The first ever Italian week of Great British Bake-Off was brimming with fresh margherita pizzas, Sicilian cannolis and shell-shaped pastries.
But viewers were left distracted by a much more unusual aspect of the Channel 4 show on Tuesday night – the alarming shade of judge Paul Hollywood’s tan.
Amused fans compared the bold mahogany look to Ross Geller’s spray tan fail in Friends, while others asked if he had been ‘swimming in gravy’ – and even Noel Fielding couldn’t resist mocking his co-judge’s pallor.
Pasta la vista: Viewers were left distracted by a much more unusual aspect of the Channel 4 show on Tuesday night – the alarming shade of judge Paul Hollywood’s tan
Noel landed his killer comedic blow while tasting the contestant’s cannolis on the seventh week.
Picking up one of the treats, the comedian quipped that they could tell it was done if it matched the mahogany shade of Paul’s fingers.
And Hollywood may have got away with one cheeky rib on the show – but on social media viewers erupted into hysterics over his considerably deeper tan.
Many likened his pallor to Ross Geller’s infamous spray-tanning scene in the tenth season of Friends.
Hmm: Amused fans compared the bold mahogany look to Ross Geller’s spray tan fail in series ten of Friends
Moced: Others asked if he had been ‘swimming in gravy’ – and even Noel Fielding couldn’t resist mocking his co-judge’s pallor
Oh dear: Others said it looked like Hollywood had been ‘glazing himself with a pastry brush’ and ‘sleeping in the oven’
In the comical scene, he counts wrong and in an extraordinary mishap, ends up being spray-tanned several times too many – much to the mirth of his pals.
‘Paul is Ross Geller after his spray tan,’ one fan wrote, joining a sea of viewers in sharing gifs of Ross’ ill-fated tan.
‘Looks like Paul Hollywood has been counting Mississipilessly in the tanning salon,’ another quipped.
Others said it looked like Hollywood had been ‘glazing himself with a pastry brush’ and ‘sleeping in the oven’.
‘Does Paul Hollywood sleep in an oven in between episodes of GBBO? He gets progressively darker each week?!’ a viewer wrote.
‘You too can achieve the Hollywood tan. All you need to do is bake at 180 degrees for 30 mins and turn halfway through,’ another added.
Elsewhere in the episode, fans said ‘ciao’ to Yan as she became the seventh baker to be eliminated from the show.
The 46-year-old scientist from north London praised her wife of 17 years for her support during the competition, and for keeping her grounded when it became ‘overwhelming’.
Yan, who described the Italian theme as a ‘bootcamp for bakers’, struggled while making classic Sicilian cannoli in the signature challenge, her pastry offerings pretty much falling apart in judge Prue Leith’s hands.
In the technical challenge, which saw the six remaining bakers tasked with having to create the perfect margherita pizza, Yan came in fifth place due to underbaked dough.
And in the tricky signature challenge – dubbed ‘pure murder’ by Leith – Yan’s batch of 24 sfogliatella, shell-shaped filled pastries from Campania, failed to impress.
Judge Paul critiqued them as ‘quite raw’, and Leith said she was ‘a bit disappointed’ in them, and that they were a ‘mess’.
Yan said of her experience in the series: ‘From the very moment I stepped into the tent, and started competing against so many great bakers, it really lifted my game.
‘It’s about making yourself better, and we all wanted to nurture our talent collectively.
‘I had such great support from friends and family. Marian is my wife of 17 years. She keeps me grounded, and has been my marshmallow throughout the whole experience.
‘At times it’s been a bit overwhelming for me, but she has constantly kept me grounded.
‘I bake every other day using my Muvver sourbread starter – I called it that because she is the mother of all my sourdoughs.’
Yan, who moved to the UK from Hong Kong when she was two years old, said that of all the things she produced in the Bake Off tent, the mango steamed pudding was ‘the closest to my culture’.
At the end of the episode, Steven – who had impressed the judges with his ‘proper showstopper’ sfogliatella and who came top in the technical challenge – was named Star Baker for the third time.
The Great British Bake Off continues on Tuesday at 8pm on Channel 4.