Paul Hollywood Is Busting Out Of His Shirt In Hulk-Esque Photo

Celebrity chef and baker Paul Hollywood is not shy about dressing up in costume to suit the occasion, whether it's for Halloween or to promote a certain theme or episode for the popular baking competition, "The Great British Bake Off." Within a span of just two months, he's dressed up as country legend Billy Ray Cyrus in the video kick-off to Season 12 of "GBBO", Gandalf from "Lord of the Rings" for Biscuit Week on the show (via Twitter), a White Walker from "Game of Thrones" for Halloween, and now as the Hulk from "The Avengers."

In a recent post on Instagram with the caption, "Free from week made me angry," Hollywood shared a photo of himself with his face and body covered in green. He was practically busting out of a white shirt with rips along the collar, chest, and arms – a clear reference to how the mild-mannered Dr. Bruce Banner transforms into the Hulk when he's angry. What's Hollywood angry about? Apparently, baked goods are lack dairy, gluten, and animal fats — in other words, everything that makes baked goods taste as good as they do. It's all part of "free from" week on "GBBO."

For "GBBO"'s first-ever "free from" week (via Birmingham Mail), which also happens to be the quarter-finals, the remaining five contestants have to make gluten-free, dairy-free, and vegan bakes using plant-based ingredients. It will be a difficult challenge indeed. As contestant Chig pointed out in the sneak peek for the episode (via Twitter), "this one's going to be tough because Paul's a proper pudding lad, innit." It's a shame, or perhaps fair, that the show's first vegan baker, Freya, is no longer in the competition, as she used all vegan products except for the technical bakes where all contestants are all given the same ingredients to work with, including animal fats (via Insider).

In the meantime, Hollywood's fans on Instagram are enjoying a bit of light-hearted humor and fun at his expense. Some jokingly referred to him as the Grinch, Shrek, or what it would look like if "Guy Fieri and Shrek had a baby." One fan questioned if he was the Hulk or "a dry aged muffin," while another suggested that he "fell into his cake mix." As another fan pointed out, this is one time when contestants may actually want to avoid getting the Hollywood handshake, as it might hurt too much coming from "Hulk Hollywood" or "Paul Hulkywood," two recently bestowed nicknames from fans. And hopefully there won't be any Hulk smashes either!