Paul Hollywood’s prime time US baking show canned for good following co-star’s sex scandal
PAUL Hollywood's US prime time baking show "will never be aired" after one of the show’s judges was caught in a sex scandal.
The Great American Baking Show was pulled off air last year after Paul’s co-star Johnny Iuzzini was accused of sexual harassment by several women.
It wasn’t known whether the show would return at a later date - but now TV execs have quietly decided to bin most of the footage for good, sources told Sun Online.
The decision is a huge blow to the 52-year-old baker who was hoping the show could help catapult him to fame in the States.
Chef Iuzzini was fired after being accused of sexual misconduct by four former employees, allegations he denied, and the series was taken off air after just two episodes.
ABC quietly announced the show's winner online and the several hours of footage has been cut down into small four-minute long videos posted on Youtube.
A US TV source said: "Paul Hollywood's work last year has essentially been thrown in the trash.
“The network has decided that it will never air the project in full due to the controversy with Johnny.
"Paul really shone in the show and ABC and the producers hoped that it would be his calling card to do bigger things this side of the Atlantic. That will not happen with this.
"Currently the network is milling over whether to bring back the show with Paul and perhaps Mary together again.
“Their concern is whether this issue has tarnished the brand or not, or the fact it was pulled after just two episodes saved it from trouble.”
Four women who worked for Iuzzini between 2009 and 2011 told how he used to simulate sex with them, touch them inappropriately and make them give him a massage.
Another four women later came forward with more allegations against the celebrity pastry chef.
Iuzzuni admitted “some unprofessional behaviour” in but claimed the sexual harassment allegations were “simply not true.”
While ABC have shied away from commenting on the show's demise in detail, eventual winner Vallery Lomas confirmed it would not air as planned back in December.
"Unfortunately because of the actions of Johnny Iuzzini, we are not able to broadcast the show as was originally planned,” she said in a video on Facebook.
The cancellation is the latest twist in a rollercoaster 12 months for Great British Bake Off star Paul.
He announced he was splitting with his wife Alexandra, 53, after almost 20 years of marriage in November last year.
A few weeks earlier he was pictured sharing an intimate kiss with former Bake Off contestant Candice Brown.
Earlier this month The Sun revealed how he had started dating bar maid Summer Monteys-Fullam - 30 years his junior.
The pair were spotted at a secluded cottage he has been renting in Kent.
The Sun on Sunday told last week how Paul secretly whisked the 22-year-old away for a romantic getaway to a $1,000 a night villa in Mauritius, where they were pictured for the first time - enjoying a boat trip.
Instagram pics, which surfaced while they were on the break, showed Summer in a red swimsuit emblazoned with Cake Cake - her pet name for him.
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Paul and Alexandra had previously come close to divorcing in 2013 after reports that he'd been enjoying a romance with his American Baking Competition co-host Marcela Valladolid.
Hollywood's CBS show The American Baking Competition lasted just seven episodes after aired in early summer 2013.
Sun Online reached out to ABC and representatives for Paul for comment.
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