Paul Hollywood breaks protocol to demonstrate technical challenge in Bake Off first

The bakers were in for a surprise this week

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.”

Yesterday, former Great British Bake-Off host Sandi Toksvig reflected negatively on her time on the show, revealing she doesn’t stay in touch with her co-host Noel Fielding.

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.

Paul Hollywood demonstrates how to braid dough during an episode of ‘The Great British Bake Off' (The Great British Bake Off/BBC)

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.

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“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.”