Hollywood ‘gave TV baker £5k watch – while still married’
PAUL Hollywood lavished gifts on a TV baker 25 years his junior while still married to his estranged wife, it was claimed yesterday.
The Great British Bake Off judge, 52, reportedly even splashed out £5,000 on a designer watch for 27-year-old Molly Robbins.
He is also said to have exchanged a string of flirty messages with the Channel 4 Extreme Cake Makers star and paid for expensive meals after he met her at the BBC’s Good Food Show in 2014.
The former make-up artist shared a picture of herself with Hollywood at the time, writing: ‘Of all the pictures I could have had with Paul, I can’t find one that doesn’t look like I’m touching him up! Dammit!’
Alexandra Hollywood, 54, only discovered her husband’s inappropriate messages with Miss Robbins after they announced their divorce in 2017, according to The Sun on Sunday.
A picture shows Miss Robbins drinking a glass of wine while wearing a £5,000 Tag Heuer watch, thought to have been given to her by Hollywood.
The revelation comes days after Mrs Hollywood said she does not know if she will ever be able to trust a man again following her husband’s affairs.
She and Hollywood first separated in 2013 after he admitted to an affair with Marcela Valladolid, an American chef 12 years his junior, when they starred together on the US version of Bake Off.
The couple, who have a son Josh, 17, were reconciled but split for good in November 2017.
While her ex-husband is now dating 23- year- old barmaid Summer Monteys- Fullam, Mrs Hollywood, 54, says she is currently happy being on her own.
The cookery writer said it took her a long time to come to terms with the breakdown of her marriage, which she likened to a bereavement. ‘ I don’t feel angry with Paul – though of course there’s a certain amount of hurt,’ she told Prima magazine. ‘Anger is emotive and I’m not carrying that around with me. All it does is upset you.’
Mrs Hollywood, a former scuba- diving instructor, said that her 19-year marriage was ‘ordinary’ until a ‘hiccup in the middle’ was followed by an abrupt end.
‘I don’t regret taking Paul back that first time. It was the right thing to do for me and my son,’ she said.
‘Hindsight is a wonderful thing, but if you make a decision you stick with it. I’m not embarrassed it didn’t work out.’ She added: ‘ No one should underestimate how separation and divorce can hit you.’
Hollywood claims he only began dating Miss Monteys-Fullam after his 19year marriage broke down.
But it has been reported Mrs Hollywood plans to name her in the divorce papers – claiming that Hollywood committed adultery.
Speaking in April, Miss MonteysFullam said she only got into a relationship with Hollywood after his marriage ended.
Representatives for Miss Robbins and Hollywood did not respond to requests for comment.
‘Exchanged flirty messages’