Great British Bake Off’s Paul Hollywood stunned pub drinkers after turning up dressed in full Nazi officer uniform
TELLY chef Paul Hollywood poses in Nazi uniform in an image that will shock millions of Great British Bake Off fans.
Paul, 51 stunned drinkers by wearing the outfit at a village pub in Kent before heading off to a party.
A source said: “At worst it was extremely offensive. At the very least it was stupid.”
The TV chef smiled as he posed for a snap with a pal, who was also in full German military uniform.
The star was wearing a red swastika armband as part of his outfit.
A source said: “Paul and his mate popped in for a drink and their wives joined them later.
“To them it was a great big joke to be wearing a Nazi uniform, and they were laughing about it and happily posed for a picture at the bar.
“But some found it offensive — especially the fact they thought it was really funny.
“Paul had insignia on the uniform and a whacking great swastika for heaven’s sake.
“They may have been going to a fancy dress party — but what sort of person goes into a pub in German military uniform with a swastika on their sleeve?”
Paul completed his look with a peaked cap, an Iron Cross dangling from a pocket and a badge featuring a white Nazi eagle.
The image will shock Paul’s millions of fans. The picture was taken before he joined The Great British Bake Off in 2010, when he was a rising celebrity chef.
The housewives’ favourite was joined in the pub by wife Alexandra, 53, and his pal’s partner — both wearing ’Allo ’Allo!-style French Resistance outfits, including berets.
They all later left to go to a party.
German military historian Robin Schafer said the baker’s swastika cuff band “takes the whole thing on to a different level”.
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Mr Schafer — author of Fritz and Tommy: Across the Barbed Wire — said: “It’s tasteless and immoral as well as utterly stupid. It would have been worn by a functionary of the Nazi Party. That makes it a lot worse as it’s a political symbol rather than an army uniform.”
In Germany it is a criminal offence to use and wear symbols of the Nazis, including uniforms with swastikas.
Offenders face up to three years in jail or a large fine.
It falls under section 86 of the German Strafgesetzbuch (Criminal Code) and Dissemination of Means of Propaganda of Unconstitutional Organizations laws.
It was brought in after World War Two ended.
The shock snap was taken in the White Stag in the village of Monkton, Kent.
Paul was well-known after launching his TV career in 2002 and publishing best-selling book 100 Great Breads in 2005.
During an episode of BBC genealogy show Who Do You Think You Are? in 2015 it emerged that his grandfather Norman Harman served as a Royal Artillery anti-aircraft gunner in World War Two.
Our source added: “That’s another reason he should have known better.”
Paul’s outfit has echoes of the Prince Harry “Nazi” storm in January 2005 when the young prince was criticised after The Sun pictured him wearing a shirt altered to look like a German uniform, and a swastika armband to a party.
There is no suggestion that Paul or anyone else in these pictures has any sympathy with the Nazi Party.
Bake Off recently switched to Channel 4 where Paul and new colleagues Prue Leith, Noel Fielding and Sandi Toksvig drew an audience of 6.5million to its first episode.
It's not a joke. It's an evil we must never forget
MORE than 60 million people were killed in the Second World War. Many millions died in battle, others died as civilians.
Six million Jews were murdered by the Nazis in concentration camps — shot, beaten, starved or gassed to death to fulfil Hitler’s plan for a “Final Solution”.
All of which explains why it is so offensive to dress as a Nazi.
Paul Hollywood may have thought it was a harmless joke for a New Year’s party. But it is never funny — no matter the circumstances.
He showed a complete ignorance of the horrors of the Second World War. But he isn’t alone in that.
Remember ex-MP Aidan Burley? Other than his one claim to infamy, there is no reason why anyone should. In 2011 he was exposed for hiring a Nazi uniform for a friend to wear at a stag party — at which there was a toast to the Third Reich and cheers for Hitler.
In 2005 The Sun revealed that Prince Harry, who obviously should have known better, went to a fancy dress party in a swastika armband.
There is a key difference between Harry and Paul Hollywood. The prince was just 21 when he wore his swastika. His age didn’t excuse it, but he was young and foolish.
Paul Hollywood was anything but young. As the picture shows, he was a grown-up, greying man with a burgeoning career as a TV baker which was to bring great riches.
He was not the well-known figure he is today, but his celebrity is not the point. There are certain things that are simply wrong, whoever you are. One of them, surely, is wearing a Nazi uniform.
The Nazis are not some blot on history from centuries ago. It is only 72 years since the horrors of the Third Reich were brought to an end. Many of their concentration camp victims, known as Survivors, are alive today. They know that the evil and depravity of the Nazis is something we should never forget.