Great British Bake Off's Sandi Toksvig has weighed in on Rahul Mandal's 'cheating' backlash following patisserie week.
Rahul, who has been crowned star baker on a number of occasions, was accused of 'cheating' by viewers as he was spotted touching up his seven-layered torta setteveli cake after Sandi announced the end of the technical challenge.
"Bakers, your time is up," shouted Sandi. "Please step away from your bakes."
And as Rahul was caught up in a Twitter backlash, Sandi has broken her silence on the 'cheating' accusations.
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Speaking to Digital Spy, Sandi explained: "What you see is what you get [with Rahul].
"He's a really charming man with very little self-confidence and an astonishing talent. The others all have talent, Briony is talented, Ruby is talented, Kim-Joy is talented but at the end of the day, it's that bake on that day. I'm sorry if there is a backlash.
"Everybody is doing their best."
Defending Rahul, the Great British Bake Off presenter continued: "These are people who have decided to put themselves forward to do something that they are passionate about.
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"So, I would hate for there to be a backlash against anybody."
Accusations of 'cheating' weren't the only thing thrown Rahul's way during patisserie week, as he was also hit with some savage remarks from Paul Hollywood.
The GBBO judge had a few harsh words about the baker's 'unglazed' fruit, criticising Rahul for not coating them in sugar syrup in the five hour challenge.
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"You can't put that in a shop window, it's not finished," Paul growled to Rahul of his French tartlet. "To glaze them at the end of this would have taken you a minute, if that. If that! And after five hours, you couldn't do it."
Despite all the backlash and criticisms, Rahul managed to make it through to the final along with Ruby and Kim-Joy, with Briony being sent home by Prue and Paul.
Featured Image Credit: Channel 4Topics: prue leith, TV Entertainment, Paul Hollywood, GBBO, Great British Bake Off