Paul Hollywood — the British master baker who's delighted fans as a no-nonsense judge on "The Great British Bake Off" since 2010 — is close to a divorce settlement with estranged wife Alex, reports the Sun.
The PBS star (the competition series is known as "The Great British Baking Show" in the States) has a net worth of around $13.4 million and is expected to pay Alex $6.3 million as they finalize their split in the coming weeks, the U.K. tabloid claims.
The Sun further reports that the silver-haired, blue-eyed reality TV judge, who shares a teenage son with Alex, earned $11.6 million in 2018 and just signed a $2.5 million two-year deal to continue on with "Bake Off" for another few seasons.
"Alex's lawyers have been forensically poring over these latest accounts. After weeks of stand-off and wrangling, things are drawing to a close," a source told the Sun. "They expect to finalize the divorce in eight weeks." Alex is also expected to keep their $3 million marital home, according to the report.
Alex filed for divorce in August 2018 following a 2017 separation after 19 years of marriage. She reportedly cited adultery, though Paul, 53, has denied cheating, insisting his romance with his current girlfriend — 24-year-old former bartender and equestrian Summer Monteys-Fullam — started after he and Alex, 54, separated, the Sun reported. The tabloid also reported that Alex did not name another woman in court papers.
Paul did, however, admit to cheating on his wife several years ago. They briefly split in 2013 after he had an affair with chef, author and Food Network star Marcela Valladolid, 40, while both were serving as judges on the CBS show "The American Baking Competition."
"I did have an affair in America with my co-judge," Paul confessed on "BBC Radio 5 Live," as reported by MailOnline in 2014. He called it "the biggest mistake of my life, because actually I still love my wife."
Earlier this year, Alex spoke about reconciling with Paul after he was unfaithful in 2013. "I don't regret taking Paul back that first time," she said in Prima magazine's February 2019 issue. "It was the right thing to do for me and my son. Hindsight is a wonderful thing, but if you make a decision, you stick with it."
Paul and Alex met back in 1996 at a five-star Cypress hotel where he was head baker and she was a diving instructor. They got engaged a few weeks later and wed two years after that.