Paul Hollywood reveals his 10 commandments

Great British Bake Off judge Paul Hollywood divulges his life lessons.

1. I will not ride a bicycle long distances without ample padding on my backside.

I used to ride as a kid and I took it up again a while back. I thought it was really cool to take it for a quick spin. But someone took me for a longer ride and I was absolutely raw when I got back. It’s a lesson learned from very painful bitter experience.

2. You should always ride a motorbike when it’s sunny.

That’s just a given. Going out in the rain isn’t fun but when it’s sunny you feel this massive urge to get out.

I’ve been riding since I was 17 and have had a lot of different bikes. I’ve got a couple of super Ducati sports bikes at the moment.

They are top of the range bikes that handle so well. They have huge acceleration. My other bike is more of an upright and more comfortable I think when you’re in your 40s you often forget you’re not as young as you used to be!

On a bike you have the sheer pleasure of feeling the wind all around you and being able to smell everything, even the manure in the fields.

There’s a real buzz at dropping it down into the corners. But the other thing I like is the anonymity. When I’ve got my black visor down, no one knows who I am.

I started off as a baker and had no intention of doing TV. It found me and put me where I am. I’ve had to learn to live with that. If you’re an actor or you want to present you know you’re going to get into the limelight at some point.

I never set out to do that. You have to learn as you go along and frankly it was a bit of a struggle. I’m in a much better place now but I do like the anonymity of the bike.

3. Never go clubbing with Mary Berry!

It’s a lesson I’ve learned and that’s all I can possibly say about that!

4. Never jump off a 35ft waterfall with your legs open.

I lived in Cyprus for seven years and we used to go to this spot before it became massively touristy. No one went there and we’d spend the day just jumping off this waterfall. This particular time I went in with my legs akimbo. I can’t tell you how sore it was and it’s something no man ever wants to experience.

5. It sounds obvious but always follow a recipe carefully.

The number of times I’ve had people say: “Your recipe doesn’t work.” Trust me, my recipe’s fine. People put a whole egg in instead of an egg yolk or don’t weigh things properly.

Baking is a science and you have to have the ingredients absolutely spot on. Get yourself a good set of digital scales. Always use good quality flour. Make sure your oven is clean. So many people don’t clean theirs.

Always bake something you enjoy eating rather than doing it for someone else.

6. Never drive in the middle lane of the motorway when the inside lane is clear.

When I’m on tour or filming I clock up a lot of miles by car or motorbike and it’s something that drives me insane. I know the police are supposed to be cracking down on it these days but it drives me mental that people can’t be bothered moving over.

We’re almost driving like Americans now, floating from lane to lane. It’s not a good thing just move over into that inside lane.

7. Never serve raw dough to me.

It’s happened a lot on Bake Off and I’m really not the right person to give it to. Just being raw winds me up so much. People think it’s baked and it’s not. It’s such basic stuff and I can smell it a mile away.

8. Never jump into a taxi (especially abroad) without asking how much the fare is going to be.

I’ve learned the hard way and it’s got to be something that’s happened to so many people on their holidays. You always feel as if you’ve been ripped off, particularly if you think you’ve got into a rogue taxi.

I remember going from the airport to the middle of Rome and I was definitely stung. I can’t recall the exact figure but it was a huge amount.

And I hadn’t learned my lesson at that point because I got one from the airport in Paphos to my hotel in Cyprus. I was being stung then, too, but because I’d lived over there and could speak Greek I managed to drop the price down.

9. Never eat more than four doughnuts at a single sitting.

It packs you out too much and if you have a cup of anything warm afterwards, it bloats up your stomach and you can’t walk for a week. Just by the nature of things Mary and I have to eat a lot on Bake Off.

We do try and keep the portions as small as possible but when you have 10 of something to try, it can’t help but bloat you.

10. Never go on the back of a bike with John McGuinness, the 21-time TT champion.

I was fortunate enough to meet up with him when I was doing a programme of the Isle of Man recently. We drove around the island with me on the back of his bike and the police closed off part of the mountain section.

It has to be the scariest thing I have ever done in my life. Hanging on during a wheelie at 120mph is not fun.

Paul’s British Baking Live Tour starts this week, is in Carlisle on November 22, then Dundee on the 24th and Aberdeen on the 25th.