23 Facts About Paul Hollywood

Paul John Hollywood was born on 1 March 1966 and is an English celebrity chef and television presenter, widely known as a judge on The Great British Bake Off since 2010.

Paul Hollywood studied sculpture at the Wallasey School of Art based at Liscard Hall, but left to start work as a baker.

Paul Hollywood first worked in his father's bakery in York and then in other bakeries on Merseyside.

Paul Hollywood eventually went on to become head baker at a number of hotels including The Dorchester, Chester Grosvenor and Spa, and the Cliveden Hotel.

Paul Hollywood then left the UK for Cyprus, where he worked at two resorts.

Paul Hollywood has appeared in guest spots on a number of television programmes, including BBC One's The Generation Game, The Heaven and Earth Show, ITV's This Morning, and The Alan Titchmarsh Show.

Since the show launched in 2010, Paul Hollywood has been a judge on the BBC programme The Great British Bake Off.

In 2008, Paul Hollywood created an almond and roquefort sourdough recipe that was said to be the most expensive bread in Britain.

Paul Hollywood is a guest speaker at several food festivals, including the Cumbrian Food Festival, and the BBC Good Food Show and the Cake and Bake Show, both in London.

In May 2013, Paul Hollywood began appearing as a judge on The American Baking Competition on CBS.

Paul Hollywood has starred in Sadie J, a children's television programme.

Paul Hollywood presented Paul Hollywood's Pies and Puds, a cookery television series on BBC One.

Paul Hollywood covered this distance every week, during his forties, on foot for over a decade.

In December 2017, Paul Hollywood appeared as a judge on The Great American Baking Show, the second incarnation of the GBBO series in the United States.

In December 2020, Paul Hollywood was featured in a two-part Channel 4 series called The Great British Bake Off: Best Bits; celebrating some of the most memorable moments from the first ten years of the series.

Later in 2022, the three-part series Paul Hollywood Eats Mexico will premier on Channel 4; the series follows Paul Hollywood as he experiences authentic local cuisine on a culinary tour across Mexico.

In May 2023, Paul Hollywood appeared in the trailer for the BBC coverage of the Eurovision Song Contest, which was being hosted that year in Liverpool.

In 2015 Paul Hollywood began his racing career, making his debut in the Beechdean AMR Aston Martin Vantage GT4 with Andrew Howard, founder of Beechdean Dairies.

Paul Hollywood competed at Le Mans in 2015 in the Aston Martin festival.

Paul Hollywood has competed in GT Cup with Jonny Adam and finished first in class.

Paul Hollywood entered the British GT championship in 2016 and competed in the last three rounds with Jamie Chadwick as his driving partner.

Paul Hollywood met his former wife Alexandra in Cyprus where he was a head baker at a five star hotel and she was a scuba diving instructor.

Paul Hollywood separated from Alexandra in 2013 after having an affair with his The American Baking Competition co-judge Marcela Valladolid.