roving reporting, just as Josie Gibson and Alison Hammond got their start), but it took time. “In the past, there was a preconception that because I do social media, I might not have certain depth, and I’ve worked really hard to prove otherwise. I’ve had way more nos in the past five years than I’ve ever had yeses, but if a door shuts in my face, then I’ll just open it somewhere else. What’s good is we don’t have to rely on massive institutions as much to do what we want, but it’s nice to have credibility.” Baggs has been well-equipped to deal with rejection. “I worked in recruitment during a global pandemic, so I’m very resilient,” he quips with a smile. “It can be a hard thing when you get crappy news, but I just go home, eat a tub of ice cream, and then get on with it.” The rising star can now look back at some of those brush-offs with gratitude, including Dancing on Ice. “I was Bambi on ice,” he says with a laugh. He credits Angry Ginge’s appearance on I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here! in 2025 with making it easier for online creators to get a foot in the door. “When he was announced, many people were like: ‘Who’s that?’ but then he won it. It’s pretty clear now that it’s not a bad thing when a person with an online digital presence boosts ratings,” he says – but notes there is still room for improvement. “Broadcasters need to bite the bullet and give even more people the chance. I’ve seen some of the same celebs cast on the same shows for years, when there’s a whole new pool of talent. “You need to let people make mistakes, because even the professionals do. I have learned on the job in front of thousands of people. I look back on the first series of Not My Bagg, and think maybe someone should have said to me: ‘Don’t drink half a litre of vodka with Grace [GK Barry] and have a party live,’ but it was part of the maturing process, and I love where I’m at now.” It all led to opportunities such as presenting a digital series for Britain’s Got Talent, which he describes as a “pinch-me moment” after growing up watching it. “I never thought that at this stage of my career, I’d be a go-to person for the spin-off. I already feel like part of the family there. Funnily enough, I thought everyone would be a bit scared of Simon Cowell, but he’s so loved,” he shares. As well as the judges, he gets to spend time with contestants, interviewing them about their experience and distracting them from the pressure with games. Joe and his partner Kaine Ruddach at the NTA’s last year (Photo: Jeff Spicer/Getty for the NTA’s) With audiences getting smarter about what is authentic in reality TV, they want more realism, and Baggs thinks they are delivering on that front. “There isn’t anything that you’re not seeing, aside from the toilets. With anyone able to whip out their phones at any time, they have had to adapt.” He also regularly contributes to Love Island spin-off show Aftersun as a panellist, and is rumoured to be there on a more permanent basis after Sam Thompson walked away – something he doesn’t deny during our chat. When asked if he’d like to push for an LGBTQ+ version of the dating show, he replies: “I would love something like that, particularly with the BBC getting rid of I Kissed a Boy, and I Kissed a Girl. It would also be very entertaining.” Baggs’s openness about his sexuality and his happy relationship with boyfriend Kaine Ruddach has meant he has unexpectedly, but happily, been part of other people’s journeys. “I’ve had a fair few messages about me giving people the confidence to come out,” he says. “I think they are inspired by the level of acceptance from my family, particularly from my younger brother, as there are a lot of stereotypes that say we wouldn’t get on. It’s really lovely, and one of the reasons I keep doing what I do.” It did mean needing to ask musical theatre star Ruddach, who has appeared in Heathers: The Musical and Mamma Mia!, what he would be comfortable sharing at the start of their relationship. “It was strange to have that conversation about whether he’s OK with a camera in his face in the morning, but I just love how much he’s taken all of our craziness on board. He grounds me.” As for the future, Baggs says it would be a mistake to plan too far ahead with how quickly the industry is changing, but he wants something he can put his heart and soul into. “Perhaps a cultural moment on a streamer, or a quintessentially British reality show,” he adds. “I’d love my podcast to grow and to do what I really enjoy, like Britain’s Got Talent and Love Island. I’ll see what comes knocking.” ‘Britain’s Got Talent’ continues on Saturdays at 7pm on ITV1