I’M DEVASTATED
Shame of Bake Off’s Hollywood over Nazi uniform fancy dress
BAKE OFF’S Paul Hollywood said he is ‘devastated’ at causing offence after a picture emerged of him dressed in Nazi uniform.
The celebrity baker was yesterday forced to defend himself for wearing a military outfit bearing a swastika for a fancy dress party.
The controversial picture is likely to cause outrage among fans of the Great British Bake Off, which re-launched on Channel 4 at the end of last month.
Speaking after the image was published, Hollywood, 51, said he had dressed up as a character from the BBC wartime sitcom ’Allo ’Allo! and that the picture had been taken on New Year’s Eve in 2003.
He had enjoyed a few drinks at The White Stag pub in the village of Monkton, Kent, about 15 kilometres from his home – which is where the picture was taken. He then headed to the party. In a statement released yesterday, he said: ‘I am absolutely devastated if this caused offence to anyone.
‘The picture was taken 14 years ago en route to a comedy TV shows-themed New Year’s Eve party and a group of us dressed up as characters from the classic TV show ’Allo ’Allo!.
‘Everyone who knows me, knows I am incredibly proud of the efforts of those, including my own grandfather, who fought against the Nazis during the war.’ The picture shows him grinning and standing behind the bar in the pub alongside a friend wearing a similar Nazi outfit.
Hollywood is wearing a red armband, a badge featuring an eagle of the Third Reich and an Iron Cross – the medal awarded for exceptional bravery or leadership. Hollywood’s wife Alexandra, 53, features in another picture taken on the same night dressed in ’Allo ’Allo-style French resistance outi fit, including beret and red scarf. A source, who was at the pub, told the Sun on Sunday: ‘Paul and his mate popped in for a drink and their wives joined them later.
‘To them it was a great big joke to be wearing a Nazi uniform, and they were laughing about it and happily posed for a picture at the bar. But some found it offensive, especially the fact they thought it was really funny.
‘They may have been going to a fancy dress party, but what sort of person goes into a pub in German military uniform with a swastika on their sleeve?
‘At worst it was extremely offensive and at the very least it was stupid,’ they added. In Germany, displaying the swastika and other Nazi symbols is illegal and can carry a prison sentence.
Hollywood appeared on the BBC’s Who Do You Think You Are? in 2015, when it was revealed that his grandfather, Norman Harman, served as an anti-aircraft gunner during the Second World War. Former Bake Off finalist Ruby Tandoh, 25, weighed in to the row on Twitter, saying it left a ‘bad taste’. She wrote: ‘Absolutely creasin (sic) at ppl telling me: “IT WAS TEN YEARS AGO” as if the Nazis weren’t bad back then.’
Channel 4 said it does not comment on personal matters relating to stars on its shows.
‘Stupid and offensive’