Paul Hollywood ‘cheated with barmaid while he was married’
Battle: Paul and Alex Hollywood
‘My amazing boyfriend’
HE SHOCKED fans following the breakdown of his 19-year marriage after revelations that his new girlfriend was young enough to be his daughter.
Now Paul Hollywood’s furious wife has accused him of pursuing his 23-year- old lover while they were still together.
Alex Hollywood, 54, disputes that the Great British Bake Off star only began his relationship with barmaid Summer Monteys-Fullam after the pair’s marriage broke down.
Mrs Hollywood now plans to name Miss Monteys-Fullam in upcoming court proceedings over Hollywood’s £10million fortune, the Sun on Sunday reported.
‘Alex has filed for divorce on the grounds of adultery. She’s fed up of the lies. For example Summer’s claim that the relationship started “way after the marriage ended”,’ a source told the paper.
Legal experts said if Mrs Hollywood chooses to pursue a divorce on the grounds of adultery, she could force her baker husband to divulge damaging secrets about the marriage in public.
The couple announced they were to divorce after a 19-year marriage in a joint statement last November, just days after a getaway to Venice together.
But days later, it was revealed Hollywood, 52, had formed a close relationship with Miss Monteys-Fullam, who was a barmaid at his local pub, the Duke William in Ickham, Kent.
After this was discovered, a spokesman for the star attempted to dampen down the rumours, claiming the pair had ‘only ever been cordial and certainly not romantic’.
And speaking in April, Miss Monteys-Fullam said: ‘I came [into a relationship with Hollywood] way after his marriage ended.’ Miss Monteys-Fullam invited MailOnline to photograph her in Canterbury where she gave details on her relationship with Hollywood – who earns a reported £400,000 a year as the sole judge to stick with Bake Off after its move to Channel 4.
Asked if the 29-year age gap between them bothered her, she said: ‘I’m fine and I’m enjoying life. I’m not upset... I’m happy. Why should it [the age gap] bother me?’ She added: ‘There are many other people in the world with age gaps, and marriages and kids and everything else and I’m fine.’ And on New Year’s Eve she declared her love for Hol- lywood online. She wrote: ‘I can only thank the people that are close to me including my amazing boyfriend. You have turned me from a girl to a woman and to a house woman. I love you so much.’
Prior to meeting Hollywood in 2017, Miss Monteys-Fullam had modelled for a bridal magazine. She left her job as a barmaid after friends teased her following the emergence of pictures of her new boyfriend in a Nazi uniform.
Earlier this year she and Hollywood moved in together into a £2million rented home in a remote part of the Kent countryside. He also whisked her away on a £10,000 holiday in Mauritius in March, but the pair travelled separately to avoid publicity.
Hollywood has previously admitted cheating on his wife with American Bake Off costar, Marcela Valladolid, in 2013. The couple soon patched up their broken marriage.
Last week Hollywood and Miss Monteys-Fullam holidayed together in Cyprus.
Prior to Bake Off, Hollywood was a chef at a hotel in the Cyprus resort of Paphos, where his wife worked as a dive instructor.
The pair wed on the island two years later and have one son, Josh, 16.
Mrs Hollywood is continuing to forge her own career and is planning a third book of recipes. ‘Alex wants to start afresh and live her life. She’s a strong woman and wants to move on’, a source said. Paul Hollywood did not respond to requests for comment.