Paul Hollywood ‘promises women the world’ as long as they keep quiet and don’t harm his brand’
IF Paul Hollywood was an iced bun, he’d lick himself.
That’s the view of women he has managed to woo since becoming the nation’s notorious bed-hopping baker.
The Sun on Sunday lifted the lid on the 53-year-old’s latest romance with barmaid Melissa Spalding, 36.
It came just two months after the Great British Bake Off judge told us in no uncertain terms they NOT were dating, saying: “Why let the truth get in the way of the BS”, and, “It’s a total, utter lie”.
Paul’s desire to keep any relationship under wraps might seem extreme. But to his pals, it is par for the course.
They say he fears his dalliances with younger women on the back of his messy split from wife of 20 years Alex, 55 — who he cheated on twice — and the subsequent coverage will ruin his career.
He is also keen to avoid speculation that any new romance overlapped the one with his already “suspicious” ex-girlfriend Summer Monteys-Fullam, who is 29 years his junior.
Friends say she thinks Paul “moved on before the bedsheets were even cold”.
The source added that the Merseysider was always terrified his television career would come to an end if he or his girlfriends were pictured out.
They also revealed his big worry is becoming more famous for his dating than his baking — and that Channel 4 and Bake Off will end his contract or replace him.
According to those close to his former wife, her sadness has turned into disgust. In short, she is embarrassed by him.
So how does this grey-bearded Lothario manage to attract glamorous women, most recently barmaids, who are young enough to be his daughter?
According to another of Summer’s pals, Paul’s appeal is that he promises potential suitors the world, and love.
He impresses them by flashing the cash from his £10million fortune, funding nights out and treating their friends and family.
He impressed Summer by lending her his chauffeur-driven Rolls-Royce for her 22nd birthday after she caught his eye while working behind the bar of The Duke William, in Ickham, Kent.
Paul also brought her a £9,000 hot tub, a £1,000 Rottweiler pup, whisked her away on exotic holidays and bankrolled a day out at Chester Races in a VIP box she shared with friends and cost thousands.
The baker insists he will make them happy, but does admit that dating him is tough.
One source revealed: “To be fair to him, he’s always honest about that.”
But the girlfriends have to follow his golden rules if they want to get anything more than a “Hollywood handshake”.
Summer’s pal told how Paul insists that neither his ex nor any of his other girlfriends tag him into pictures on social media — and they are not even allowed to show so much as a finger in his.
They cannot do anything that might cast a shadow over his career or look like they are courting the Press.
Paul’s break-up with Summer in July, and his latest romance with Melissa, has hit the petrolhead’s precious brand.
Much to Paul’s dissatisfaction, Summer accused him and Melissa of constantly keeping tabs on her on social media — by watching her updates on Instagram live via three fake accounts he allegedly set up.
Summer was always suspicious of Paul’s relationship with Melissa and wondered whether something was going on while they were still together.
The Sun told today how he turned off the cameras to the house they shared in Kent, which were linked to their phones, whenever Summer ventured out without him.
And she believed he hid in the bin an empty box previously containing a bottle of pink champagne having entertained Melissa at the house when she wasn’t around.
Ladies linked
- Alex Hollywood: Paul’s wife of 20 years was by his side as he rose up the TV ladder. A fellow chef, Alex admits she “lost herself” during their two-year divorce battle. She is also the reason Paul’s relationship with former Bake Off host Mary Berry soured, as the veteran baker was rumoured to have taken her side during the split.
- Marcela Valladolid: The Mexican-American chef, 41, fell for his charm while they starred in the US version of Bake Off in 2013.
- Molly Robbins: He met Molly, 24 years his junior, at the BBC’s Good Food Show in 2014. She is the daughter of Phoenix Nights star Ted Robbins, a close pal of the baker. He showered her with gifts of chocolate, flowers and a £5k watch and exchanged flirty messages via social media under a false name.
- Candice Brown: Flirted with the 2016 Bake Off winner all the way through the series. At a showbiz party the following year, snaps appeared to show him grabbing the back of Candice’s head to pull her in for what looked like a kiss on the lips.
- Summer Monteys-Fullam: Met him in the summer of 2017 while working at his local in Kent. The former model, 24, had a two-year relationship with the baker until they split in July.
- Melissa Spalding: Melissa, 36, met him at the pub she runs, the Chequers Inn, in Smarden, Kent, which is near his £1million home. He told The Sun two months ago the pair were not an item, but they were snapped last weekend holding hands at the luxury hotel in Cyprus where he got married and also took Summer on holiday.
She was even told about Melissa, who Paul met while boozing at the Chequers Inn in Smarden, Kent, by mutual friends in the village close to their £1million love nest.
When they first got the house in January this year, Paul and Summer spent time ingratiating themselves with the locals, especially in pubs.
While on holiday, Summer was told to be careful of “the barmaid in the local boozer” who was bragging about her connection to Paul online.
But according to pals of Summer, Paul did not seem to care, which contrasted hugely to his usual reaction to such behaviour given his strict online rules. He just said it was different with Melissa.
One friend added about Summer: “She just wants to get on with her life.
“She left their home with just her dogs and a duvet. She didn’t, and doesn’t, want a war.
“But she’s just angry and sick of all the drama.
“She wishes him well but he has moved on before the bedsheets are even cold.”
When they split, it was confirmed just one month after Paul and Alex were granted a decree nisi.
The couple announced they were divorcing in 2017.
They met in 1998, when he was head baker at a five-star hotel in Cyprus where she was working as a scuba instructor. They married only weeks later.
The pair tied the knot in the same hotel, the Annabelle in Paphos, where Paul was pictured with Melissa last weekend. He had also taken Summer to the same venue for a holiday.
Alex had filed for divorce once before, in July 2013. It was on grounds of adultery following Paul’s affair with Mexican-American chef Marcela Valladolid.
She took on the Mary Berry role in the US version of Bake Off, which also featured Paul as a fellow judge.
Speaking in October that year, Paul described the fling as the “biggest mistake of my life”.
He added: “I made a huge mistake and, at the moment, Alex and myself are working things through together.
“We are just going to take things one step at a time. But I still love her, that is ultimately what it is.”
Two months later she forgave him, determined to give the relationship another go. But it wasn’t long until he got in trouble again.
Paul was pictured kissing 2016 Bake Off winner Candice Brown on the lips on the red carpet of the 2017 Pride Of Britain Awards. The pair enjoyed an obvious chemistry during Candice’s run on the series. She tried to play down the red-carpet kiss as a display of friendship.
Candice added: “No kisses or hugs hello or goodbye from now on — handshakes or waves only.”
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In January this year The Sun on Sunday revealed Paul had been lavishing TV baker Molly Robbins, who is 24 years his junior, with gifts, including a £5,000 designer watch, while he was still married to Alex.
Paul insists his relationship with Summer did not start until after he broke up with his ex-wife.
Always the gent, our Paul.
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