How GBBO's Prue Leith Really Feels About Paul Hollywood

The judges on "Great British Bake Off" are quite the dynamic duo. There's Prue Leith, famous for her colorful clothing, matching jewelry and eyeglasses, and constructive but mostly kind, criticism. On the other hand, we have Paul Hollywood with his piercing blue eyes, quiet demeanor, and sometimes seemingly tough criticism. He has also become famous for his Hollywood Handshake, a gesture extended when contestants do especially well. It's become such an iconic gesture on the show that there's even an entire website dedicated to detailing each handshake from each season.

But to those who would call Hollywood the harsher of the two, Leith says they have it all wrong. He is actually a very kind judge, she says in Stuff, claiming the idea that she is kind and he is "cruel and hard" is "absolute nonsense." Leith notes that it is always Hollywood that comforts contestants who did not perform well in a challenge afterward off camera. "Paul is always constructive when he criticizes something, telling the bakers how they could do it better. You can see through the weeks that they listen and improve," Leith said.

Fans chimed in on Reddit with their responses to the Stuff article. Many seemed to agree with Prue Leith's thoughts on Paul Hollywood. "I like that Paul is known to be tough to impress because it makes the payoff that much sweeter when the bakers do impress," commented Redditor u/badtothebono. Another fan, u/No_Push_8249 chimed in with "Thank you for this. I was beginning to think I was the only one who actually likes Paul! People really love to give him unfair hate."

As for the contestants themselves, according to an Insider article, it seems as if they have some mixed feelings about Hollywood. Contestant Stacey Hart said, "Paul tries to be intimidating, but he didn't scare me." Contestant Antony Amourdoux, on the other hand, remembers feeling nervous about facing Hollywood's criticisms. "He is technically so sound, he's unbelievable. I would say he is the scariest judge because he can proper tell you off if it goes wrong," Amourdoux said.