Bake Off: Paul Hollywood condemns ‘disgusting’ trolling after Laura pipped Hermine to final

Judge asked people to ‘stop trolling’ the bakers

Paul Hollywood has stepped in to defend The Great British Bake Off contestant Laura after the finalist faced an online backlash.

The judge on the hit cooking series described the negative reaction to Laura’s ascension to the final, at the expense of Hermine, as “disgusting”.

On Instagram, Hollywood wrote that he and co-judge Prue Leith make their judgement calls based solely on the week’s performance.

“Those of you who may not be aware how Bake Off works or new to the series may have missed what we have always done on Bake Off judging,” wrote Hollywood. “Each week stands on its own!! It never matters what any baker has done in previous weeks.

“Even if you win 4/5 star bakers and then have a bad week you will be at risk of going sadly. It's the rule that has been in place for 11 years!!”

Hollywood also asked people to “stop trolling” the bakers, and clarified his position on giving out the so-called “Hollywood handshake”, explaining that he almost never gave them to contestants in Showstopper or technical rounds.

Laura had recently suggested on social media that people had been sending her abuse for progressing through to the final.

The contestant wrote: “It's OK to be sad your favourite person didn't go through, but please remember it's not my fault. I don't make the decisions. GBBO is all about kindness and I haven't seen much of that on here.”

“It's easy to sit there on your sofa and judge. But I am a real person with feelings. Please take a moment to consider your words before you judge someone you've never met and whose food you've never tasted.”

Hermine, who many viewers were cheering on to win the competition, also posted a message on social media asking fans not to send abuse to her former competitor.

“Please don’t be unkind in my name,” she wrote. “Honour my time in GBBO by showing love and kindness. Behind what looks like characters on your TV are real people.”