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Paul Hollywood/instagram
Paul Hollywood is putting an end to the rumors.
The Great British Baking Show host, 59, answered a few commonly asked questions about himself in a video on the baking show’s Instagram page – including one about his infamous baby blue eyes.
"Does Paul Hollywood wear blue contacts?" he reads aloud, before leaning closer to the camera and widening his eyes.
Hollywood then gave his simple answer: "No."
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He proceeded to answer questions about his experience in the kitchen, his education and more.
"Why is Paul Hollywood the king of bread? I have absolutely no idea. Probably because I enjoy making bread," Hollywood says in the clip. "What is Paul Hollywood’s accent? Well, you gotta try and figure it out, really. You know what I mean? Does Paul Hollywood have an MBE? I do have an MBE. I'm very honored to have one," the chef answers, the latter question referring to his honor for services to baking and broadcasting that he received in 2024, per Digital Spy.
The TV host revealed that he didn’t attend culinary school and he has baked for Queen Elizabeth, also sharing his nerves over his forthcoming plans to bake "some Chelsea Buns" for Princess Anne and his inability to sing.
Hollywood’s eyes have long been a topic of conversation. He told Rolling Stone in 2023 that his big blues were the secret behind his infamous intimation stare while judging, and have gotten him in trouble in the past.
"Because my eyes are quite blue — I used to do Halloween parties years ago when I was a kid, and I didn’t bother wearing contact lenses," he said. "I just put vampire fangs in and people would get scared, because I looked like a Husky form of vampire. I think that’s probably where it started!"
The celebrity chef continued, "So, if someone I was working with professionally did something wrong, I’d look at them and they’d go, 'Why did you look at me like that? It’s quite an intense look.' I’d go, 'Really?!' On Bake-Off, I think it’s just about the surprise. I think they just get worried about the color of my eyes.”
Meanwhile, his fellow judge Prue Leith, who joined the show in 2017 after Mary Berry’s exit, told Page Six in 2021 that she is often asked about Hollywood's eyes.
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Mark Bourdillon / Love Productions
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"We want to give a quite serious talk to a bunch of people about women’s issues or business or cooking, and the first question is always, 'Are Paul Hollywood’s eyes real?' " Leith told the outlet. "I’m tempted to say, 'Sometimes he puts in his blue lenses, sometimes he puts in his brown ones.' "
With his blue eyes, thick accent and baker’s tan, Hollywood has cemented his sex symbol status over the years. However, he told PEOPLE in an exclusive interview in 2024 that he doesn’t fully get the hype.
“Listen, people haven’t seen me in the morning," he said. "I look terrible in the morning. I look terrible in the afternoon and the morning as well.”
The chef noted that people are quick to claim that their family members share a resemblance with him. "The amount of women I’ve met who want to show pictures of their husbands to me…they look nothing like me! But I go with it," he added.