The Great British Bake Off judge Paul Hollywood‘s complicated love life has generated countless headlines throughout his career.
The master breadmaker first found fame as guest chef on U.K. culinary shows, before achieving superstardom as one of the original judges on The Great British Bake Off (known in the U.S. as The Great British Baking Show). Hollywood later joined the short-lived American Baking Competition on CBS in search of fame in the U.S., but his alleged affair with fellow judge Marcela Valladolid caused a major scandal as he’d been married for 15 years to wife Alexandra Hollywood. The baker’s next tumultuous relationship with then-23-year-old girlfriend Summer Monteys-Fullam only added to accusations of a messy love life, though he has since settled down with second wife Melissa Spalding.
As Paul celebrates his birthday on March 1, keep scrolling for the lowdown on his life outside the Bake Off tent:
Alexandra Hollywood
The Bake Off star met his first wife Alex while they both lived in Cyprus. Paul worked as a baker at the Annabelle Hotel and his future wife gave professional scuba diving instructions.
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Alex told the Daily Mail in 2013 that she found Paul to be “absolutely lovely with piercing blue eyes” in their first meeting.
“We fell in love very quickly. Two weeks was all it took — we both knew,” she remembered. “Paul was lovely, he made me the most wonderful pastries for breakfast. Show me a woman who doesn’t like chocolate!”
Paul and Alex married in 1998 and returned to the U.K. the following year, where they welcomed son Josh in October 2001.
Alex was by Paul’s side for 20 years, including during his huge success with The Great British Bake Off. Paul’s decision to become a judge on CBS’s short-lived American Baking Competition in 2013 eventually led to an international scandal.
Marcela Valladolid
Paul and Marcela were both judges on The American Baking Competition, which ran for a single season in 2013, when they reportedly had a fling during filming.
The baker returned home to the U.K. to huge controversy swirling, before he publicly admitted that he’d cheated on Alex in an October 2013 interview.
“It was the biggest mistake of my life. I did have an affair in America with my co-judge and it was the biggest mistake of my life, because actually, I still love my wife,” he confessed to BBC Radio 5 Live.
Paul said he’d accepted responsibility for his breach of trust and was “working to get back together again” with Alex.
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“It’s going to take time … What I did was wrong, but I think now that we just need space,” he said, before adding: “I was shocked about the whole thing kicking off the way it did … but I deserved it and I’ve taken it. It was my punishment.”
The Hollywoods temporarily reconciled before separating for good in 2017. After they settled their divorce in 2019, Alex told Prima Magazine that she wasn’t prepared for the impact of splitting from Paul.
“No one should underestimate how separation and divorce can hit you,” Alex said in 2019. “I compare it to a moment where you’re driving along the motorway and then the next moment, something beyond your control happens and you’re driving in a completely different direction. You have to give yourself time to get your head round it.”
During an appearance on That Gaby Roslin Podcast in 2022, Paul reflected on his headline-grabbing scandal.
“I’ve made mistakes in my life, who hasn’t? I went through a divorce; divorces aren’t nice for either party,” he said.
Marcela has never publicly commented on her affair with Hollywood.
Summer Monteys-Fullam
A newly-single Paul quickly raised eyebrows once again following his split from Alex when he started dating 23-year-old Summer in summer 2017.
Controversy followed the new couple, as a reported spat between Alex and Summer took place during a chance run-in at a Marks & Spencer store in Kent in February 2019. The police were called and later told the press: “Enquiries were carried out in which all parties involved were given words of advice.” Alex’s spokesperson later strenuously denied accusations that she’d verbally abused Summer during their argument.
“Alex was shocked to bump into Summer in her local supermarket but even in that difficult situation, she still did not and would not ever verbally abuse anyone,” her representative told The Huffington Post. “Alex has kept a dignified position throughout the last 14 months which have been extremely challenging, and continues to do so.”
Following months of speculation that Paul and Summer were on the rocks, the pair finally split for good in August 2019. Paul later accused his ex-girlfriend of trying to sell stories to the media about their relationship (which she denied).
“My silence on any matters is not a sign of weakness or agreement of what’s been said, merely I prefer a quiet life away from my day job,” he wrote via Instagram. “Take what’s read with a pinch of salt and read between the lines.”
Summer later filed suit against Paul for making “false and highly defamatory statements” about her on social media.
“I have never courted publicity over my relationship with Paul and I am deeply disappointed that our relationship has ended in this way,” she said in a statement.
Summer reportedly dropped her lawsuit in September 2019 after the celebrity chef agreed to delete social media posts about their split.
In a 2022 Instagram Story Q&A, Summer vowed that she would never date a celebrity again due to her messy split from Paul.
“I get asked this a lot. One-Hundred percent, I’m not interested in the slightest in dating someone famous again. It was a disaster,” she told fans. “I want someone that’s on my wave length, that’s loyal, loves me for me and my love for animals. Accepts how close I am with my family and supports me in what I want to do. Oh, and someone that has my back like I have there’s [sic].”
Melissa Spalding
Paul met his second wife at The Chequers Inn in Smarden in 2020, where she worked as a pub landlady. Unlike his relationship with Summer, Paul kept relatively quiet about dating Melissa prior to their engagement in 2022.
According to reports, the couple tied the knot at the Ayia Athanasia chapel in Cyprus in September 2023. Paul’s fellow Great British Bake Off judge Prue Leith was among the 75 guests in attendance at a reception at the five-star Anassa Hotel.
Paul told The Times of London in December 2024 that he was content living life away from the spotlight when he wasn’t busy filming his various culinary shows.
“I’m in bed by half-ten,” he said. “I don’t go out much. I live in quite a rural location, in the middle of nowhere … I don’t go to a lot of red carpet stuff. I don’t go to the parties up in London. I don’t like London.”
The baker insisted his TV persona is “very different” from the person he is when spending quality time with Spalding.
“I’m an introvert. All my family will tell you that I’m quite shy. So, it’s weird that I’m doing this job, but it found me, I didn’t hunt for it,” Paul noted.
The Great American Baking Show will return for season 8 on the Roku Channel, while The Great British Bake Off is available to stream on Netflix.
