Once upon a time, a Hollywood Handshake was a Bake Off rarity. Not often would a baker impress Paul Hollywood so much that he extended his hand to theirs for a good old-fashioned shake.
However, during this series of GBBO, the notoriously picky judge has been giving out handshakes much more frequently, leading viewers to comment that their worth is declining.
This commentary hasn't been lost on Paul, who has spoken about why his handshakes have become more common and revealed they are set to "almost stop" before the end of the current Bake Off series.
"I've taken a bit of flack over [it]. The handshake came from when [bakes] looked very professional and they almost cross that line from being amateur to professional…
"Every year the standard has got better and better and better and this year has been phenomenal. Some of the flavours they are bringing out. Rahul's stuff has been incredible," he explained on this week's Jonathan Ross show.
"You will see it happen [in a few weeks] the handshakes almost stop. Because what I've done is I've realised they are all moving up in standard so I've got to move my barrier up so that's exactly what I do, I raise the bar and then no one gets over the top of it," he said.
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So there you have it, the Hollywood Handshakes will be back to a rare occurrence in no time.
Elsewhere on the show, Paul spoke about becoming emotional watching Terry's heartbreaking exit interview.
"I actually watched it and I welled up a bit because I love Terry, I thought his style of baking was fantastic and when he was on song, he was flying. And unfortunately, the best bakers have to go through and it's not a character thing, it's purely down to what's on that plate," he said.
The Great British Bake Off continues tomorrow (October 2) at 8pm on Channel 4, while The Jonathan Ross Show airs on Saturdays on ITV.
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From: Good Housekeeping
