Prue Leith has announced that she will leave The Great British Bake Off as one of its judges. After nine series of the baking competition, she will hand over her duties to someone else.
“Bake Off has been a fabulous part of my life for the last nine years, I have genuinely loved it and I’m sure I’ll miss working with my fellow judge Paul, Alison and Noel and the teams at Love Productions and Channel 4,” said Leith.
“But now feels like the right time to step back (I’m 86 for goodness sake!), there’s so much I’d like to do – not least spend summers enjoying my garden. Whoever joins the team, I’m sure they’ll love it as much as I have. I feel very lucky to have been part of it.”
Leith joined Bake Off on its move from BBC to Channel 4, as a replacement for original co-host Mary Berry – who opted not to leave the BBC, alongside presenters Mel and Sue.
Leith’s tenure as presenter of the baking competition drew controversy in 2017, when she accidentally revealed the winner of the competition via Twitter (now X) – a mistake that she blamed on the time difference between UK time and Bhutan, where she was when she tweeted.
“As soon as it went I thought ‘oh my God’ and I went into a panic mode where I couldn’t work my phone and I didn’t know how to delete it quickly and I couldn’t think,” she told ITV’s This Morning the following year. “In the end I just rang my trusty PA and she said, ‘I’ve already deleted it,’ and it was 89 seconds after I had done it and that was too late, it had been retweeted.”
Other programmes she has made for Channel 4 since becoming one of its most high-profile presenters include Prue and Danny’s Death Road Trip, where she debated the legality of euthanasia with her then Tory (now Reform UK) MP son, Danny Kruger.
Love Productions said, “Huge thanks to Prue who has been a brilliant judge on Bake Off and a much-loved presence in the tent for nearly a decade. From her genuine expertise and encouragement of the bakers to her ability to drop innocent innuendoes that reduce the entire tent (and the audience at home) to tears of laughter, Prue will always have a piece of Bake Off’s heart.”
Channel 4’s Chief Content Officer Ian Katz, said, “Prue Leith has been a joyous presence in the tent, pairing absolute culinary authority with great generosity and empathy for the bakers. We are grateful for her passion, her wit, her ineffable style, and all the summers she spent in the tent. She leaves an indelible mark on the show and all its bakers. We will miss her wry, gentle judgment but look forward to working with her on new projects.”
Channel 4 have already confirmed that there will be another series of The Great British Bake Off later this year. They will announce Leith’s replacement at a later date.