Great British Baking Show star Paul Hollywood has judged baked goods and handed out Hollywood handshakes for over a decade. Everyone knows him as the last OG member of the popular competition series. But, Hollywood is much more than a reality TV star. He’s also a master bread baker who has worked at some of Europe’s most luxurious hotels and written numerous best-selling books. He even opened his own bakery — but is it still around?
The ‘Great British Baking Show’ star developed his love of baking from his dad
In his book A Baker’s Life, Hollywood shared that he loved sculpture growing up and joined Wallasey Art School to follow in his graphic designer mom’s footsteps. During his breaks from school, he helped his dad — a professional baker — but never thought about pursuing that as a career. Everything changed, though, when his dad offered to pay him £500 (almost $600) to cut his long hair and join the baking industry.
“That put things in a different light for a seventeen-year-old!” he wrote.
Hollywood took his dad up on his offer, cut his hair, and started working in the family bakeries. Throughout his 20s, Hollywood missed out on partying with his friends so he could get up super early and make fresh loaves of bread.
He eventually moved on to jobs at luxury hotels, like Cliveden House, the Chester Grosvenor, and the Dorchester, and became an expert in the art of bread-baking. Hollywood then moved out of the UK and went to Cyprus, Egypt, and Jordan to study bread-baking techniques and the science behind various methods.
Does Paul Hollywood still own a bakery?
Over the course of his career, Hollywood has written seven books. In 2007, he opened the Paul Hollywood Artisan Bread company. However, after he became a judge on the Great British Baking Show — known as the Great British Bake Off in the United Kingdom — in 2010, Hollywood struggled to keep the business open. He ended up shutting down his bread empire in 2014.
“It’s a huge headache and massive problem because I wasn’t there enough,” he said, per Food Manufacture.
In 2017, Hollywood launched his Knead Bakery just outside of UK’s Euston Station — one of the busiest train stations in the capital city. Described as an “upmarket bakery,” Knead’s menu featured artisan sandwiches, cakes, and pastries. But just two years later, Hollywood’s bakery was forced to close.
‘Great British Baking Show’ judge Paul Hollywood shut down Knead Bakery in 2019
Despite having plans to expand Knead Bakery throughout national rail stations and airports across the UK, the Euston location shut down in 2019. Hollywood and his operating partners — travel concessions company, SSP — were forced to shut down the bakery because it had to be demolished in favor of a new station entrance.
If the opportunity arises, SSP says they will consider opening another Knead Bakery location. But for now, Hollywood no longer has a bakery or food company to run. Instead, he can focus on judging amateur bakers and giving his handshake of approval.
The Great British Baking Show is available on Netflix.
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