Bake Off’s Paul Hollywood admits he may have undiagnosed condition as he shares struggle – Surrey Live

Great British Bake Off presenter Paul Hollywood has suggested that he may have lived the majority of his adult life to date with undiagnosed dyslexia.

The 58-year-old baker turned television presenter was speaking to The Times when he made the admission. Discussing how he is currently training to become a pilot, he said his love of learning was surprising given how much he struggled at school.

When asked if he thinks he has undiagnosed dyslexia, the Bake Off star replied: “I might have done. My English is terrible, actually. I can’t write it, I can’t get my head around it.”

On why he had chosen to learn to fly, Paul said it was to do with the “spiritual” feeling of being in the air. He explained: “It’s ethereal. It’s quite a spiritual place, weirdly. Well, not weirdly, because you’d expect that up in the sky, when you are dancing with the clouds.”

Should he receive a formal diagnosis, Paul wouldn’t the first major celebrity to talk openly about their battle with dyslexia.

Fellow television presenter Matt Baker has been candid in his advocacy for those living with the form of neurodivergence, one which often gets mixed up with dyspraxia, a condition that can also affect writing and communication.

In an interview with The Yorkshire Post in 2022 Matt, 47, shared how dyslexia used and continues to affect him in his day to day life.

The former One Show presenter explained: “Reading was always an issue and even now, reading aloud is a nightmare. No matter how hard I try, I can’t read aloud. The scariest thing someone can do to me is hand me an email on live television and ask me to read it out. It does something to me. It’s absolutely petrifying.”

More recently, Matt told Woman’s Weekly the condition was one also experienced by his son and father. Alongside this, he provided some advice for those struggling.

He said: “The fundamentals of learning are the hardest things for us, and we will never be able to do them. That’s the lesson you learn, to just keep trying and never stop. And then when you apply that to the rest of life, you’re not put off by disappointment.

“Failure weirdly doesn’t register with you. It’s funny, because when you ask what’s the biggest mistake I’ve made, I actually don’t notice them. They’re just part of the learning. My dad’s dyslexic, my son’s dyslexic. And it’s just not an issue for us.”