It took just two episodes for The Great British Bake Off judge Paul Hollywood to hand out his first handshake of series 16. The lucky recipient was 31-year-old “creative entrepreneur” Tom, whose showstopper “biscuit time capsule” (me neither) was exquisitely decorated as a “granny’s cottage” with sugary pink walls, a mossy roof, ivy creeping up the walls and intricate brickwork. With the clasping of Hollywood’s leather-tanned hand, Tom’s spot as “Star Baker” was secured.

The so-called Hollywood Handshake has become a highly anticipated feature of any Bake Off episode, to be expected alongside the bunting and innuendos. But over the past 15 years, it has lost any real meaning – it is, in fact, making the show worse.

The first time Hollywood shook someone’s hand was in series thr

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