Slime Maker to TV Baker
Community House seventh grader competes on Food Network show
By Jodi Werner Greenwald | Photos courtesy of the Food Network and Williams Family
Camryn Williams first appeared in these pages in the spring of 2022, when she was promoting her slime business at Markets at 11. The multitalented 12-year-old is stretching herself in new ways these days.
In addition to hosting slime parties, running for fun and competing in Level 6 gymnastics, she can be seen on the 12th season of “Kids Baking Championship,” which premiered Jan. 1 on the Food Network. The theme of the season is “Bake to School.”
How did this TV stint come about?
“I have an Instagram for my Camryn’s Slime Shop account, and they DM’d me to audition,” she says.
The network initially contacted her for an earlier season of “Kids Baking Championship,” with the theme of “Biz Kids,” but when that didn’t work out, she auditioned for the most recent season and got in.
Her family hosted a viewing party for the premiere night of her first episode. Proud mom Tremillia says she “cried like a baby” when seeing Camryn on TV. “I knew that I’d probably get a little emotional. I thought maybe it would be a single tear, but as soon as I saw her on screen, the tears just started flowing.”
Camryn says seeing herself on TV is odd, but she would do it again. “It was a really fun experience filming it and also pretty fun watching myself on TV … All of my friends were like, “You’re famous!”
Her love of baking came about organically, inspired by watching her grandmothers, who she grew up baking with. The Williams family enjoys a friendly cooking competition over Christmas. Camryn and her brother, Aaden, each create a dish of choice, and her family selects the winner. The primary judge is her little brother, Jackson.
This winter, Camryn won her family competition with her cake pops — the standout ingredient was crushed candy canes to add crunch.
While she had never baked for judges beyond her family, meeting celebrity judges Duff Goldman and Valerie Bertinelli was a cool experience.
“They’re really good bakers. They’re really fun, and I’m glad I got to meet them,” she says.