Paul Hollywood, 58, rages at 'vindictive' locals over backlash to wife, 40, turning 600-year-old pub into new home
Paul Hollywood has blasted neighbours' reactions to his wife's pub decision
PA
Paul Hollywood, 58, has hit out at the criticism his wife Melissa, 40, has faced after she was granted permission by a local council to close her family's Kent pub.
Earlier this week, Ashford Borough Council gave Mrs Hollywood the green light to shut the six-centuries-old Chequers Inn and transform it into a home.
Mrs Hollywood submitted the request back in January this year, citing that it was no longer a viable business to keep the pub up and running.
For the best part of 2024, the Hollywoods have been met with derision from locals who want to see Chequers Inn remain open to patrons.
Some claimed it was a "heritage asset" and others even put together plans to buy the 600-year-old pub from Mrs Hollywood's family but this never came to fruition.
After dismissing one offer as "not realistic", Bake Off's Hollywood opened up to BBC South East about what the fallout from the decision has been like.
Paul Hollywood and wife Melissa
PA
"The vindictiveness from the locals towards the family who have been here 18 years is unforgivable," he raged.
"If the villagers themselves want to get their act together and put a bid in and buy it, that’s fine.
"At the end of the month it’s earmarked to close because they cannot sustain the money that's coming in because there's no money coming in.
"I'm going to have to step in and help them out, personally, but I'm not a charity.
The wife of Great British Bake Off judge Paul Hollywood said criticisms over her family's Kent pub has been "unforgivable".
— BBC Kent (@BBCRadioKent) August 16, 2024
Landlady Melissa Hollywood said her family have planned to close the Grade II-Listed Chequers Inn, in Smarden, near Ashford, by the end of August due to… pic.twitter.com/qNhezy6JQH
"I have given a substantial amount of money to turn it into what it is now. It is a beautiful pub but it is a business that is losing money."
The 58-year-old claimed after the meeting that the family wanted to sell the pub as a business were unable to do so.
During the application process, Mrs Hollywood told the committee: "The last six months has shown us the worst in people’s behaviour, the personal insults and attacks have been unforgivable.
"Ask yourself – would you work a 12-16 hour shift every day just to make a loss, and would you do it if you were 80 years old with a life-threatening heart condition?"
The Chequers Inn has been run by the celebrity baker's spouse for the past 16 years and is owned by her father Glenn Spalding.
The pub first went on sale back in November 2020 but almost four years on, it hasn't found a suitable buyer.
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Councillors voted seven to five in favour of approving the application to turn the pub into a living abode.
The Hollywood husband and wife duo and their family now have a number of years to complete the changes they want to the pub.