Everything You Should Know About Paul Hollywood, Your Fav 'Bake-Off' Judge
The man everyone wants a handshake from.
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Sure, you might know him as the last OG member of The Great British Baking Show still standing, but there's more to Paul Hollywood than that. In honor of his time as a judge on both GBBO and The Great American Baking Show, here are some things you may not know about him.
He began baking because of his father.
Paul was originally into sculpting, but when his dad—who was also a baker—had him come onboard at his bakery, things all kind of fell into place.
He went on to work for some of Britain's most prestigious hotels.
From the bakery, Paul took on jobs at the Cliveden House (you know, the one Meghan Markle and her mom stayed at the night before The Wedding), the Chester Grosvenor, and the Dorchester.
He's a world expert in the art of bread-baking.
Paul split with his wife of nearly 20 years.
He and Alexandra Hollywood were married in 1998 and have a teenage son together, but they announced "with sadness" their decision to separate in November of 2017.
Their statement said: "Our focus continues to be the happiness of our son, and we would ask the press and public to allow us privacy as a family during this very difficult time."
They'd split once before.
In 2013, Paul admitted to having an affair with fellow chef and short-time GABS co-host Marcella Valladolid, causing him and Alexandra to split. He eventually called the affair the "biggest mistake of [his] life" and returned to his marriage.
He and Mary Berry were the best TV pairing of all time.
OK, fine, that's not a fact, but they were the cornerstones of The Great British Baking Show for six years and the world is just not as good without them together.
'The Great British Baking Show' is still his thing.
Not only did he appear on The Great American Baking Show in 2017, but he remained with the original show after it switched networks in 2016. "It's been a huge part of my life in the past few years, and I just couldn't turn my back on all that," he said at the time. The same day, Mary Berry and hosts Mel Giedroyc and Sue Perkins announced they wouldn't do the same. Seasons eight through 11 featured him and Prue Leith as judges, and the two are returning for a 12th!
He's into cars.
He owns an Aston Martin DB9 and an Aston Martin DBS Volante and has even competed in some amateur racing.
He had a show where he rode across America on a motorcycle.
It was called Paul Goes to Hollywood—clever, right? Hollywood took a 3000-mile from NYC to Los Angeles on a Harley-Davidson, tasting the regional eats along the way.
He closed his bread empire in 2014.
The Paul Hollywood Artisan Bread company opened in 2007 and closed seven years later. "It's a huge headache and massive problem because I wasn't there enough," he explained then. His television commitments kept him from keeping it afloat.
His bakery, Knead, closed down in 2019.
Paul was still working on both sweet and savory things for his London bakery Knead. But in 2019, it had to close down due to construction for a railway station that lead to its demolition.
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