The Great British Bake Off star Paul Hollywood has opened up about his unlikely friendship with Hollywood’s elite, including Blake Lively and her husband Ryan Reynolds.
Hollywood, 58, who judges the popular competition series alongside Prue Leith, became friends with Lively, 37 and Reynolds, 48, after they approached him as fans of the show.
The couple, who have been married since 2012, visited the show’s set for the first time in 2023. Reynolds then returned this past July in promotion of Deadpool & Wolverine.
“I mean, when Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman, Michael J. Fox and Lynda Carter, and all these other people come out as big fans of the show, it’s crazy,” Hollywood said in a new interview with The Times of London. “You think, this is weird — for a load of people in tents in the middle of the British countryside?”
When asked if he’s personally in touch with any of them, the celebrity chef confirmed: “I’ve got a lot of time for Blake. She texts occasionally, sort of to catch up on what she’s been up to, what Ryan’s up to.
“And it’s lovely, because regardless of their job, they’re just a normal family, mum and dad to some great kids. They’re really nice people. I like that communication,” Hollywood added. “I don’t have many friends who are celebrities, it’s not me. I don’t go to a lot of red-carpet stuff. I don’t go to the parties up in London. I don’t like London.”
While Hollywood’s interview with the publication was published after Lively filed her bombshell lawsuit against her It Ends with Us director and co-star Justin Baldoni, it’s noted that his comments were made prior to the fact.
Lively is currently involved in a bitter legal feud with Baldoni, who she’s accused of sexual harassment and launching a campaign to “destroy” her reputation. Baldoni’s lawyer, Bryan Freeman, has called the allegations “false, outrageous and intentionally salacious.”
The lawsuit, filed earlier this month, comes months after rumors of an on-set feud between Lively and Baldoni began percolating online.
Hours after Lively sued him, Baldoni was dropped by his management team.
The Jane the Virgin alum is now planning on filing a counter-suit against Lively. Freedman recently spoke to Deadline about the planned lawsuit, saying: “I am not going to speak to when or how many lawsuits we are filing but when we file our first lawsuit, it is going to shock everyone who has been manipulated into believing a demonstrably false narratives.
“It will be supported by real evidence and tell the true story,” he claimed.
