GBBO's Prue Leith defends the show after accusations of 'cultural appropriation'

express.co.uk:

“That’s not the spirit of the show.”She went on to confirm that she and Paul Hollywood set the challenges in each episode.Co-hosts Noel Fielding and Matt Lucas introduced the episode, which first aired in October,The two were wearing sombreros and bright ponchos during the introduction.Noel commented he did not feel they should make Mexican jokes “because people will get upset” before Lucas said playfully: “What, not even Juan?”Following the broadcast, some on social media were critical of the programme’s depiction of Mexican culture, claiming it was guilty of cultural appropriation.During the interview, Dame Prue also spoke about what she sees as the show’s positive impact.“Really, the whole phenomenon of Bake Off is, to me, absolutely extraordinary,” she said.“This is rather a cliché thing to say, but I do think that it is a force for good, most of the time.“Everything we do in life is a bit stressful, we are always short of time, we’re short of money, there are all sorts of horrible things happening all over the world.“And Bake Off is this safe space where the worst thing that can happen is somebody will drop their bake.”It’s not the first time the show has been accused of “cultural appropriation”.In December 2020, the show came under fire for its “Japanese Week”.For the season’s seventh episode, contestants were also tasked with making Iles Flottantes, a French cuisine.They were also tasked with making ice cream and cakes with custard..