As the “politely devastating” judge on The Great British Bake Off, Prue Leith is famous for delivering her feedback with such charm that contestants don’t realiase their freshly baked scones have been deemed “not up to scratch” until she’s walked away.
The beloved cook is back on Kiwi TV screens this month, perusing the offerings of a new batch of enthusiastic home bakers. But viewers who love her colourful take on life had better make sure they gobble up every morsel of this new season because it’s her last. “I’ve been dithering for years about when to stop judging Bake Off,” Prue says candidly of her departure from the show.
“When I joined nine years ago, I thought, since I was in my mid-seventies, that I’d be lucky to manage two years. At that age, my mother was deaf as a post and away with the fairies, believing her son was her father and her cat was the one she’d had 40 years before. But my marbles stayed more or less in place and there seemed no good reason to give up a job I loved. “Finally, though, the desire to work less and play more got to me,” she admits.
“Bake Off is filmed in summer, which means I could never have a summer holiday. All my vacations had to be taken in winter. I just thought, ‘I want a European holiday, to go to France, Spain, Italy…’ “I’m 86 and with the best will in the world, I don’t think I’m going to live more than 10 years – and probably not all of them as fit as a flea. So I want some time to do other things.”
Life after the Bake Off tent
They filmed her final season during the 2025 UK summer, and Prue has already judged her last Victoria sponge, Viennese whirl, and pork pie.
Not that she’s actually retiring. Already, Prue has filmed a six-part travel show exploring her native South Africa – and has recently released a book titled Being Old… And Learning to Love It.
“I didn’t write it as a manual,” explains Prue.
“I didn’t set out to say, ‘This is the best way to get old or the only way to get old.’ I just wrote about various aspects of ageing. My main things are the joys – and the hilarity.”
Putting ageing into perspective
She says ageing needs perspective.
“Obviously, if you’re ill, it’s not great and a lot of old people eventually get ill and pop their clogs. But you know, no part of life is perfect. We probably look back on our youth and remember all the good things. But if you think hard, being a teenager is tough and being at school, there’s a lot of unhappiness. And being a young mum is really stressful.”
Challenging stereotypes about ageing
“Any part of life has good bits and bad bits,” she adds.
“We’ve been sort of brainwashed into feeling sorry for old people or feeling that they should shut up, sit down in the corner and knit. “I’m really enjoying my old age – despite there being bits that I’m not keen on. I mean, having to find a loo every two hours is a pain!”
Looking back on her own experiences, Prue concedes it’s been as colourful as the clothes she likes to wear. Throughout the ’60s and early ’70s, she had an affair with – and eventually married – the husband of her mother’s best friend, author and property developer Rayne Kruger. They shared two children, son Danny, now 51, and daughter Li-Da, 52, who they adopted from war-torn Cambodia.
When Rayne died in 2002, aged 80, Prue, then 62, was devastated and worked tirelessly as a way to escape the pain. Eventually, she found a way through and “got quite fond of being on my own. You didn’t have to think about anybody else. You didn’t have to ring up and say, ‘I’m sorry, I’ve missed the train.’ There are no crumbs in the bed and you’ve got control of the remote.
“There were advantages and so I was not prepared to fall in love again. But I did.”
Love later in life
Aged 70, she met her second husband, retired fashion designer John Playfair, who, at 71, is 15 years her junior.
“He’s good fun,” smiles Prue.
“Not many people have one happy marriage – never mind two!”
Now Bake Off is off her work menu, Prue is adding other projects to the mix. Having penned eight fictional novels, she’s hoping to turn her Food of Love trilogy into a TV series.
“I love writing,” she says.
“It’s a disease I can’t stop!”
The Great British Bake Off screens Thursdays, 7.30pm on TVNZ 1 and streams on TVNZ+.
