Paul Hollywood with his wife Alexandra at the National Television Awards
Paul Hollywood has spoken out following the death of Anne Kirkbride, admitting he had a "crush" on the actress when he was a young boy.
Speaking last night at The O2 for the National Television Awards, he 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."
Paul and the rest of the Great British Bake Off team took home the Skills Challenge award at the annual prizegiving ceremony, but admitted that he had more excitement about spotting fellow celebrities at the event.
Explaining his plans for the night he added: "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."
The baker went on to joke he and Mary Berry were planning on celebrating by visiting a lap dancing club.
"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."
Tagged in Anne Kirkbride Paul Hollywood Mary Berry