‘Great British Baking Show’: Prue Leith & Paul Hollywood Spill Secrets About Each Other & the Show

Prue Leith and Paul Hollywood have been dishing out behind-the-scenes secrets that could help future contestants on The Great British Baking Show.

The beloved judges spoke with the Radio Times earlier this month, where they were asked what kind of cake someone should bake to win them over. Leith suggested one with “a lot of ground almonds” in it, noting, “We had a really good polenta cake this series that was gluten-free.”

Hollywood, meanwhile, is simple to please. “Any cake with cream and fruit,” he told the outlet.

As for advice for budding bakers coming on the hit competition series, Hollywood’s number one tip was to block out hosts Noel Fielding and Alison Hammond. “Ignore Noel and Alison when they try to make conversation,” he said.

Leith agreed, adding, “Sometimes the bakers long for them to go away, because they’re against the clock and want to get on with it.”

Hollywood has been a judge on the show since it debuted in 2010. Leith joined the show in 2017 following the departure of former judge Mary Berry. Since then, Hollywood and Leith have developed a great on-air chemistry, though Leith has admitted she doesn’t always get Hollywood’s humor.

“My problem is that I mostly don’t get it,” Leith said when asked about the show’s frequent innuendo. “I don’t know what they’re talking about. The bakers are asked to produce their favorite animal in cake, and there’s a beaver, so I say, ‘Tell us about your beaver.’ Hysterics all round. What am I meant to say?”

Mark Bourdillon / ©Channel 4 / Courtesy Everett Collection

Hollywood recalled a particular moment when he “had to walk out of the tent” after Leith talked about “needing two holes to squirt.”

Leith joked that it’s like working with “schoolboys,” noting, “Paul and Noel could go into hysterics over the word sausage.”

It’s not all laughs and euphemisms, though. Leith admitted that they form a bond with the contestants, and it’s hard to see them go home.

Hollywood sarcastically disagreed, quipping, “Actually, it’s the best part of my weekend… I don’t remember who left last week.”

Leith suggested Hollywood was just putting on a tough guy act, saying, “He’s quite squishy in the middle.”

Related

'The Great British Baking Show' Was Rejected for '5 Years’ Before Becoming Global Hit

“That’s because of the cakes,” Hollywood fired back.

Despite their chemistry on-screen, Hollywood and Leith are very different in the real world. Hollywood told the Radio Times that he likes to “keep to [himself] most of the time,” enjoying “putting on a dressing gown and watching a box set with my wife.”

Meanwhile, Leith soaks up the attention from the show. “I’m such an egotist. I love it. I like the attention, Paul doesn’t,” she shared. “I like when someone asks for a selfie, or when they say, ‘I love you. I love you. I love you.'”

Hollywood added that he will stop to take photos if someone comes up to him, “but I tend to be just hiding around the corner.” He concluded, “I still don’t feel famous. I’m just a guy from telly who eats cake.”