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Wales Online
Wales Online
Lifestyle
Stephanie Colderick

Celebrity Bake Off: Paul Hollywood's little known racing career

Great British Bake Off judge Paul Hollywood will be back on our screens with The Great Celebrity Bake Off for Stand Up to Cancer and while he is known for his baking skills, he also has another talent. The Great Celebrity Bake Off for Stand Up to Cancer begins on Channel 4 on Tuesday, March, 22 and runs for five weeks, and when Paul isn't creating amazing baking recipes he can be found whizzing around a race track.

Aside from baking, he is an amateur racing driver as he competes in motor races in Aston Martins. In 2015 Paul began his racing career and was racing in an Aston Martin Vantage GT4 and he owns an Aston Martin DB9 and an Aston Martin DBS Volante. He races for the team Beechdean AMR and has taken part in the Britcar Trophy Championship.

Paul drives Aston Martins on tracks including Silverstone (BBC/Poppy Goodheart)

In 2015 he competed in the 24-hour race Le Mans and the GT Cup. He has also been a team-mate famous female racing driver Jamie Chadwick, who was a development driver for the F1 team Williams. Paul has also raced at the world-famous track Silverstone numerous of times.

READ MORE: When does Celebrity Bake Off 2022 start on Channel 4?

Paul was born in Cheshire and his father was a baker which saw Paul starting work at his dad's bakery when he was a teenager. He also worked in Merseyside and Cheshire with his experience, including being head baker at the luxury The Chester Grosvenor Hotel in Chester.

After working as a baker in the UK he moved to Cyprus and worked in luxury hotels there, which is where he met his former wife Alexander Hollywood. It was also in Cyprus that Paul first appeared in front of a camera and from there had guest spots on TV shows including The Generation Game and This Morning.

In 2010 Paul began his most well-known role as a judge on The Great British Bake Off where fans loved his partnership with fellow judge Mary Berry. In 2016 when the show moved from BBC One to Channel 4 and Paul was the only original host and judge to move across channels with the show as Mary, Mel Giedroyc, and Sue Perkins all quit.

Paul has also had his own TV shows, most recently Paul Hollywood Eats Japan which was aired on Channel 4 in 2020. Throughout his career Paul has had a rocky marriage with his former wife Alexandra Hollywood, after separating in 2013 due to Paul being unfaithful, reconciling, and then separating again in 2017 and they divorced in 2019.

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