The Truth About Team Bakers In Toyland From Holiday Wars: Season 3

It's rare for a randomly assembled baking team to hold such dominance so early in a baking competition. However, as of writing, Team Bakers in Toyland is riding high with multiple wins in the third season of "Holiday Wars." Composed of Vanessa Greeley, Justin McCarty, and Jillian Hopke, team Bakers in Toyland is part of the cast of the Food Network holiday competition series, "Holiday Wars," hoping to win $25,000 in the end. 

It seems like a certain camaraderie has formed in the fires of stove tops and baking ovens. In November, during the early episodes of the competition, McCarty shared a picture of Riley the Reindeer, the team's submission for the ultimate snowball fight, on Instagram: "This was a serious bonding moment for our team. Here's to another week in the competition!" "I love you and I'm so glad this trauma brought us together in the universe," Jillian Hopke responded. "Fun times! Love you both!" Vanessa Greeley added, saying, "Let's do it again next week ... no pressure." 

With such a chemistry spawned in such a short time, it's no surprise that the team Bakers in Toyland have proven themselves to be strong competitors. But will they come through and win the entire show? Well, fans will just have to watch and see.

Chemistry can carry a team a good way through a competition. However, it would fall short of the finish line if the bakers themselves were not skilled. Chef Vanessa Greeley appears to be the team member with the most credentials in both her culinary career and her television appearances. As her website proudly proclaims, she graduated from the French Culinary Institute in New York and has enjoyed plenty of food competitions, including winning second place in Food Network's "Chocolate Myths."

Similarly, Jillian Hopke, owner of Jillycakes in Orlando, Florida, might be familiar to Food Network viewers. In the run up to "Holiday Wars," she explained to her alma mater Roger Williams University that she initially got into the baking business because her co-performers and managers at Disney World absolutely loved her work. Then, someone apparently made a call and she appeared on "Cupcake Wars," with Hopke explaining that "once they cast you once, they have a tendency to call the same people back when you already know the ropes!"

According to IMDB, Justin McCarty is a newbie to the Food Network competition scene. However, despite being the freshest, he already has his a lot of cake competition experience, with a Best of Show Spectacular win in the 2017 San Diego Bake Show and a Spectacular Individual 1st Place win in the 2019 iteration. With many past competitions under their belt and a quick-forming sense of team spirit, the members of Bakers in Toyland have set themselves up as the group to beat in the rest of the "Holiday Wars" competition.