Dame Prue Leith has hinted that she could return to one of her TV projects if it fits with her schedule. The 86-year-old announced in January that she would be leaving The Great British Bake Off.
Prue originally joined the show as a judge alongside Paul Hollywood in 2017, replacing Dame Mary Berry. But she said that “now feels like the right time to step back”, adding that: “There's so much I'd like to do." She will be replaced in the upcoming series by chef Nigella Lawson. Prue has however hinted that she could make a return for the US version, The Great American Baking Show.
She says part of her decision to leave the show was a desire to go on holiday with her husband John Playfair. She cites the fact she couldn’t enjoy summers in the likes of Spain, Portugal or France due to the busy Bake Off schedule.
Speaking on Davina McCall’s Begin Again podcast, Prue said: “I love Bake Off and I knew I could have stayed there happily. I love the crowd and I love the bakers, what’s not to like? It’s a great job and it paid a lot of money.
“Nine years, I suddenly realised that I’d never get a holiday in the Northern Hemisphere. All my holidays had to be taken in winter, which is great, you go off to South Africa or somewhere but I just thought, ‘I want a European holiday’.”
She added: “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.”
Prue went on to explain that Bake Off “has to be filmed in the summer”. She however concluded that she will “miss” being part of Bake Off, particularly for the crew working behind-the-scenes.
Last year Prue said she wanted to enjoy life “while I still can”. She added that she felt she has “so much more” she wishes to do.
That included travelling with John and spending more time with her family. She shares children Danny Kruger and Li-Da Kruger with her first husband, Rayne, who passed away in 2002. She has five grandchildren.
Speaking to Vanessa Feltz on Vanessa last April, she remarked: "I want to live life to the full because I'm 85, of course I haven't got much time left, there's nothing wrong with me. I suppose what's really changed in the last couple of years is my feeling that I want to have more time to travel and to see my grandkids and all that sort of stuff, really selfish things.
"Whereas usually all the stuff I am doing is because I enjoy work, I enjoy writing, and it's always because I like it. I'm not a martyr but I just thought I'll do the things that if I don't do them now then I won't be able to do them.
"This year, for the first time, I had a holiday during the summer, because for eight years I've been filming Bake Off all summer so I said to them, the producers, 'I think I better stop because I need a summer holiday, I want to go and visit Turkmenistan, and Afghanistan'."
