Paul Hollywood has opened up about his past struggles with a "severe" case of carpal tunnel syndrome, revealing that the thought of surgery "petrifies" him.
The 58-year-old celebrity baker, known for his role as a judge on the hit series Great British Bake Off since its debut on BBC Two in 2010, began his baking career over four decades ago at the tender age of 17 after leaving Wallasey Art School to join his family's bakery business.
Years of dough kneading took their toll, resulting in severe nerve damage in Paul's wrists. Without treatment, this could have led to a total loss of sensation in his hands.
On a previous episode of the Graham Norton show, Paul discussed how the condition halted his baking: "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'."
He continued, explaining the impact on his profession: "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," reports Wales Online.
Carpal tunnel syndrome affects approximately one in 20 people in Britain, leading to pain and numbness in the hand due to compression of the median nerve.
Paul mentioned that former Bake Off co-host Mary Berry also experienced the same medical issue before she had surgery. "I did speak to Mary about it and she goes 'Oh I had it done," Paul said.
"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."
This week saw Paul, alongside fellow judge Prue Leith, declare Chris Bisson as The Great Christmas Bake Off champion.
The festive special of the Channel 4 baking competition featured a star-studded lineup including EastEnders' Natalie Cassidy, Coronation Street and Emmerdale's Bisson, EastEnders' Dean Gaffney, Emmerdale and Hollyoaks' Sheree Murphy, and Coronation Street's Shobna Gulati vying for the title.
Paul described the decision as "very close" but ultimately felt Bisson "got better and better", edging out his competition, particularly Emmerdale colleague Murphy.
Paul will be joining gardening expert Alan Titchmarsh and Alan's former Ground Force co-star Charlie Dimmock on ITV's Love Your Weekend on Sunday. Love Your Weekend with Alan Titchmarsh airs on ITV1 London at 9:30 AM, Sunday 29 December.
