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'The Great British Baking Show': Paul links rainbow to NHS, fans slam it as 'deliberate erasure' of LGBT pride

'Fair enough, celebrate the NHS with a rainbow. However, they've represented it for 6 months, and the Pride flag has represented the LGBT+ community for over 40 years,' a user commented

'The Great British Baking Show' wrapped up its third challenge this week and it was nothing short of fascinating. It was the bread challenge and none of the bakers disappointed. However, one had to go and it had to be Rowan. Judges Paul Hollywood and Prue Leith tasked the participants to create their versions of rainbow bagels.

The interesting bit is that the colors of the rainbow form one of National Health Service's (NHS) logo, which received a facelift soon after the pandemic gripped the world. The heartwarming gesture was meant to show gratitude towards the health workers across the United Kingdom. Unfortunately, the intent was overshadowed by tremendous flak on social media beyond. There were even petitions filed to take down the rainbow logo since it represented the LGBTQ community.   

After the episode aired, fans took to Twitter to share their disappointment over how Paul connected the rainbow to the NHS symbol and not pride. Some even pointed out that he could have referenced the colors to the pride along with NHS at least. 

"The rainbow originated from Pride, fact. Even if it’s adopted for the NHS there should have been a direct reference to Pride regardless. It obviously wasn’t intentional but still inconsiderate," a fan commented, while another shared: "I think that as the is the international symbol for LGBTQ pride and that this Sunday, October 11t is #comingoutday you might have referenced that too. #GBBO."

"NHS bagel? Because it’s a rainbow? No, #GBBO just no. It’s a PRIDE bagel. Anyone else want to #reclaimourrainbow #LGBT," a viewer expressed. "The smug and deliberate erasure of the importance of our #LGBTQ rainbow pride flag on #GBBO continues even after the show. @PaulHollywood‘s deliberate snide comments that “stands for the NHS” was incredibly crass and so is this tweet," a fan tweeted.

"Fair enough, celebrate the NHS with a rainbow. However, they've represented it for 6 months, and the Pride flag has represented the LGBT+ community for over 40 years. Suddenly the NHS is the first thing you think of when you see a rainbow? Fuck that!" a user pointed out.

Catch all the new episodes of 'The Great British Baking Show' on Netflix every Friday.