The U.K. has produced a lot of great celebrity chefs who have not only brought us some of the best food but some of the juiciest drama and controversy. Some names that come to mind are the notorious Gordon Ramsay, Jamie Oliver, and The Great British Bake Off's own Paul Hollywood, all of whom could rival any cook on the Food Network.
Hollywood has been the source of a lot of controversy and scandal over the years, just like Ramsay, who by the way says he'd never cook alongside another GBBO ex-judge, Mary Berry. GBBO has seen judges and hosts come and go, but Hollywood has always been a constant.
While literally, everything Hollywood does on GBBO receives some sort of backlash, somehow, there's a lot of scandalous things he's done on his own throughout his career. Here's the truth about your favorite professional baker.
Hollywood's Origins
In the race to become one of the 12 amateur bakers featured on GBBO, 12,000 contestants are weeded down and have to go through tons of trials and auditions including "psychological assessments to make sure they can cope with the pressure that comes with exposure on prime-time TV."
But before Hollywood was fit to judge the 12 contestants on the popular show, and even before he became a famous chef and baker, he was set on becoming a sculptor. It was only after his father, who was a baker, convinced him to study baking instead, that Hollywood left sculpting behind.
Hollywood was able to sculpt some of the finest cakes and desserts just like he was able to sculpt sculptures. Soon he was working in the best hotels, including Cliveden, The Chester Grosvenor, and The Dorchester, owning his own bakery, and writing a couple of books.
Hollywood Has Feuded With His Fellow GBBO Co-Stars
When GBBO changed channels from BBC2 to Channel 4 in the U.K., Berry decided to leave the show, because of her loyalty to the BBC. After that, both of the hosts, Mel Giedroyc and Sue Perkins, followed her. Hollywood did not, probably due to the paycheck, which caused controversy.
At the time there was also speculation that Perkins was throwing shade at Hollywood for his "traitorous" behavior.
"When we were there [on the show] he was really good fun, and things happened that made us sad and incredibly hurt," Perkins revealed on Jessie Ware's Table Manners podcast. "He was always like family, for years and years and years."
"I became the most hated man in the country! It’s not fun for someone who doesn’t like being in the limelight," Hollywood told the Radio Times.
According to Vulture, Hollywood tried to fix this little snag he found himself in by giving out more of the horribly awkward yet coveted handshakes he'd used in previous seasons. If Hollywood stuck his beefy hand out to a contestant that really surprised him more often, maybe it would get more people to like him.
As for Berry, she said that she did have her difference with Hollywood but that she still stood by him.
Everything He Does On The Show Makes Headlines
Besides the famous handshake that appears in the papers every time one is given, Hollywood can't seem to get out of the headlines, especially in this current eleventh season. Some of the things he's said and done have received a lot of backlash, and the list keeps piling up every episode.
So far, Hollywood has made headlines for his baby hands joke (he was making a joke about his handshake), his comments that rainbow bagels represented the NHS, not the LGBTQ community, and now fans are speculating whether he's gay after host Matt Lucas called him a "gay man."
This isn't the first time that Hollywood has been criticized. Fans were not happy about a comment he made in season ten. When judging a very sweet Showstopper, Hollywood said it looked like "diabetes on a plate." This didn't sit well with fans who have the disease.
There was also the time when an old photo of Hollywood dressed up as a Nazi officer during a New Year's Eve Party got out and made headlines. You can imagine the backlash that caused.
The worst headlines that Hollywood has received to date are the headlines that revealed Hollywood's affair and marriage scandal.
In 2013, Hollywood admitted to having an affair with his American Bake Off co-star, Marcela Valladolid. However, Hollywood and his wife of 20 years, Alexandra, did reconcile.
When he revealed the affair to Radio 5, Hollywood said that he deserved the backlash and accepted it as his punishment for the "biggest mistake of his life." But Hollywood was surprised with the level of coverage about his marriage because he didn't think people cared that much about him.
"I didn't think anyone interested in me for a start which is why I was shocked about the whole thing kicking off the way it did," Hollywood said.
In the end, though, his wife did file for divorce in 2017, citing adultery, even though Hollywood claimed that his relationship with his new girlfriend, Summer Monteys-Fullam, started after he and Alex split.
On top of that, Monteys-Fullam left Hollywood not long after when he asked her to sign an NDA, which required her to keep hush about their relationship. Some experts are even speculating whether or not these scandals have potentially affected Hollywood's future on GBBO, which could come into effect after this season.
We'll see if Hollywood will be able to keep his judging role on the hit show, but with all of this season's backlash, it's looking a little rocky. Despite Hollywood's culinary talent, it seems like he's made a couple of bad choices so far in his career. He might have to pull out a really great Showstopper to win the respect of some fans.