Paul Hollywood with his ex-wife Alex in 2015. Photo / Getty
Paul Hollywood with his ex-wife Alex in 2015. Photo / Getty
There may not have been much to smile about in the last few, agonising death-throe years of her marriage, but it's true to say Bake Off star Paul Hollywood's long-suffering ex Alex most definitely has the last laugh now.
In fact, she must be (discreetly and privately) doubled up.Her swaggering, faithless husband who, lest we forget, cheated on her twice during their 19-year marriage, has been dumped by his latest flame, 24-year-old former barmaid Summer Monteys-Fullam, and now a five-star farce is in full swing, with Paul resentfully centre stage.
Monteys-Fullam has handed back the $16,600 ruby and diamond ring which Paul gave her on her birthday, but taken the eight horses and two dogs, including adorable Rottweiler puppy, Bear, with her.
She's said to want the $185,000 Range Rover and their collection of chickens, too. Paul's said to be reluctant to hand over a treasured, $65 pink-beaked Plymouth Rock hen called Karen, which they bought last month.
But that won't be the end of it. For the Mail can reveal Paul, 53, has a second almighty cash fight on another front - and it's just around the corner.
The Hollywoods are due in the High Court any day, a date from a fortnight ago having been put off at his request.
He may be ordered to give Alex, who supported her ambitious baker husband as he built his career, and is said to have even assisted with the writing of his cookbooks, up to half of his $16 million fortune.
She could also claim their $4.4 million former home where she lives with their son Josh, 17.
Paul Hollywood with his ex-wife Alex in 2015. Photo / Getty
Despite reports which suggest she and Paul have agreed a financial settlement, according to a source close to the couple there has been no agreement or mediation.
Instead Alex - playing hardball - wants a judge to decide on the size of her settlement, which could be a whopper.
The starting point will be a 50/50 division which Paul has allegedly said he is not willing to entertain.
For Alex the deal would be the final sweet revenge that has seen her emerge from the wreckage of her marriage a stronger and more resourceful person. She has reinvented herself as an Instagram 'mummy cook' and has endorsements, appearances at cookery shows and a possible new cookbook deal in the offing.
She has overhauled her image and her wardrobe, wearing fashionable clothes from designers such as Bella Freud and opting for blonder highlights. She has also started to concentrate on diet and fitness, revealing on social media in June that she had been for a 4k run with Kerry, her personal trainer who visits at home for one-to-one workouts.
Always sociable, she has seen a lot of her friends, going to the Pub in the Park event in Tunbridge Wells in July (in full-face glitter) and throwing lunch parties.
She posts recipes for baking bread which she observes (a tad tactlessly) is the "simplest and most satisfying thing to do".And while she is not yet dating again (she says she won't consider it until the divorce is finalised), earlier this month she posted a glamorous picture of herself on a "date night" with "the man in my life" - Josh, to whom she is devoted.
She even appears to have forgiven her ex - to a point: "I don't feel angry with Paul - though of course there's a certain amount of hurt. Anger is emotive and I'm not carrying that around with me. All it does is upset you," she said.
She ended the marriage, she said out of "self-respect" as much as anything. A friend who lives locally said: "Alex just quietly gets on with it and has kept her dignity and not got involved. There is no question that it has been a difficult time for her as it is for so many people who go through a split at a certain age, but she has a tremendous group of friends who have been very supportive."
She has been concentrating on what keeps her busy and brings her joy which is cooking and entertaining. She has been throwing herself into that."It has been nearly two years since the split and probably for the past six months she has been really in a more positive place.
She is excited about the future and looking for ways to reignite her career. She has been doing food festivals and shows and is now free to do anything she wants."
In what some might see as a dig at the husband who quit the BBC when Bake Off was bought by Channel 4 in 2016, later this summer Alex will even appear at the BBC Good Food Show although not, as has been reported, sharing a stage with Paul's former GBBO judge Mary Berry.
She will also appear at a food festival in Thame, Oxfordshire, and has been judging food awards. She's recently landed an ambassador role to promote British produce, too.
Celebrating her 55th birthday in May she wrote: "I'm a mother, a daughter, a sister, a friend. I'm a cook, an author. I've been a wife, a Scuba instructor, a chalet girl, I've run businesses, learned a myriad new skills and travelled to amazing places, met wonderful people and discovered new foods, cultures, languages.'I know there's loads more out there for me to discover and I'm so ready for it."
In a nutshell, Alex has kept her dignity, while Paul has lost his. Alex and Paul met in Cyprus, where he was head baker at a five- star hotel and she was a scuba diving instructor. They married on the island in 1998.
After returning to the UK, he began guesting on a number of British television programmes on both BBC and ITV, before joining The Great British Bake Off. It was during a stint on the The American Baking Competition in 2013 that he had a fling with fellow TV chef Marcela Valladolid.
Within weeks he declared he had made a terrible mistake and loved Alex. She took him back. Four years later, in 2017, he met Summer when she worked behind the bar at his local pub, the Duke William, in Ickham, Kent.
This one Alex couldn't forgive, saying: "Everybody's allowed one mistake. It happened again and it was a done deal, my marriage was over." Paul and Summer deny they were an item before the marriage ended, and it is understood he has formally denied this as a grounds for divorce already.
Paul Hollywood's relationship with Summer Monteys-Fullam has recently ended. Photo / Instagram
By March 2018 Paul and Summer were definitely an item. He took her to a $1800-a night villa in Mauritius, where she was seen toting a huge Louis Vuitton bag, wearing a Gucci belt, Dolce & Gabbana dress, Prada sandals and a Cartier tank watch.
Alex has denied reports she made a scene in the car park of Marks & Spencer in Canterbury when she bumped into Summer and her family there in February this year. She was alleged to have called Summer a "slut" and a "whore" but said she didn't use abusive language and the police were not called.
Sources say that there were no particular signs of tension between Paul and Summer during the filming of Bake Off, which finished two weeks ago. She attended several days of filming. (The show goes out from the end of this month.)
Trouble started after she was photographed locally in a boob tube having a cream tea at a pavement cafe with a friend. There was some suggestion the photo opportunity had been engineered by Summer, and Hollywood apparently decided the time was right to present her with an NDA or Non-Disclosure Agreement. This would prevent her from telling friends, family or the media about their romance.
Monteys-Fullam, who had up to that point hoped they would marry, was devastated and angered, and ended their romance on the spot.It seems to have come as a surprise to Hollywood, who had expected her to comply.His solicitor Tom Amlot said: "I asked Summer to sign an NDA as is standard practice in order to protect Paul's family and their private lives. It's not entirely surprising they have gone their separate ways."
Alex won't even say Summer's name. She icily observed: "I don't see that there's any point in discussing her at all."
But Summer - well, the signs are that she has plenty to talk about, and intends to have her say.
A week ago, alongside a picture of herself drinking tea, she wrote: "I trust the next chapter because I know the author."
She also uploaded a quote that ran, ominously: "Don't underestimate me. I know more than I say, think more than I speak, and notice more than you realise."
It's fair to say, Paul Hollywood has an awful lot to worry about.
