Prue Leith opens up on ‘important’ Bake Off decision as she unveils new role

The 86-year-old restaurateur left the Channel 4 show last month after nine years

Prue Leith opens up on ‘important’ Bake Off decision as she unveils new role(Image: Channel 4)

Prue Leith has declared she has “no regrets” whilst revealing a fresh venture, following her departure from The Great British Bake Off.

The 86-year-old restaurateur and television personality confirmed she was stepping down from the popular baking programme last month after nine years on the show.

Prue became part of the series in 2017 when it transferred from the BBC to Channel 4, and has since become a cherished presence, serving as a judge alongside Paul Hollywood.

In a statement, she said: “Bake Off has been a fabulous part of my life for nine years. I have genuinely loved it and I’m sure I’ll miss working with my fellow judge Paul, Alison [Hammond] and Noel [Fielding], and the teams at Love Productions and Channel 4.”

It has now been announced that television chef and writer Nigella Lawson will succeed Prue as the new judge. Nigella is set to join Paul in the tent for the forthcoming series, which will air later this year, reports Gloucestershire Live.

Prue Leith announced her exit from Bake Off(Image: Channel 4)

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Just weeks after her announcement, Prue made an appearance on ITV’s Lorraine, where she discussed her latest book, Being Old and Learning to Love It, with presenter Lorraine Kelly.

The star also looked back on her Bake Off exit, with Lorraine remarking: “Obviously, everyone’s talking about you not being on Bake Off. You’re going to be so sadly missed on that show, because it’s a brilliant show. But you [have] no regrets about making the decision, you felt it was the right thing to do?”

Prue explained: “It was the right thing to do, because I’m getting on and I haven’t much time left. I suddenly realised I will never again have a summer holiday in Europe. I’ll never be able to go to France or Italy or Greece or Spain, because I’d be filming.

“I just thought, ‘I want to do that.’ Of course, I could have holidays in the winter. You could go to South Africa, cause I’m South African, so I love the sun. But I wanted a European holiday. So, this year, I’m going to take the whole family to France for a week. I could never do that before.”

Lorraine observed: “There’s also that thing, Prue, that you’re going loving it. You’re actually going out on a high. You still love it.”

The star appeared on ITV’s Lorraine on Thursday(Image: ITV)

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Prue continued: “It was important to leave Bake Off while I still have enough energy to enjoy my life. And I must say, I do. One of the reasons why I think that book touches a chord, is there are a lot of old people who are having a good time – it’s not all misery and gloom.”

As well as her latest book, Prue has lots more on the horizon as she approaches the final stages of filming the third series of her Cotswold Kitchen. She also confessed that she won’t miss the early morning starts that came with Bake Off.

Discussing her memoir, Prue explained: “I wrote this book mainly because people kept going on, like, ‘Isn’t it terrible being old?’ It’s not terrible being old. Every age has its downsides, it’s worse when you’re a teenager, and it’s terrifying. Being old, yeah there will be odd aches and pains and so forth, but there’s also terrific advantages.

“What I was doing was I was writing essays about all the things we think about, which was pretty much everything… [A lot of people] when they get older worry about making a will and stuff. If you just get all that done, you can stop worrying about it. It’s boring, and you don’t want to think about it.”

The Great British Bake Off is available to stream on Channel 4, while Lorraine airs weekdays on ITV1 at 9.30am

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