Paul Hollywood, the renowned judge on The Great British Bake Off since its inception on BBC Two in 2010, has opened up about his struggle with a “severe” case of carpal tunnel syndrome that has significantly affected his more than 40-year baking career. The 58 year old TV star and professional baker’s condition is the result of years of hands-on work in the industry, having started at his family’s bakery when he was just 17 after leaving Wallasey Art School.
After decades of kneading dough, Paul developed severe nerve damage in his wrists, which led to a diagnosis of carpal tunnel syndrome around four years ago, putting him at risk of losing sensation in his hands without surgery. Speaking on the Graham Norton show, Paul shared his fears about undergoing an operation, revealing that he has cut down on his baking, which has helped alleviate some of the pain.
He told the BBC programme: “I’ve got carpal tunnel syndrome in both my wrists, it’s severe. It was diagnosed about four years ago, I went to speak to a consultant about it and he said ‘Listen, you’re going to have to have an operation’,” as reported by Wales Online. “I don’t actually bake as much hands on as I used to, I miss it. But now I’ve sort of stopped baking as much as I used to, it’s actually alleviated a lot of the pain.”
Paul Hollywood
(Image: ABC via Getty Images)
Carpal tunnel syndrome, affecting around 5% of Brits with pain and numbness due to a compressed median nerve in the hand, has been brought into the spotlight by Paul Hollywood. The professional baker and TV personality discussed the occupational risks associated with his trade, revealing that his former ‘Bake Off’ colleague Mary Berry had also suffered from the condition before undergoing surgery.
“I did speak to Mary about it and she goes ‘Oh I had it done,” Paul shared, reports Bristol Live. He also expressed his own concerns about the procedure: “It’s healed quite nicely, it just petrified me the idea of slicing the band. Because I race cars at the moment, it’s really difficult. I’d rather not do it at the moment.”
In recent TV news, Paul, alongside fellow judge Prue Leith, crowned Chris Bisson as The Great Christmas Bake Off champion earlier this week. The festive edition of the Channel 4 show saw a glittering array of stars including Natalie Cassidy from EastEnders, Coronation Street and Emmerdale’s Bisson, Dean Gaffney also from EastEnders, Sheree Murphy who has appeared in Emmerdale and Hollyoaks, and Shobna Gulati of Coronation Street fame, all competing for the top spot.
Paul remarked on the fierce competition, acknowledging it was a “very close” battle with fellow Emmerdale star Murphy, but in the end, Bisson “got better and better”.