The great British Bake Off star Paul Hollywood married cafe owner Melissa Spalding on Wednesday.
Some 75 of his ‘closest’ friends and family – including fellow GBBO judge Prue Leith – cheered on the couple at their wedding at the Anassa hotel in Cyprus.
However, it wasn’t the occasion he could have dreamed of as his 21-year-old son Josh, from his first marriage to Alex, was not there. A friend confirms: ‘Josh didn’t go.’
Melissa’s family attended in droves, with the family pub – The Checkers in Spalding, Kent – closed from September 16 to 26 so they could all celebrate.
In 2019, Alex’s spokesperson revealed that Josh had not seen or spoken to Hollywood since his father left the marital home – and began a romance with young barmaid Summer Monteys-Fullam.
In 2020, Alex described herself as a “single mother” during a podcast.
Married! Paul Hollywood married fiancée Melissa Spalding in a Byzantine-style chapel in the grounds of Cyprus’ most exclusive hotel, in front of 75 friends and family – but his son Josh was not at the event (the couple pictured in 2021)
Star guest list: Guests included close family members and famous friends such as Paul’s fellow show judge Prue Leith, although Josh was absent
Paul lived in Cyprus in the 1990s and was head baker at the Anabelle Hotel, where he met his first wife Alex, who worked as a diving instructor. The hotel where he got married this week is part of the same group.
The wedding took place late Wednesday afternoon at the Ayia Athanasia Chapel at the Anassa Hotel. This was followed by a reception at the hotel.
Paul has been dating Melissa, 39, for the past three years and is said to have quietly proposed in the spring of 2022.
They confirmed their relationship in December 2019 after previously denying they had sparked a romance.
The TV judge had repeatedly denied he was enjoying a romance after their friendship was revealed in August 2019 following his split from Summer. The two women knew each other because they both worked in the pub.
But after the couple spent Christmas Day in the pub, a spokesperson for Paul told Mail On Sunday: ‘They are very happy together.’
Spalding is a former publican who was managing the Checkers Inn, located in the picturesque village of Smarden in Kent, near Ashford, when she met Hollywood.
The quaint 14th century pub is said to be owned by her parents, and the website states: ‘The Spalding family are the hospitable innkeepers ready to welcome you to their historic building and garden.’
Wow! The hotel (photo) is located on the northwestern Akamas Peninsula, one of the most unspoilt areas of the holiday island
For example: While working at the Anabelle, Paul met his ex-wife Alexandra to whom he was married for 19 years, but they announced their divorce in 2017 (pictured together in 2015)
Spalding has been engaged twice before and was once set to marry Ashford-based professional golfer Jason Barnes.
Originally from Kent, she was educated at Headcorn Primary School in Maidstone and nearby Invicta Grammar School.
The pair began dating four years ago after Bake Off star Hollywood, who lives in Kent, became a regular at the Checkers.
While the TV personality initially denied the romance, her car was reportedly spotted in the driveway outside his nearby home, a Grade II listed £1million pile.
Spalding temporarily moved into his four-bedroom 18th century farmhouse in April 2020, with the couple growing closer as Britain went into a national lockdown during the pandemic.
Friends later claimed they were living together permanently in the property, originally purchased when Hollywood was dating Monteys-Fullam.
A source told Mail On Sunday: ‘Paul and Melissa have been spending a lot of time together in lockdown.
‘They had drinks together and stayed at his house. Now she’s there for good.’
Paul was married to Alex from 1998 to 2017.
He was said to have met Summer when he organized a birthday party for Alex near the marital home in Kent.
Alex – who took him back after admitting an affair with Marcela Valladolid, his co-host on a US GBBO spin-off – was naturally devastated. She declined to comment yesterday.
The Great British Bake Off starts a new series on Channel 4 next Tuesday.
About: After the breakdown of his marriage, Paul made public his romance with Summer Monteys-Fullam, who he also took to Cyprus in 2018. They announced their divorce in 2019