Great British Bake Off judge Prue Leith addresses the controversial  ‘Mexican week’

Nearly a month after the controversial ‘Mexican Week’ episode of Great British Bake Off, Judge Prue Leith is addressing the incident.

The controversial episode that aired earlier this month featured hosts Noel Fielding and Matt Lucas dressed in sombreros and ponchos, while Fielding told them not to make Mexican jokes, while Lucas added, “Not even Juan?”

The episode was blasted for those and other insensitive comments, with Leith, 82, insisting they weren’t trying to offend viewers.

Controversy: Nearly a month after the controversial ‘Mexican Week’ episode of Great British Bake Off, Judge Prue Leith discusses the incident

“There would have been absolutely no intent to offend. That’s not the spirit of the show,” Leith insisted in an interview with… The New Yorker.

The episode – which airs under the title Great British Baking Show – was about the bakers who had to make Mexican dishes.

They had to make pan dulce, steak tacos with homemade tortillas and tres leches cakes.

No intent: “There would have been absolutely no intent to offend. That’s not the spirit of the show,” Leith insisted in an interview with The New Yorker

Aside from Fielding and Lucas’ candid jokes, viewers complained about the bakers mispronouncing words like “pico de gallo” and a baker peeling an avocado like a potato.

While social media viewers often went off and on, Professor Ignacio M. Sánchez Prado, a professor of Mexican cultural studies at Washington University, also had something to say in an NPR interview.

“The fundamental problem is that the episode and the campaign follow a script about Mexican culture that we Mexicans, on both sides of the US-Mexico border, see very often,” Prado said.

Peeling: Aside from Fielding and Lucas’ candid jokes, viewers complained about the bakers mispronouncing words like “pico de gallo” and a baker peeling an avocado like a potato

Using cartoonish sarapes and sombreros as props and disguises, misidentifying Mexican food with the stuff sold at Taco Bell, borrowing beloved dishes like tres leches to create versions that are little recognizable to Mexicans, this is something we see every Cinco de Mayo and every Hispanic Heritage Month,” Prado added.

The Mexican Week episode wasn’t the first time the show has sparked cultural controversy.

A 2020 episode called Japanese Week came under fire from viewers for its use of different types of Asian dishes, with some thinking it perpetuates the stereotype that all Asian dishes are the same.

Controversy: The Mexican Week episode wasn’t the first time the show has sparked cultural controversy

Host Lucas was also criticized for calling katsu curry “cat poo curry,” while the bakers were criticized for using Indian and Chinese flavors in their Japanese dishes.

Tomoko Kato, the executive pastry chef and owner of the New York Confectionery, told Insider she understood the criticism, but added, “there’s room for both traditional and non-traditional” baking in Japanese cuisine.

‘There is a Japanese style of cooking that strictly follows tradition. But that wasn’t part of any of [the show’s] challenges. Japan has so many different food styles and specialties. There is room for both traditional and non-traditional’, says Kato.

Criticized: Host Lucas was also criticized for calling katsu curry “cat poo curry” while the bakers were criticized for using Indian and Chinese flavors in their Japanese dishes