Prue Leith has spoken candidly about why she decided to quit The Great British Bake Off, admitting the choice was driven by concerns about her health.
The 86-year-old judge left the beloved baking series in January, and while many fans were surprised by her departure, she has now explained that increasing mobility issues played a key role in her decision.
Appearing on The Shift podcast, Prue Leith shared that she had begun to notice a decline in her balance. She said: "I think the thing I found worrying is that I'm not very steady on my pins any more - not as good as I were."
The turning point came during filming for the Channel 4 show, which she co-hosted with baker Paul Hollywood, Noel Fielding and Alison Hammond. On one occasion, the presenters were asked to dance in a field rather than judge cakes — and the uneven ground proved challenging.
"We weren't judging cake - they wanted us to dance round this field. And it was a very hummocky, uneven, field, which of course Noel could really leap over brilliantly and Paul perfectly good," she explained.
Prue admitted the moment made her confront her limitations. She added: "But I suddenly realised 'I'm going to go A over T, you know, this is going to be humiliating beyond belief. So I said 'I don't want to do it', and they understood - they were fine. And that was the first time I had to say 'I can't do that'. Gradually there had been more and more of those things."
Since joining the programme in 2017, replacing Mary Berry, Prue has enjoyed a playful working relationship with fellow judge Paul Hollywood, who is more than two decades her junior. She revealed that his long-running jokes about her age began to hit a little closer to home.
"Ever since I've been on Bake Off Paul has always teased me because I'm so much older than him," she said.
Prue continued: "He'd say things like 'Come along deary, upsy daisy', 'time for your nap' or 'time for your tea', or something or other. This is a running joke... but of late I've thought 'Actually, you're right mate'. "
Reflecting on how things might have progressed had she stayed, she added: "If I had stayed on Bake Off, I'd have asked for a ramp to get into my Winnebago. Paul's teasing would have become absolutely true, so he would have probably stopped doing it."
Despite her concerns about balance, Prue has previously shown she can still let loose. In her autobiography Being Old and Learning to Love It!, she recalled dancing during the New Year’s episode alongside co-host Alison Hammond.
"Last year, we were filming the New Year's episode, we had a steel band in the famous tent. Alison Hammond, exuberant as always, was the first up and dancing, and soon I couldn't resist and joined her," she wrote.
She added: "While writing this, I've not yet seen the resulting film and can only hope the editors have been kind and cut me out if I look the idiot I probably am. But the point is, even if they don't, I really don't care."
Following her departure, it was announced that Nigella Lawson would join Paul Hollywood on the judging panel.
However, Prue has hinted that her Bake Off journey may not be entirely over. Speaking on Davina McCall’s Begin Again podcast, she acknowledged the demanding filming schedule of the UK series but suggested she could return for the American edition.
"That chunk of your life just disappears. We were filming Bake Off from April to the end of August. There's a lot of them, there's Great British Bake Off, there's the American Bake Off, which I might still do if it's recommissioned. It's all done by the same company and it's a question of what can be got round so I can get a holiday," she said.
Claire Tapley is a digital editor for Yours.co.uk. She is a journalist with over 18 years' experience writing for women over 50. Before moving to Yours.co.uk, she was deputy editor of Yours magazine for nine years. Claire is extremely passionate about all things TV related, with her favourite shows including Traitors, Strictly and The Great British Bake Off.