Paul Hollywood Deemed This Iconic American Snack 'Disgusting' And We Don't Know How To Feel About It

Paul Hollywood has never been one to hold back, making him an excellent judge on "The Great British Bake Off." Over the years, the beloved British media personality has expressed his intense distaste for pickles, declaring them to be "straight from hell" in an Instagram video, and likened eating a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup to eating peanut butter chalk during a taste test with fellow "Bake Off" judge Prue Leith for Bon Appétit. Another popular American snack food that the expert baker openly hates? Twinkies. While speaking to Mashed, Hollywood decried the delectable, super popular cream-filled yellow sponge cakes as "disgusting." 

Likewise, when trying them alongside Leith, his initial response to biting into one was, "Oh, god," accompanied by a visibly repulsed face. Later in the video, Hollywood went as far as to dub the snack cakes "hideous." Meanwhile, Leith admitted to Hollywood that she actually enjoyed the lemony sponge cake, but the creamy filling ruined it for her (of everything they taste-tested, Leith and Hollywood's favorite American treat was a classic party snack: Cool Ranch Doritos). 

Naturally, their opinions don't make Twinkies any less iconic — they've remained a junk food staple for nearly 100 years. Former U.S. President Bill Clinton even added a package to a time capsule featuring items representing American culture in 1999. Perhaps Hollywood would like Twinkies if they were cooked in an air fryer or grilled and paired with vanilla ice cream.

Twinkies were born in 1930, invented by Canadian-born baker James "Jimmy" Dewar for the Continental Baking Company in Illinois, the same company that made sliced Wonder Bread famous. The story goes that Dewar spotted an opportunity to take advantage of some equipment that wasn't being used at the time to create a new cream-filled treat. The machinery in question was utilized for strawberry shortcakes, but when the sweet fruit was out of season, it was just sitting there.

Originally, the yellow sponge cakes were injected with a banana-cream filling, but by World War II, bananas were no longer freely available due to strict rationing. This led to their creators using a plain vanilla cream filling that turned out to be incredibly popular, and the company never looked back. Well, they have reintroduced banana-filled Twinkies at times over the years, but only for a limited run. 

As for where the name came from, Dewar was reportedly inspired by a billboard advertising "Twinkle Toe Shoes." Today, Twinkies continue to fly off the shelves all across the U.S., from big box stores like Walmart to your average corner convenience store. Just don't offer one to Paul Hollywood if you run into him.

Static Media owns and operates Chowhound and Mashed.