The Untold Truth Of Ralph Attanasia

If you've ever watched a rerun from the first two seasons of TLC's "Cake Boss," chances are you've noticed something's a little bit off. It may be that the opening credit sequence is slightly different, but more likely, it's that Ralph Attanasia isn't at the sculpting bench. Without him on the show, there are a lot fewer jokes said around the kitchen, not to mention a complete absence of funny voices to lighten the mood during stressful cake decorating scenes. And while the cakes still look as great as they always do, they don't quite have Attanasia's whimsical touch.

Attanasia joined "Cake Boss" in the first episode of Season 3 in 2010, and now he's practically part of Buddy Valastro's family. From the flushing toilet bowl cake to the life-sized "Transformer's" cake, Attanasia has had his hand in his fair share of baking projects at Carlo's Bakery, and it's hard to imagine the show without him. Can't get enough of Attanasia's quirky humor, handlebar mustache, and impressive sculpting skills? Here's everything you may have not known about Buddy Valastro's right-hand man and head sculptor.

When Buddy Valastro met Ralph Attanasia for the first time, he wasn't sure he'd be the right person for the sculptor job. Attanasia arrived at the bakery wearing a bowler hat and a suit, referred to his interview as an "audition," and showed off his circus announcer voice (via YouTube). "This guy Ralph comes into the bakery, and he tells me he wants to work for me as a sculptor. I don't know, I mean, I've had my share of freaks," Valastro recalled in the episode. Valastro reluctantly gave Attanasia a chance to prove himself as a cake sculptor, at which point his opinion quickly changed. Within just a few minutes of only modeling the chocolate and colored fondant at his disposal, Attanasia showed off his artistic skills by sculpting a dinosaur cake topper. Valastro then gave him a job on the spot. "He really surprised me. I gotta say, the dinosaur looked pretty good," Valastro shared. Since then, Attanasia has been an integral part of the Carlo's Bakery team.

It's no secret that Ralph Attanasia is both talented and artistic, but did you know that his artistry extends to music too? Through a series of throwback photos on Instagram, Attanasia shared that he spent a lot of time playing the accordion when he was a "young, stupid punk" — a period of his life during which he was heavily into the fandom and band World/Inferno Friendship Society. Attanasia further showcased his musical talent in another Instagram throwback, featuring a photo of him playing the accordion at age 20. 

Aside from the accordion, Attanasia also plays the ukulele (via TLC). When the Valastro family went on a trip to Rome, they invited Attanasia to join, and he brought his ukulele along. And while at their stop at the Colosseum, Attanasia impressed the Valastros by composing and performing an original song on the spot. These days, Attanasia spends more of his time decorating cakes than he does focusing on his music, but he has been known to incorporate accordion playing in his videos on the Cameo platform.