Paul Hollywood breaks protocol to demonstrate technical challenge in Bake Off first
The bakers were in for a surprise this week
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Paul Hollywood broke with The Great British Bake Off protocol this week as he demonstrated how to plait dough like a professional.
Typically, contestants on the hit baking show are given some intentionally sparse instructions about how to pull off the tricky bake during the technical challenge.
However, on the show that aired tonight (8 October), Hollywood instead demonstrated how to plait dough while the contestants had to follow along.
Results were mixed, with one social media user commenting: “Shame NONE of the bakers paid attention.”
Another joked: “Looks pretty easy. Can’t see anything going wrong here.”
The 66-year-old quit the series in 2020, having presented it for three years and despite receiving “the biggest paycheque of my life”.
In an honest interview with The Times, Toksvig explained that she did not enjoy her time on the show and doesn’t stay in touch with her co-presenters.
When asked about Bake Off judge Paul Hollywood, she said: “He’s so busy. He drives cars so fast it’s impossible to catch him”. When asked if she was in touch with Might Boosh star Fielding, she said simply: “No.”
She gave a warmer response about judge Prue Leith, saying: “Prue and I are joined at the hip.”
Toksvig, who is also known for hosting QI, described being on Bake Off as “three of the longest years of my life”, adding that she did not understand the point of the show and had never watched it prior to joining.
“It’s not for me. I walked away from the biggest paycheque of my life, but that’s fine. I’d never watched it. I still haven’t watched it. I didn’t understand it.”
Going even further, she said: “Cakes are readily available in the shops. I didn’t enjoy the process. You stand at the end of a long table for hours when Prue and Paul taste everything and we literally didn’t speak or taste anything.
“I used to say, ‘Can we not sit down? I’m not contributing,’ but no.”
She didn’t enjoy tasting the food after filming either, remarking: “Not really. My thing is cheese.”
Pointless presenter and author Richard Osman hit out at Toksvig as he commented on a post about the article, saying: “I honestly don’t think you should present shows you wouldn’t watch.”
Viewers were unnerved by the revelations, as one person wrote: “I loved Sandi on the show, this has tainted it for me.”
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments