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The Great American Baking Show premiered its season 3 on April 11 on Roku. The baking show returned with a new batch of American bakers competing to win the title of America's Best Amateur Baker.
Besides winning the show and/or any particular challenge, receiving a handshake from judge Paul Hollywood, after a presentation, is often seen as a great sign of respect and appreciation by the receiving contestants.
Judge Prue Leith explained in an April 10 interview with PIX11 News that bakers often value Paul’s handshake more than being named Star Baker or winning the show.
The Great American Baking Show judge noted that the gesture has become such an "iconic thing" over the years and joked that Paul is "quite mean" about giving them out. However, she emphasized that her fellow judge only gives a handshake to the contestant when he thinks it's "absolutely perfect."
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"I think it means more to the bakers to get a handshake from Paul Hollywood than to become a Star Baker or to win the show. Because it's just become such an iconic thing and he's quite mean with his dishing out of Handshakes. But he only does it when he thinks it's absolutely perfect," she said.
The Great American Baking Show judge Prue Leith on Paul Hollywood and working on the American adaptation
The Great American Baking Show is an adaptation of the British series The Great British Bake Off. It retains the original format and features the show's iconic English judges, Prue Leith and Paul Hollywood, who evaluate the dishes prepared by American contestants.
In a November 21, 2022, interview with Hello Magazine, judge Prue Leith talked about her experience on The Great American Baking Show and working with Paul Hollywood.
She admitted she was a bit jealous that Paul was part of the American version before she was and wondered why he hadn’t asked her to join. Later, she learned the producers decided to have only him on the show at first.
AfterThe Great American Baking Show moved to Roku, the judge said, its producers wanted to stick as closely as they could to the original Great British Bake Off, which suited her fine as they now wanted "two British judges".
Commenting on her relationship with Paul, Prue said fans might be surprised to learn "what an absolute softie" he really is, despite his "stern" appearance and "terrifying blue stare." She noted that Paul is often the first to comfort contestants who are upset after making a mistake, always ready with a supportive arm around them.
"[Paul is] really friendly and he teases me rotten. He has two running jokes. One is that I'm a drunk and I can't live without alcohol and I do like a bit of booze! Honestly, there's hardly any cake that won't be improved with a bit of alcohol," she said.
The Great American Baking Show judge continued:
"But the other thing is that he carries on as if I'm his great, great grandmother. He'll say things like, 'Do you want a cup of tea, dearie?' I'm in my 80s, so he could only maybe be my grandson, but he treats me as if I were a very frail old lady! But I love his concern for me."
Further in the interview, Prue shared her initial worries about the American audience not adapting to the Great British Bake Off show format
She noted that the one thing that troubled her was the fact that most American cooking shows and their contestants were more focused on the prize money, pointing out that it has a "rather desperate edge to it."
Considering that she believed the contestants won't be interested in competing in the Bake Off format as it its just for the recognition and "only prize is a cake plate."
"I thought, 'Oh, my God, Americans just do competition in a very hard way and they're never going to like Bake Off, because the only prize is a cake plate! And it's also very cooperative and friendly and nobody is horrible to their fellow bakers.'But of course there's something about the magic of the tent; the Americans were friendly and had concern for each other and it was great," she concluded.
The Great American Baking Show season 3 episodes are available on Roku.
