Hollywood began his career at his father's bakery as a teenager and went on to serve as head baker at a number of British and international hotels. After returning from working in Cyprus, Hollywood appeared as a guest on a number of British television programmes on both BBC and ITV. After beginning his broadcast career in food programming, he diversified into other areas, including motoring.
Early life, education and early career
Hollywood was born in 1966 in Wallasey,[2][3]Cheshire,[lower-alpha 1] the son of bakery proprietor John F. Hollywood and Gillian M. Hollywood (nee Harman).[4] He was a pupil at The Mosslands School. Hollywood studied sculpture at the Wallasey School of Art based at Liscard Hall,[5] but left to start work as a baker.[6][7] He first worked in his father's bakery in York (the headquarters of a chain called Bread Winner which eventually stretched all the way down the east coast from Aberdeen to Lincolnshire) and then in other bakeries on Merseyside.[8] He eventually went on to become head baker at a number of hotels including The Dorchester, Chester Grosvenor and Spa, and the Cliveden Hotel. He then left the UK for Cyprus, where he worked at two resorts.[9]
Television and media career
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,[9] and The Alan Titchmarsh Show.[10] Since the show launched in 2010, Hollywood has been a judge on the BBC programme The Great British Bake Off. In this capacity, he has been described as the "antidote" to judges such as Len Goodman or Simon Cowell in other reality television programmes, on account of his straightforward and honest manner and because his judging is restricted purely to the finished product.[11] His partnership with Mary Berry has been described in The Guardian as being the "secret weapon" of the show and potentially one of the best judging combinations to have appeared on reality television.[12] In September 2016, Love Productions agreed to a three-year deal to move the show from the BBC to Channel 4.[13] Hosts Mel Giedroyc and Sue Perkins announced that they would not be moving to the new network,[14] followed shortly after by Berry.[15] On the same day as Berry, Hollywood announced that he would be staying with the show.[16]
The Gourmand World Cookbook Awards named his 2005 book 100 Great Breads as the "Top Bread and Pastry Book" for that year.[17]
In 2008, Hollywood created an almond and roquefortsourdough recipe that was said to be the most expensive bread in Britain.[18] The roquefort is supplied from a specialist in France at £15 per kilo, while the flour for the bread is made by a miller in Wiltshire. Hollywood describes it as a "Rolls-Royce of loaves".[18] Hollywood is a guest speaker at several food festivals, including the Cumbrian Food Festival,[19] and the BBC Good Food Show and the Cake and Bake Show, both in London.[17][20] In May 2013, Hollywood began appearing as a judge on The American Baking Competition on CBS.[citation needed]
Hollywood has also starred in Sadie J, a children's television programme. In 2013, he presented Paul Hollywood’s Bread on BBC Two, in which he gave advice on recipes for different types of bread; however, also featured on the series were recipes for some cakes such as the Danish pastry. He also presented Paul Hollywood's Pies and Puds, a cookery television series on BBC One.[citation needed]
In August 2015, Hollywood was featured on the BBC genealogy documentary series Who Do You Think You Are? The programme revealed that his grandfather Norman Harman, who served in the Army during World War II, saw action in the Tunisia Campaign and at the Battle of Anzio and that his great-great-grandfather, Kenneth MacKenzie, had been a policeman in the City of Glasgow Police in the 1850s. Hollywood's great-great-great-grandfather, Donald MacKenzie, had been a crofter in Poolewe, Wester Ross. Donald had also been the post-runner between Poolewe and Dingwall, where he delivered post on foot over a distance of 60 miles (97km). He covered this distance every week, during his forties, on foot for over a decade. He lived into his 80s.[21]
In May and June 2017, he presented Paul Hollywood's Big Continental Road Trip.[22] In December 2017, Hollywood appeared as a judge on The Great American Baking Show, the second incarnation of the GBBO series in the United States.[23]
In 2019, Hollywood made a comment on The Great British Bake Off that a cake looked like "diabetes on a plate" and after complaints, he apologised on his social media.[24] In November 2019, the four-part series Paul Goes to Hollywood premiered on Food Network; the series follows Paul Hollywood on a 3000-mile culinary road trip across America, travelling from New York to Los Angeles on a Harley-Davidson motorcycle.[25]
Hollywood travelled across Japan to discover some of the finest culinary experiences the country has to offer in the three-part Channel 4 series called Paul Hollywood Eats Japan; aired during April–May 2020.[26]
In December 2020, 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. [27]
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.[28]
In May 2023, Hollywood appeared in the trailer for the BBC coverage of the Eurovision Song Contest, which was being hosted that year in Liverpool.[29]
Motor racing
In 2015, Hollywood began his racing career; in that year, he made his debut in the Beechdean AMRAston Martin Vantage GT4 with Andrew Howard, founder of Beechdean Dairies. The pair qualified second in the Britcar Trophy Championship's first round at Silverstone taking second in class in both races.[30] He also competed at Le Mans in 2015 in the Aston Martin festival.[31] Hollywood has also competed in GT Cup with Jonny Adam and finished first in class.[32] He entered the British GT championship in 2016 and competed in the last three rounds with Jamie Chadwick as his driving partner. In July 2017 he came first in class at the Dunlop endurance race at Silverstone in an Aston Martin GT4, and in November 2017 he raced in his first 24 hr race at Circuit of the Americas coming second in class in an Aston Martin GT8.
Personal life
Hollywood met his now-former wife Alexandra in Cyprus where he was a head baker at a five-star hotel and she was a scuba diving instructor.[33] They later married on the island.[34] They have a son.[35]
Hollywood separated from Alexandra in 2013 after having an affair with his The American Baking Competition co-judge Marcela Valladolid. They later reconciled, then separated again in November 2017.[36][37][38][39] They divorced in July 2019[40] before Hollywood split from 23-year-old girlfriend Summer Monteys-Fullam, ending a two-year relationship a month later.[41][42]
Melanie Clare Sophie Giedroyc is an English actress, comedian and television presenter. With Sue Perkins, she has co-hosted series including Light Lunch for Channel 4, The Great British Bake Off for the BBC and chat show Mel and Sue for ITV. In early 2017 Giedroyc co-presented the BBC show Let It Shine. Since 2015 she has held a number of commentating roles for the Eurovision Song Contest.
Dame Mary Rosa Alleyne Hunnings is an English food writer, chef, baker and television presenter. After being encouraged in domestic science classes at school, she studied catering at college. She then moved to France at the age of 22 to study at Le Cordon Bleu culinary school, before working in a number of cooking-related jobs.
The Great British Bake Off is a British television baking competition, produced by Love Productions, in which a group of amateur bakers compete against each other in a series of rounds, attempting to impress two judges with their baking skills. One contestant is eliminated in each round, and the winner is selected from the three contestants who reach the final.
Junior Bake Off is a British television baking competition in which young bakers aged 9 to 12 tackle a series of challenges involving baking cakes, biscuits, bread, and pastries, competing to be crowned Junior Bake Off Champion.
The first series of The Great British Bake Off first aired on BBC Two on 17 August 2010. Ten home bakers took part in a bake-off to test their baking skills as they battled to be designated the best amateur baker. Each week the programme bakers participated in three challenges in a particular discipline, with some being eliminated at the end of each episode. The rounds of the competition took place in various locations across the UK following a theme, for example, the episode on puddings took place in Bakewell, bread baking would take place near Sandwich. This first series had a voiceover by Stephen Noonan; for the subsequent series this role was taken by the on-screen presenters Mel Giedroyc and Sue Perkins. The competition was won by Edd Kimber.
The second series of The Great British Bake Off started 14 August 2011 with twelve amateur bakers. Unlike series one, the competition was held in a single location – the grounds of Valentines Mansion, a 17th-century mansion house in Redbridge. In addition to their on-screen presenting, Mel Giedroyc and Sue Perkins also took over the narration, which had been done by Stephen Noonan for the previous series. Series two also introduced the "star baker" award for the most impressive performer each week.
The third series of The Great British Bake Off began airing on Tuesday 14 August 2012. The series was filmed at Harptree Court in East Harptree, Somerset.
The American Baking Competition is a reality competition television series that aired on CBS from May 29 to July 10, 2013. It was an adaptation of The Great British Bake Off. The series aimed to find the best amateur baker in the United States. The series was hosted by Jeff Foxworthy and judged by Marcela Valladolid and Paul Hollywood. The competition was won by Brian Emmett.
The fourth series of The Great British Bake Off began airing on 20 August 2013. Mel Giedroyc and Sue Perkins again presented the show and Mary Berry and Paul Hollywood returned as judges. As with series three, the competition was held at Harptree Court in East Harptree, Somerset.
The Great British Bake Off: An Extra Slice is a British television after-show to follow the series The Great British Bake Off. Hosted by Jo Brand, the show features three celebrity panelists discussing the after-events of the week. Originally, the show began airing on BBC Two on 8 August 2014 two days after the premiere episode of the fifth series of the main show, and was filmed at The London Studios. In April 2017, it was announced that the series and Brand would follow The Great British Bake Off to Channel 4 in 2017. The sixth series of The Great British Bake Off: An Extra Slice returned on 30 August 2019 and concluded on 1 November 2019. The eighth series began airing on 24 September and concluded on 26 November 2021. In 2022 The Great British Bake Off: An Extra Slice has been renewed for a tenth series that began airing on 28 September 2023.
The fifth series of The Great British Bake Off first aired on 6 August 2014, with twelve contestants. Mel Giedroyc and Sue Perkins presented the show and Mary Berry and Paul Hollywood returned as judges. Twelve contestants competed in this series, and the competition was held in Welford Park in Berkshire. The series was won by Nancy Birtwhistle, with Luis Troyano and Richard Burr finishing as runners-up.
The sixth series of The Great British Bake Off first aired on 5 August 2015, with twelve contestants competing to be the series 6 winner. Mel Giedroyc and Sue Perkins presented the show, and Mary Berry and Paul Hollywood returned as judges. The competition was held in the ground of Welford Park, Berkshire for a second year. The series was won by Nadiya Hussain, with Tamal Ray and Ian Cumming finishing as runners-up.
The seventh series of The Great British Bake Off aired from 24 August 2016, with twelve contestants competing to be crowned the series 7 winner.
The eighth series of The Great British Bake Off began on 29 August 2017, with this being the first of The Great British Bake Off to be broadcast on Channel 4, after the production company Love Productions moved the show from BBC One. It is the first series for new hosts Noel Fielding and Sandi Toksvig, and new judge Prue Leith.
The Great American Baking Show is an American cooking competition television series and an adaptation of The Great British Bake Off. Its first season aired on ABC under the title The Great Holiday Baking Show. The show is the second licensed adaptation of the GBBO format in the United States. In 2013, CBS produced one season of The American Baking Competition, which was hosted by Jeff Foxworthy, with Paul Hollywood and Mexican-American chef Marcela Valladolid as judges.
The ninth series of The Great British Bake Off began on 28 August 2018, with this being the second series to be broadcast on Channel 4. The series is presented by Noel Fielding and Sandi Toksvig, with judges Paul Hollywood and Prue Leith. This series saw a few changes to the usual format: the first episode being Biscuit Week, the documentary inserts were dropped, and the finale included the competitors doing a technical challenge outside the tent for the first time.
The twelfth series of The Great British Bake Off began airing on 21 September 2021. It is presented by Noel Fielding and Matt Lucas, and judged by returning judges Paul Hollywood and Prue Leith. The bakers were announced on 14 September 2021.
↑ Hollywood, Paul (2017). A Baker's Life: 100 fantastic recipes, from childhood bakes to five-star excellence. Bloomsbury Publishing. ISBN978-1408846506.
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