He's a JAPANESE BOY

Paul Hollywood on how the food and culture of the Far East have expanded his horizons

- REBECCA FLETCHER

PAUL HOLLYWOOD EATS JAPAN TUE / C4 / 9PM / EP 2 of 3 / COOKERY

Anyone watching Paul Hollywood hurtling around the streets of Tokyo in a go-kart while dressed as a ninja turtle last week will have realised that his latest C4 series, Paul Hollywood Eats Japan, is not your regular food show.

Nor is Paul his usual steely-eyed, stern self: having cast off the (dare we say) grumpy persona he displays as a judge on The Great British Bake Off, he’s throwing himself with gusto into the eye-opening, quirky and, well, bonkers culinary world of Japan.

‘I think people are seeing a different side to me in this series,’ smiles Paul, 54, who, of course, filmed the three-parter before the coronavirus pandemic.

‘It features the real me, rather than the person viewers see on Bake Off, who has to be opinionated and give constructive feedback to bakers. In this, I’m like a kid again, trying to learn new things and having fun. I hope that comes across.’

In last week’s opener, highlights included him eating Michelin-starred pot noodles, dining alone in a ‘flavour-enhancement’ booth and taking a hairy wrestler dressed as a Japanese schoolgirl to dine in a puppy-themed cafe.

And there are plenty more adventures to come in the rest of the series. Here, Paul tells us what else is on the menu…