Paul Hollywood dishes out first ‘Hollywood handshake’ to Lottie in The Great British Bake Off bubble

The first ‘Hollywood handshake’ of the series is always a huge occasion on The Great British Bake Off.

Pantomime producer Lottie became the first contestant to receive the coveted seal of approval from judge Paul Hollywood in the second episode of series 11.

The 31-year-old impressed Hollywood and his fellow judge Prue Leith with her florentines in the biscuit-themed episode.

Hollywood, 54, told Lottie that he couldn’t “find a fault” with her creations and was left speechless for a moment before shaking her hand.

Speaking later in the episode, Lottie described the experience as “completely mad” and joked that she was “never going to wash [her] hands again.”

“I felt very shocked… I didn’t know what was happening,” she admitted to presenter Noel Fielding when he quizzed her about the “pivotal moment in [her] baking career.”

She added: “I’ve peaked for sure.”

Though the handshake might appear unusual amid current social distancing guidelines, the Bake Off contestants, judges and contestants in fact formed a Covid-secure ‘bubble’ to allow them to film as normal.

Everyone on the shoot had to self-isolate and took multiple coronavirus tests ahead of filming before entering the bubble, producers confirmed ahead of last week’s series launch.

Contestants had to leave their friends and families behind to film the series in a compressed time frame, with the shoot following a gruelling two days on, two days off pattern.

This allowed cast and crew to continue to film as normal, with those in the ‘bubble’ able to break with social distancing guidelines.

The Great British Bake Off continues Tuesdays at 8pm on Channel 4.

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