Born Paul John Hollywood, in Wallasey, Cheshire, England, in 1966, Paul Hollywood is a celebrity chef, best known for his appearance as a judge of the Great British Baking Show from 2010 - present. He is also a published author.

 

Hollywood grew up in the small town of Wallasey, in an apartment above his father’s bakery. He began his early years immersed in the wonderful smells, and tastes of homemade bread. He often worked summers at this bakery. His first baking experience was with his parents when he baked gingerbread cookies over the Christmas holidays. Perhaps because he had always been in this environment, Hollywood wanted out, and told his father that he didn’t want to pursue a career in the baking industry. Instead, he attended Wallasey School of Art to pursue a career in sculpting. However, after accepting a 500 Euro payment from his father, he quit art school, cut his chest-length hair, and started working at his father’s proprietary bakery. His store was one of a chain called BreadWinner. By the time that Hollywood had reached his early 20s, he was working a whole store by himself, and wanted to move to higher places. He left the bakery, and became the head baker at many different hotels. Some of which include The Dorchester, and Chester Grosvenor. 

 

Though he may have been born in England, and grown up there, the place that he always wanted to live was Cyprus. So when he was 28, in 1996, he moved there, specifically to Paphos. While he was there, he began to work as the head baker in a five-star hotel that was located on the seafront, Annabelle. Being the first time that he had ever actually been away from home, he didn’t expect to stay for all that long. However, he ended up living there for six years. He also met his wife there, whom he had one child with, but divorced a few years ago. 

 

He later moved back to the UK, after a brief TV stint in Cyprus, to star in other UK-based baking shows. While The Great British Baking Show is his most well-known work, he also worked on a lot of other shows including but not limited to: The Great American Baking Show, Paul Hollywood’s Pies and Puds, and Use Your Loaf. He’s lived in the UK since 2002, and he’s also published many different books. His first book, 100 Great Breads, featured breads that he learned from his stint in Cyprus, and was published in 10 different languages.

 

Over the years, Paul Hollywood has accomplished many things, he even has a motor racing career, but he will probably only ever be known as the harsh judge of the Great British Bake-Off.