Paul Hollywood's First Career Choice Might Surprise You

Paul Hollywood has been lucky. His family was always heavily into baking, something that inspired him to join the business himself as a professional chef. According to a piece by Sainsbury's Magazine, Hollywood has two generations of highly experienced bakers to look up to. His grandfather worked as the head baker at the Adelphi hotel in Liverpool while his dad ran a successful bakery business called Bread Winner. It had several branches across the U.K.

For Hollywood, being a part of the culinary industry has been highly impactful. He's now a well-known celebrity chef, known for his intense television appearances on shows like "The Great British Bake Off." But to his credit, he still remains highly passionate about baking and doesn't forget his roots. "Bread is enjoyment. It's sharing with everybody," he shared in an interview with Radio Times. "There's something very special in that."

But interestingly enough, Hollywood really didn't think he'd be a chef. His original plan was to do something entirely different.

Hollywood was certain that he'd pursue a career as a sculptor instead of working in the bakery industry. According to Woman & Home, he even received a degree from the Wallasey School of Art in the subject. Also, he looked very different when he was training to be a sculptor. "I was in art school and had long hair and velvet jackets and I quite enjoyed art, sculpture and all that stuff," he recalled in an interview with Independent. "I ended up doing an O-level in sculpture and I thought I could really take this further." 

However, Hollywood's father was pretty keen on getting his son to work with him and offered him a handsome amount of money to cut off his hair and join him. 500 quid [around $700] in the 1980s was pretty hard to resist, and Hollywood decided to take his father up on the offer. And as they say, the rest is history.