Fuelling Around podcast: Paul Hollywood on dream drives along the Amalfi Coast and his love of MG Midgets
Great British Bake Off judge and baking extraordinaire Paul Hollywood joins hosts Jason Plato and Dave Vitty to discuss all things cars and how he felt about the new Bake Off line-up when they moved to Channel 4.
Hollywood, who has been one of the main judges on Bake Off since the show began in 2010, recalls his initial reaction to Noel Fielding becoming a lead presenter and discusses what he thinks of Prue Leith’s books in the third instalment of series four.
Elsewhere on the podcast, the 56-year-old reveals his love for all things motor-related and how he has competed on track in Aston Martins. He also talks about his collection of lavish cars and his driving experience travelling along Italy’s beautiful Amalfi Coast.
Paul Hollywood on receiving his first car and racing cars
“I was 17, and it was August 23rd 1983 when I passed my driving test,” Hollywood explained. “I remember my dad saying he’d help me get my first car, on the understanding that I thought he’d buy me one.
“What he actually did was he organised a loan for it, so I ended up getting a 1.3 Ford Escort in nordic blue, one of the newer ones at the time. It didn’t even have headrests! This car had blue plastic seats, but it was great to have a car though to drive around in.
“I was working for my dad as a baker, and he gave me a company credit card because I used to go across the link and see him from Wirral.” Hollywood goes on to describe how he wasn’t happy with the car and got it modified to look like an XR3 to his dad’s surprise – he thought he had turned up in a new car for work.
Images courtesy of Haarala Hamilton
“After that, I got into MG Midgets, I had a yellow one and then a white one, my mate had one too, they were the ones with the plastic bumpers. I remember going up to a set of lights and our bumpers used to hit, they were like bumper cars so we used to hit each quite hard with them.
“I remember I floored it once and pushed him across the junction and we wrecked loads of the brackets that hold on the bumpers because I hit him so hard he nearly came off! I remember a copper coming the other way, pulled him over because he’d seen that he’d crossed the line. He had his foot on the brake as hard as he could, but it didn’t stop him from moving.”
Enjoy plenty more Fuelling Around
There are five more episodes to come from series four as more petrolhead stars prepare to jump in Dave and Jason’s passenger seat.
But if you can’t wait until next week for a new episode, fear not – you can listen to the whole backlog of Fuelling Around, including the best bits, to whet your appetite. You can also listen and subscribe to the popular automotive offering on Spotify and Apple podcasts.
