The world’s his cake:
Paul Hollywood just can’t escape his fans.
The Great British Bake Off has turned its longest-serving judge, Paul Hollywood, into a worldwide star. To prove the point, he says he is often recognised in the strangest places.
Hollywood, who has worked on the show since it started in the UK 10 years ago, reveals that, “I was walking through the Alps in the winter and a Brazilian lady came up and screamed my name. That was a bit surreal, odd and lovely at the same time.”
The 10th series of The Great British Bake Off, which is filmed in the now celebrated tent in the grounds of a stately home in Kingham, Oxfordshire, is airing this week in New Zealand.
The 54 year old, who judges the show with chef Prue Leith, marvels at how time has flown since the first series.
“It’s gone really quickly actually. When I look back, it doesn’t seem like it was 10 years ago I was in the tent at Kingham where we started.
“Back then I never imagined we’d still be here 10 years later. I’ve done every single Bake Off and, across that, US Bake Off and Junior Bake Off. It’s now 500 challenges that I have judged. That’s a lot.”
Unusually, this season will feature 13 contestants undertaking the three major rounds – the signature bake, the technical bake, and the showstopper challenge. Hollywood explains how it works. “We have a baker’s dozen this year. It does mean that one week two bakers will leave the tent, which is really tough. It also means there is a lot of cake to taste and judge that first week.”
Ten years on, The Great British Bake Off is still a huge hit. So what is the secret ingredient? “It’s always the bakers,” says Hollywood. “They are the constant. The bakers remain the heart of the show.”
“When I was 17 working at my dad’s bakery, I made 1000 doughnuts and put salt on them instead of sugar.” – Paul Hollywood
He admits that he admires the contestants’ skills under pressure.
“All of them are coping really well this year. Their resilience and enthusiasm are amazing.
“When they are baking on the show, they are getting cameras in their face a lot of the time, so I have a lot of respect for them.
“It’s very different for them from baking in their kitchens at home and, realistically, they are amateur bakers.”
It is fair to say that another reason for the enduring popularity of The Great British Bake Off is the magnetism of its two judges and two hosts, comedians Sandi Toksvig and Noel Fielding.
Hollywood underscores how much he enjoys working with Leith, who replaced the evergreen Mary Berry as a judge after seven series.
“We are so relaxed with each other. She is so lovely, I feel that I have known Prue all my life.
“When I first met her at the auditions, she came in and she had this smile which lit up the room.
“She is also so clever. She dresses fantastically with her bright colours. She is so vibrant and she is such a good laugh. She is so easy to be around.”
Hollywood continues that he and Leith are also on the same wavelength when judging.
“Prue and I have had some good professional discussions this series. It’s never an argument. What it boils down to is personal opinion and we can disagree on flavours. But we mostly agree ultimately.”
The judge, who hails from Merseyside, goes on to outline his feelings towards the two hosts of The Great British Bake Off.
“They are both genuinely lovely and very, very funny. Sandi is great and worries about everyone and is very empathic. Noel is just Noel, which is great.”
Before he became head baker at a number of top hotels around the world, Hollywood started out as a teenager at his father’s bakery. He recalls that was the scene of his worst baking disaster.
“When I was 17 working at my dad’s bakery, I made 1000 doughnuts and put salt on them instead of sugar. So maybe I was ahead of my time with the sweet and sour thing, but they didn’t taste great at all.”
Hollywood signs off by disclosing that his global fame has had some unpredictable by-products. For example, “I have had a margarita named after me. It was a pretty smart margarita. It was in a bar in Sante Fe in America that Robert Redford used to go to.”
So what did the bar call the margarita?
“The Paul Hollywood … funnily enough.”