The Great British Bake Off is finally back on our screens and 12 new bakers have already completed the first week of their challenges in the iconic white tent. Alison Hammond and Noel Fielding welcomed the new batch of nervous bakers onto the hit Channel 4 programme earlier this week while judges Paul Hollywood and Prue Leith waited patiently in the wings for their cue. But what do we know about Prue, one of the most recognisable cookery judges on television.
The 85-year-old has been our screens for a long time after kickstarting her career as a judge on BBC Two’s Great British Menu. After 11 years on the show, in 2017, she joined the team over on Channel 4 to replace Mary Berry on The Great British Bake Off who was a key part of the show for seven years.
It goes without saying Prue had huge shoes to fill but she managed to execute her first season perfectly and soon became a hit with Bake Off fans. Prue wasn’t the only casting change that year, as comedy duo Mel and Sue said their goodbyes to the programme amid the move to Channel 4.
Matt Lucas and Sandi Toksvig took over the presenting duties in 2017 before they passed the baton onto Alison Hammond and Noel Fielding who are the current hosts.
Known for her bold glasses choices and hilarious innuendos in the tent, Prue Leith is an instantly recognisable character on British television. She has proved her playful her side on endless occasions, even dipping her toe into singing earlier this year when she was revealed as Pegasus on The Masked Singer UK.
She was born in Johannesburg, South Africa, in 1940 before moving to the UK at the age of 20 to study at the Cordon Bleu Cookery School in London.
Her passion for food blossomed from a young age and she always knew she wanted to make it her career. She started her own catering business in 1960 and opened her Michelin-starred restaurant, Leith’s, in 1969, which she ran for 25 years.
She has since opened up several businesses including Leith’s School of Food and Wine, as well as releasing her own books. Her most recent recipe book, released in 2024, was titled “Life’s Too Short to Stuff a Mushroom”.
Away from her busy life in the showbiz industry, Prue is married to former fashion designer John Playfair after they tied the knot in 2016. She has recently opened up about wanting to spend as much time as possible with her husband.
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, reports Wales Online.
She shared: “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.”
She shared with 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. When I introduce him (to people) he always just says ‘I’m the handbag carrier, I’m her chauffeur’.”
Dame Prue has recently spoken to PA about the return of the Bake Off. The celebrity author discussed turning 90 as 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?'”