Paul Hollywood had a "crush" on Anne Kirkbride.
The ‘Great British Bake Off’ judge has revealed he had a soft spot for the ‘Coronation Street’ actress – who passed away on Monday (19.01.15) aged 60 – when he was a young boy.
Speaking at the National Television Awards at The O2 in London last night (21.01.15), the 48-year-old star shared: "I never met her but she was a bit of a crush of mine when I was a kid.
"Whenever I think of ‘Coronation Street’ I always thought of her. I remember when I was a kid sitting at my mums, I always sat on the floor with my arms under my chin watching the tele, and it was always ‘Coronation Street’. Mum wouldn’t allow anything else on and she [Anne] was an icon and always will be."
The silver fox took home the Skills Challenge award at the annual ceremony, along with his ‘Bake Off’ colleague Mary Berry, but admitted he was more excited about spotting other celebrities at the event.
Explaining his plans for the night, he said: "I’m going to try and get as many selfies as I possibly can. Last year I did a couple with Ricky Gervais, in the loo actually which is a little bit embarrassing, but I’m like a kid and go, ‘Ooh that’s…’, and I forget what I’m doing."
Paul also joked he and Mary were planning on celebrating their prize by going to "a lap dancing club".
He said: "I think we’ll probably go out clubbing tonight [21.01.15], maybe go to a lap dancing club with Mary until about three o’clock in the morning and then we’ll have to stick her in a taxi and get her home."
Paul Hollywood had a crush on Anne Kirkbride
