Great British Bake Off stalwart Paul Hollywood, 59, has found himself at the centre of a rather heated debate after appearing to praise "Israeli strawberries" during a recent TV appearance.

The celebrity chef joined Alex Jones and Vernon Kay on The One Show sofa earlier this week to discuss his new book, making the remarks while discussing the seasonality of British produce.

The conversation began after Hollywood brought a key lime pie in for the hosts to try. "I do like cake, I love cake... To be honest, it's the lime that lifts this," Hollywood began.

"I had this in Miami, and it was one of the chefs who made this for me, and I just fell in love with it straight away.

"Any time it's baked in the [Bake Off] tent, it always gets a handshake from me, it's one of my favourites."

Hollywood then moved on to his new book, Celebrate: Joyful Baking All Year Round: "The book is all about those times of the year when you wanna bake something, whether it's winter, summer, autumn, or spring," he continued.

Paul Hollywood appeared on Wednesday's The One Show

"And they all sort of line up with seasonality as well, so there's everything right from the starter baker to the professional as well. They're all simple and very easy to make."

Host Kay chimed in: "Do ingredients matter, because ingredients really aren't seasonal anymore, are they? You can get stuff all year round."

"Precisely," Hollywood replied. "That's what's changed in the past 15 years. I remember you couldn't get strawberries outside of the summer.

"Normally, you could get Israeli strawberries all year round and they're incredible," he added. "But I was in Japan last year and I tried this strawberry over there, grown in a sort of polytunnel...

Paul Hollywood praised "Israeli strawberries" on the show

"They were the size of your first, and £350 each for one strawberry. I always thought strawberries were the best in the UK, but how wrong was I? Japan!"

Neither Jones nor Kay grilled Hollywood on his seeming endorsement of an Israeli foodstuff. Still, the comment was enough to spark fury from pro-Palestine viewers who flocked to social media to condemn Hollywood for the remark.

One X user shared a clip of the interview alongside the caption: "When Israel is starving Palestinians, imagine promoting Israeli strawberries on TV! 'Normally you can get #Israeli strawberries all year round and they're incredible' Paul Hollywood on @TheOneShowShow #gbbo @Channel4 #BDS #FreePalestine."

Fellow critics then hit out at the Bake Off star, including one who accused Hollywood of being "tone deaf" and "supporting an ethno-state" while a second fumed: "Totally bizarre, so feels deliberate. At this time of year, British and especially Scottish strawberries are the best."

Paul Hollywood's comments sparked a fiery debate on social media between critics and fans

And another raged: "I think he will join @jimmycarr on the #Boycott list. These celebrities need to wake up."

However, Hollywood was defended by several X users who were convinced the Bake Off star wasn't pushing a narrative.

"Imagine having such an agenda that even the mention of Israeli produce forces you onto X to post your (irrelevant to the content) slogans," one person hit back before a second echoed: "Give it a rest he’s a baker, he makes cakes and other baked goods, that’s all. Just stop it."

"Stupid... Being offended by Strawberries," a third X user weighed into the debate.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu

The fury surrounding Hollywood's mention of Israeli produce comes as the country and its exports face increasing boycotts.

Israel has come under increasing pressure from world leaders, including UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, to change tack following its attacks on Gaza in response to the October 7 Hamas attacks.

Paul Hollywood hasn't publicly responded to the backlash

The country has also been accused of stopping aid into the region, with more than 2,700 children under the age of five in Gaza diagnosed with acute malnutrition in the second half of May, according to the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR).

The US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation has said it planned to open two supply distribution centres intended to provide aid on Thursday.