Nigerian celebrity chef Hilda Baci found herself in hot water, and not just from cooking, after a video of her cleaning her giant jollof rice pot with her bare feet divided the internet.
The controversial clip emerged just hours into Baci’s ambitious Guinness World Record attempt to cook the world’s largest pot of jollof rice.
The footage shows her stepping inside the massive cooking vessel, scrubbing it clean with water and dishwashing liquid before any food preparation began.
What started as documentation of her record-breaking journey quickly turned into a social media storm, with Nigerians split down the middle on whether her cleaning method was practical or problematic.
Medical doctor Adeshina didn’t mince words in his viral criticism: “There’s something mentally disturbing about seeing Hilda walk in that pot with bare feet, knowing food will be prepared there for people to eat.
Your brain just can’t separate the two images.”
The backlash was swift and brutal.
“This clip should never have made it online,” one user complained, while another admitted the uncomfortable truth many were thinking: “Your mind keeps going back to her stepping in the pot… but when she serves that delicious jollof rice, we’ll still eat it.”
But Baci wasn’t without her defenders. Supporters rushed to explain that she was simply being practical about cleaning such an enormous pot.
“She already showed she’d sanitize it with new mop sticks afterward,” one fan argued. “Let’s support her instead of tearing her down.”
Others pointed out the obvious: “She’ll obviously wash her feet, and the extreme cooking heat will kill any germs anyway.”
Despite the online drama, many Nigerians are still rooting for their celebrity chef to succeed, viewing her creativity and determination as something worth celebrating – even if her cleaning methods raise a few eyebrows along the way.
See some comments below:
SemiNigerian reacted: “Till you see how they get palm oil.”
Orfega007 noted: “This particular part shouldn’t have made it online sha.”
HOLARMEEDEY1 opined: “You are right. Your mind keep going to back to the fact that she’s stepping into the pota with her bare legs.. But doc, it won’t matter when she is giving out the smoky jollof rice 🤣🤣🤣🤣. We go eat am like that.”
Updated_CEO stated: “Nawahoooo how una want make she take wash am again …. Nawah.”
DEFI_WOLVE added, “I really don’t want to think about the negative side cos if you do, you’d miss the whole creativity she’s pulling off here.
She has already said she would wipe with new mop sticks which she showed in the video. Let’s try and encourage her than to set up a clause for dragging.”
tboysquare said: “True, but that same brain should let people know that there’s no way she won’t wash her leg, and the food is going into extreme heat, I’ll kill all the germs anyway..”
