Paul Hollywood has said he is “devastated”, after a picture of him wearing a Nazi uniform emerged.
The ‘Great British Bake Off’ judge apologised for causing offence after The Sun published the image, which he claimed was taken at a fancy dress party 14 years ago.
In a statement (via The Mirror), Paul said he was dressed as a character from BBC sitcom ’All ’Allo!.
“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!,” he said.
“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.”
However, his apology did not sit well with former ‘Bake Off’ star Ruby Tandoh, who claimed he should still have known better.
Ruby, who has hit out at Paul on a number of occasions since appearing on ’Bake Off in 2014, tweeted: “absolutely creasin at ppl telling me “IT WAS TEN YEARS AGO” as if the nazis weren’t bad back then.
“guys he was still a middle aged man when he did this lol. i don’t think he’s a nazi i just think he’s absurd [sic].”
It is the second controversy Paul has found himself caught up in this week, after he and new ‘Bake Off’ presenter Noel Fielding prompted outrage over a picture shared on Twitter.
The pair were accused of demeaning gay sex for a joke, after Noel posted a picture of himself and Paul simulating anal sex along with the caption: “This should put to rest any rumours that me and blue eyes @PaulHollywood don’t get on :) ha ha ha x.”
This was met negatively by some fans on Twitter, who claimed the picture was offensive.
Representatives for both stars did not reply when HuffPost UK contacted them for comment.