10 Reasons The Great British Bake Off Is A Slice Of British Brilliance

Forget George Clooney, Phillip Schofield and Sean Connery, Bake Off has its own silver fox. Paul Hollywood is the perfect mix of cruel and kind. Hollywood is known for gleefully and repeatedly destroying baking masterpieces he's just watched contestants work on for hours, taking no prisoners with his critique and

bluntly asking 'is that how you thought it would look?' or 'what flavours were you trying to use?'

We really shouldn't like him at all, but his sparkling blue eyes keep pulling us back in. The Scouse baker says when he meets female fans more than a few have fainted when he first makes eye contact – true story. A man after our own hearts, he's not ashamed to declare his love of carbs. His foodie weaknesses are bacon baps and McDonald's, and he's rocking a Dad-bod as a result. He's not just a TV baker though; he actually knows stuff about baking. He comes from a long line of loaf lovers and has previously trained as far away as Cyprus and France. He's even taking baking on tour – last year his show 'British Baking Live' visited 20 venues across the UK and sold out arenas of cake lovers.

Paul Hollywood adds a mean streak to the show, preventing it from being too
sugar-sweet.