The Wildly Popular Snack Paul Hollywood Refuses To Touch

We all have foods we just can't stand, whether they're fan-favorites or not. Gordon Ramsay hates truffle oil with a passion, despite it being super trendy, while Guy Fieri won't eat eggs. As for fellow celebrity chef Paul Hollywood, you'll never catch him snacking on pickles. The beloved "Great British Bake Off" judge finds briny pickled cucumbers (side note: The Brits often call them gherkins) "absolutely disgusting," a divisive opinion he confidently expressed in an Instagram video shared to the long-running baking competition show's official account.

Hollywood made his distaste for pickles known in a 2020 episode, and elaborated on his hatred for them in the aforementioned video. The TV personality not only dubbed pickles "straight from hell," but claimed they reminded of him of "slugs" and even called them unfit for human consumption. The outspoken star also brought up the trend of people adding pickle juice to soft drinks, something he argued was "really not right." Grillo's Pickles, one of Chowhound's favorite store-bought pickle brands, took to the comments, writing, "Paul, how could you." 

It's safe to say that you probably won't catch Paul Hollywood noshing on pickled cukes any time soon. But that's not the only popular snack he's publicly voiced his dislike for. When taste-testing a variety of American snacks alongside fellow "Bake Off" judge Prue Leith, for Bon Appétit, the outspoken celebrity chef declared that Reese's Peanut Butter Cups tasted like "peanut chalk." He wasn't into Ho-Ho's, Pop Tarts, or Cheez-Its either, just in case you were wondering. 

Hollywood and Leith's favorite American treat is a classic party snack: Cool Ranch Doritos. Among other things, he lauded the zesty corn chips for their "depth of flavor and crispiness." In fact, Hollywood even suggested that they would go great with guacamole, a novel concept that could be genius. The media personality enjoyed Oreos and Lay's potato chips too, the latter of which he favorably compared to a classic "British crisp." But Cool Ranch Doritos took the cake.