The Great British Bake Off judge Paul Hollywood has not always labelled as the “sex symbol” title he carries today.
The baker, who turns 56 today (March 1) had humble beginnings before finding fame on popular Channel 4 show.
Since his fame, the star has amassed a net worth of £11.5 million, which he also uses to fund his motor racing hobby.
The petrolhead loves to drive an Aston Martin and has even trained and entered GT races, finishing second place at Silverstone in 2015 and first place in 2017.
Before he joined GBBO, Paul had a career as head baker for a luxury hotel in Cyprus.
(Image: WireImage)
This is where he met his ex wife Alex, who was working as a scuba diving instructor at the time.
She has previously opened up about the early stages of their relationship to Daily Mail:
Alex explained: “We fell in love very quickly. Two weeks was all it took, we both knew.”
Unfortunately, their demise began to form when a filming crew visited the hotel that the couple worked at.
(Image: Brian J Ritchie/Hotsauce/REX/Shutterstock)
Alex was the one who put her partner forward for the opportunity:.
She said at the time: “They put him in front of the camera and you could just see how brilliant he was, he dominated the screen.”
At first, his popularity didn’t affect the relationship between the two love birds as Alex recalled she “felt very secure with Paul” and that they had a “good, happy life” together.
(Image: PA)
She also said that he was “very grounded” and that “fame didn’t go to his head at all”, but disaster soon struck after Paul took a trip away.
He was flown out to the US to begin filming the American version of The Great British Bake Off, along with co-star Marcela Valladolid, in 2013.
Paul later moved out of the home he shared with Alex.
(Image: Channel 4)
The father-of-one attempted to patch things up with the mother of his child but was soon back to his old ways and began dating a 23-year-old barmaid Summer Monteys-Fullam, which left Alex feeling as though “he wasn’t the man she fell for”.
However, Paul and barmaid Summer’s relationship reportedly came to an abrupt end when he asked her to sign a non-disclosure agreement over their relationship.
(Image: paul.hollywood/Instagram)
They entered a bitter feud and Summer took to Instagram to say that he “ate Rice Krispies most evenings”, while Paul accused her of “orchestrating pictures with the paparazzi”.
The judge is currently in a relationship Melissa Spalding, with an insider source claiming that the TV star is “happier than he’s ever been”.
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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
