The Great British Bake Off will soon be returning to our screens and a whole host of new amateur bakers will be heading to the famous white tent to put their skills to the test as they navigate the challenges set by the judges.
The Judges Paul Hollywood and Prue Leith are back to rate the contestants’ bakes, alongside hosts Alison Hammond and Noel Fielding. Viewers can tune in on September 2 as 12 new bakers attempt to win the judges over.
Dame Prue has spoken to PA ahead of the show’s return. She was a judge on BBC Two’s Great British Menu for eleven years, before joining The Great British Bake Off in March 2017, replacing Mary Berry. Prue has stepped back from Celebrity Bake Off but has remained as a permanent judge on the ordinary version.
The celebrity author discussed turning 90, she said: “I’m asked this question all the time. I’ve got to give up some time. But I’m loving it. I just enjoy it.
“I look forward to it. It’s a lovely job. But I want to go before I’m pushed. I don’t want some poor executive to have to come and say to me, “I’m just wondering, you know, you are 87 or something? Do you not think it’s time to step back?”
She also spoke about the prospect of the show improving. She admitted every year she believes it can get better and “it does”, host Alison Hammond added that this series is not necessarily better than all the rest but it is a “quality series” that viewers will enjoy.
Each week on the Channel 4 baking competition the contestants are given three challenges: a signature bake, a technical challenge and a showstopper, based on that week’s theme.
Earlier this year, Dame Prue opened up on her feelings about the older years of her life. She spoke on a podcast with host Holly Rubenstein about wanting to cherish every moment with her husband, John Playfair.
On the The Travel Diaries podcast, Dame Prue said: “I haven’t got much longer, I’m 85, I want to spend as much time as I can with him.” She said she relies on her husband’s support when travelling the world for her career.
Dame Prue explained why John’s support is so important as she admitted: “If we are filming abroad, or like next week, we’re going to New York, because I’ve got to publicise the American baking show, then I’m now old enough for my agent to say ‘I’m sorry, but she has to ring her husband, because she’s 85, she needs someone to carry the bags’ she doesn’t quite say ‘she needs a carer’ but it’s pretty close.”
The TV star has regularly spoken out about her husband and the bond the two have. She married her husband in 2016 and told listeners “one of the wonderful things about him is that he is totally without ego, he doesn’t feel threatened by the fact that I have a higher profile than he does”.
Dame Prue’s illustrious career in the culinary world began at the age of 20 when she enrolled at the Cordon Bleu Cookery School. She has since gone on to have an incredible career, even having working relationships with the Royal Family over the years.