Paul Hollywood left mum absolutely speechless with huge royal bombshell

13 March 2024 , 17:00

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Paul Hollywood revealed his mum fell silent when she found out he was receiving an MBE (Image: Collect)

Paul Hollywood says his mum was so proud when he got his MBE that she fell silent for 'a couple of minutes' before sharing in his joy.

Bake Off star Paul, 58, was awarded an MBE in the New Year's Honours for services to baking and broadcasting. He said: "It was an early Christmas present. I found out about a week before Christmas. I thought it was a wind-up when I opened the letter. I thought my agent was winding me up.

"I had to phone her and say: ‘Are you sure they’ve got the right person here?’ She said: ‘Yeah, congratulations.’ I said: ‘Wow. That’s amazing.’ It’s the only thing my mum was absolutely silent about… normally she chatters away, but when I told her, she was quiet for a couple of minutes. I said: ‘Mum, are you alright?’

Paul was awarded the gong for services to baking and broadcasting (PA)

"I said I'm gonna take her along to the palace with me. She’ll like that. I said I would buy her a hat so she is happy. You know, the lad from the north has done alright. I was quite proud, actually." Paul also told how he stitched up Danny Dyer in the tent on the Great Celebrity Bake Off for Stand Up to Cancer.

He said: "One of the funniest moments was with Danny Dyer. When I told him to put all the ingredients in his mixer and then turn it on quick… it literally covered him in flour. He said to me: ‘I don’t know what to do…’ I said: ‘My advice is turn it on really fast and it'll mix in.’ He said: ‘Do you reckon?’ I said: ‘Yeah.’ He switched it on and got covered. He just looked at me and I said: ‘Sorry, mate. I couldn’t help myself…"

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Paul also is now a soap fan and admits he has been converted to watching Emmerdale by his new wife Melissa. The pair posted photos on the soap set on social media in October. And Paul said: "Yeah, Melissa’s a massive fan of Emmerdale, so I've started watching. We were invited up to the set, so we went up to Leeds and met a load of the actors and ended up going to the village set… it was great.

"They're actual buildings… all these places where everything happens. It is like walking into your TV. Mel obviously runs the family business, being the landlady of the local pub, so she pulled a pint in the Woolpack. And it’s proper beer. I did sit and have a pint in the Woolpack. Then, I went to the set outside with Will Ash and Amy Walsh - who play Caleb and Tracy. We sat outside having a chat with them. It was great, they were really nice people. And what a great set up it is. Incredible."

• The Great Celebrity Bake Off for Stand Up to Cancer starts on Sunday night at 7.40pm on Channel 4 and on demand. Danny Dyer appears in episode two

Mark Jefferies