The Great British Baking Show Cake Fans Thought Deserved A Handshake

Given how much fans seem to appreciate the cuddly nature of "The Great British Baking Show," it's no surprise that the program still manages to pull out passion from its viewers. In this week's episode, the drama was due to the treatment of Lizzie Acker. Notably, one Twitter user scolded the judges, saying, "Lizzie deserved a handshake for this Showstopper!"

The Showstopper Challenge was to make a gluten-free celebration cake. In a clip shared by "The Great British Baking Show" Twitter account, Lizzie Acker explains that her cake is a celebration of her brain. "It's going to be a representation of my brain, because I've got quite a few SEN issues," she says. "SEN is special education needs. Dyslexic, dyspraxic, ADHD, and concentration disorder." So, Acker wanted to celebrate the people who function differently by decorating her cake after the texture of a shag rug to represent the "brain fuzz" created by having too many thoughts at one time. 

The result was a vibrant, beautiful cake that further cemented Acker's status as a fan favorite. "Thank you, Lizzie," one parent wrote in the comments. "When you explained what being in your brain is like, my ADHD son smiled and said that's exactly how his is too." She succeeded in the celebration, then, even though Paul Hollywood refused to recognize the effort with a handshake.

What really upset fans was that not only did Paul Hollywood pass on giving Lizzie Acker a handshake, but he and Prue Leith eliminated her after her showstopper cake.

"LIZZY WAS ROBBED," one fan screamed in a discussion of the episode on Reddit. "Legit should've won the show stopper round, and if winning the show stopper doesn't save you from going home, then what does???!!!!" However, another noted, "Seems like Lizzie was leaving based on previous weeks' performances." Still, the user then added that the show is "not going to be as fun without her." While Paul and Prue usually keep their judgments focused on the current week's bakes, they do chart how well people have performed overall if the competition is close. Others noted that Jürgen should have been sent home because he served food that had dropped on the floor. That said, it fell out of the oven, so the food's internal temperature would still have been high enough to kill bacteria.

Allison Robicelli, The Takeout's designated "Bake Off" recapper and Lizzie Acker superfan, said, "Lizzie went home this week is because someone needed to go home." Robicelli mourns the leaving of her favorite but appreciates that the cake Acker ended on encapsulates exactly what made her such a stand-out addition to the program.