Jürgen Shocks Paul Hollywood By Flunking ‘The Great British Baking Show: Holidays’: “I’m Not a Baking God”

From the moment that Jürgen Krauss pops up to play the trombone in the cold open of The Great British Baking Show: Holidays‘s new New Year’s installment on Netflix, it felt like the show knew we were witnessing the return of an icon. Jürgen’s not just your average fan favorite baker. He is an icon of Bake Off tent excellence. As host Noel Fielding himself, puts it in the baker’s intro package, Jürgen was known for his “astonishing” bakes, full of precision and sophistication.

Expectations were high and Jürgen did indeed wind up baking a Showstopper that judge Prue Leith called the “star” of the week. However, that’s not all that happened. Jürgen also managed to shock Paul Hollywood by letting him down…

**Spoilers for The Great British Baking Show: Holidays Season 7 Episode 2 “The Great New Year Baking Show,” now streaming on Netflix**

Guys, Jürgen full on made some hilariously dumb mistakes during this year’s The Great British Baking Show: Holidays. Like, he forgot to turn the oven on and blithely skipped over an entire sentence of the Technical Challenge recipe. His missteps opened the door for Maxy Maligisa to win the whole thing!

Even more wild? Jürgen seemed totally YOLO about the whole situation. When Noel pestered the German baker to find out what happened, Jürgen quipped with a shrug, “I should read the recipe.” Smiling in his confession, he noted it was “not a glorious day” for him, but more importantly, “I’m not a baking god.”

The king of bread and the master of the Black Forest gateau showed his human side during The Great British Baking Show: Holidays, making us love Jürgen even more than we already did!

Confused as to how one of the most obscenely talented bakers in all of The Great British Baking Show history could fumble so badly on basics? First of all, it seemed that Jürgen didn’t enter the tent fully focused on competition. As teased in the cold open, he had brought his trombone and, boy, did he find every opportunity to use it. The brass instrument came out more than once to pin one of Noel’s terrible puns with a groan. Later in the episode, Jürgen and his musician friends gathered to play an all brass version of the show’s iconic theme song. Jürgen had way more to do than just bake!

Nevertheless, the whole reason Jürgen was there, actually, was to bake.

As the four returning bakers got to work on their Signature Challenge, a group of religieuses (or nun-shaped choux pastries), we’re told that a key to great choux pastry is making sure the oven is hot before you put pastries in to bake. Jürgen managed to create decadent chocolate craquelin and itty bitty chocolate top hats for his chimneysweep religieuses, but, alas, he forgot to turn the oven on. An oversight he only noticed when his choux buns failed to rise. He cranked up the heat and hoped for the best. Ultimately, he only served Paul and Prue a few pastries and bowls of his cream.

Next, came the Technical Challenge. Fans of The Great British Baking Show will remember that during the bulk of Jürgen’s season, he traded first place Technical finishes back and forth with eventual winner Giuseppe Dell’Anno. So when Paul and Prue eventually put Jürgen’s galette royale (or King’s Cake) in last place, it was a shock. Once again, though, Jürgen made a simple mistake. Instead of chilling his pastry once last time, he pushed it into the oven.

The double whammy of Jürgen failing back-to-back challenges prompted commentary. “The one that’s really shocked me was Jürgen,” Paul Hollywood admitted behind-the-scenes. Noel Fielding repeated himself, wondering aloud: “Jürgen, what’s happening?” “He’d be the last person I would’ve thought was going to mess up turning on his oven,” Prue Leith said.

Jürgen took these obstacles in his stride, humbly explaining that he’s not a baking god. “I’m just another human being… baking,” he said.

Oh, but then he pulled off a complex Showstopper that almost could have won him the whole thing. You know, the way a “baking god” would.

Jürgen’s Mount Fuji-inspired smash cake recreated the iconic Japanese volcano in multiple tiers of chocolate. When smashed, a stunning jaconde-ringed cake was revealed underneath. It was so decadent, so creative, and so perfect, Prue Leith summed it up as “so Jürgen.”

One of my favorite trends in the most recent season of The Great British Baking Show was watching talented bakers like Gill or Nelly leave the tent with a laugh and a smile, and not tears. Jürgen’s incessantly positive energy, even in the face of failure, was inspiring. It proved that the German baker wasn’t just a rare talent, but a sage soul.

At the end of the day, The Great British Baking Show is just intended to be a celebration. There’s no money at stake as winners only go home with cake stands. Merely getting the opportunity to participate in the tent should be seen, as it is, a treat. Jürgen understood that. So even as he faltered, he managed to dazzle us with his positive attitude and plucky ability to bounce back.