Paul Hollywood's "cruel" Bake Off challenge leaves Nigella Lawson "panicking"

Paul Hollywood's latest Technical challenge on The Great British Bake Off was branded "cruel" on Tuesday evening. The 13 October episode of the much-loved Channel 4 show saw the contestants take on Bread Week, and of course, Paul is known for being the bread connoisseur.

For their Technical challenge, the hopefuls were tasked with making a batch of flatbreads with blue cheese and grapes, but it seems they weren't quite on the same page as Paul.

The Technical challenge is always judged blind, but as Paul and Nigella Lawson entered the tent, it became obvious that the bakers had misunderstood Paul's request as he informed them that all of the flatbreads were too small.

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As he and Nigella set about tasting them, they realised that most of the samples were still raw and therefore they were unable to eat any of the flatbreads.

"I'm panicking!" Nigella admitted as Paul described one the flatbreads as looking like a pizza.

"This is probably the worst Technical I've ever seen in 17 years," he admitted as the bakers looked on worried.

Paul later told hosts Alison Hammond and Noel Fielding: "I would call that an embarrassment of a Technical challenge. They didn't know what a flatbread was!"

Related: Exclusive: Bake Off contestant 'destroys' Paul Hollywood calling 'signature bake "boring and sad"

However, viewers tuning in at home had a lot of thoughts and took to X to discuss.

"This challenge is cruel," one person accused, while another claimed: "I feel like all the times are getting shorter. They really have to rush."

A third person claimed: "The flatbread technical flop is 100% Paul Hollywood's fault," and a fourth asked: "how are they serving raw bread ?? diabolical."

Elsewhere in the episode, the bakers had to make garlic bread but once again, Paul was left disappointed by bread that hadn't been proofed properly.

The Great British Bake Off airs Tuesdays on Channel 4 at 8:00pm.

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Kirsty is a freelance writer and editor specialising in all things entertainment. Over the past 16 years, she has worked on showbiz desks at various national newspaper websites in London, including Express.co.uk, The Sun, and MailOnline.

More recently, she spent three years living in New York City writing celebrity and lifestyle news for DailyMail.com, The Mirror US, and Daily Express US. Kirsty graduated from Southampton Solent with a BA in Magazine Journalism and Feature Writing. When she's not watching reruns of Sex and the City, you'll find her listening to David Bowie and daydreaming about an espresso martini.