Alex Hollywood has spoken about her split from TV chef Paul Hollywood in her first ever TV interview.
The Great British Bake Off star Paul and Alex met in Cyprus in 1996 and married in 1998. They had son Josh in October 2001.
The food writer appeared on This Morning on Thursday to speak out for the first time.
She said: ‘At the end of the day, divorce is such a hard thing.
‘Anyone who has been through it would understand. It’s more if it’s in the public eye.
‘I get I was married to someone who was on one of the nicest best shows on TV, for years, so there will be interest.
‘There have been a lot of things that have been said that have no bearing on me or my marriage or my divorce.
‘I have not commented and I will continue not to comment. I’m trying to get divorced. I want to carry on and do my recipes and write.’
Speaking about Paul’s confession about sleeping with Marcella Valladolid, his US Bake Off co-star, Alex said: ‘You can’t judge people all the time and say you can’t do this you can’t do that. People are human.
‘At the end of the day this is right for me. I need to move on. No one ever thinks they’re going to be divorced but you just have to get on with it.
‘It’s a case of being able to deal with it yourself and think, I can live with this and move forward. I want to be happy. Of course [I want the same for Paul]. He’s the father of my son.’
Paul, 52, is now in a relationship with 23-year-old Summer Monteys-Fullam after ending their 20-year marriage.
Alex is said to be relaunching her TV cookery career with a gig on BBC’s Good Food Show alongside Mary Berry.
Paul ended his marriage to Alex in 2017 after being together for more than 20 years.
Before the break-up, they had briefly split in 2013 after he confessed to sleeping with Marcella Valladolid, his co-star in the US version of the Bake Off.
Alex has since said she was hurt at his behaviour and decision to split, but wasn’t angry.
‘Paul and I had an ordinary marriage,’ she told Prima Magazine.
‘It lasted 19 years with a hiccup in the middle and then an abrupt end. But I have a son and I had to be strong for him.
‘No one should underestimate how separation and divorce can hit you. I compare it to a moment where you’re driving along the motorway and then the next moment, something beyond your control happens and you’re driving in a completely wrong direction.’
‘You have to give yourself time to get your head round it,’ she added. ‘We all reflect differently and I went into automatic pilot to start with. I think I went through the same five stages of grief that a bereaved person does [denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance]. Being able to be weak is a strength too, and it’s okay to sit and have a cry.’