Rumors are flying that beloved "Great British Bake Off" host Prue Leith might soon be leaving for even greener pastures, but the facts of the matter are as clear as day. Here's what she's said about her future with the show.
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00:00Rumors are flying that beloved Great British Bake Off host Prue Leith might soon be leaving
00:05for even greener pastures, but the facts of the matter are as clear as day.
00:09Here's what she's said about her future with the show.
00:12Before we get into the nitty-gritty, what exactly is Prue Leith's background and what
00:17makes her suited to judging others' bakes?
00:19Born in 1940 in South Africa, Leith is no stranger to the culinary world.
00:24In 1960, when she was 20 years old, she moved to London to attend the Cordon Bleu Culinary
00:29School.
00:30Soon after, she started a catering company before dipping her toes into the restaurant
00:34world.
00:35What few people realize is that Leith had an extremely successful restaurant career.
00:39In 1969, she opened Leith's, an upscale restaurant in the trendy Notting Hill neighborhood
00:44of London.
00:45Leith's earned her a Michelin star, which was an especially big deal for a woman at
00:49the time.
00:50The restaurant itself was popular with celebrities, members of the Rolling Stones and the Beatles
00:54down there.
00:55But that's not where her ambitions ended.
00:58In the 1970s, she opened her own culinary school.
01:01It's now simply called Leith's, but was previously known as Leith's School of Food and Wine.
01:06But that's not all.
01:07Leith has also released cookbooks, including Prue and The Vegetarian Kitchen, which she
01:11released with her niece.
01:13It's safe to say that Prue Leith knows her way around the kitchen.
01:16I love the fish, but I think this lettuce is a disaster.
01:20Prue Leith joined The Great British Bake Off in 2017 for the show's eighth season.
01:24She replaced another cooking icon, Mary Berry.
01:28The show originally aired on the British Broadcasting Corporation, BBC, but the production company
01:33behind it wanted more money, and a bidding war ensued.
01:36Ultimately, Channel 4 won the rights to the show and it moved networks.
01:39Mary Berry had a longstanding relationship with the BBC and chose loyalty to the network
01:44over loyalty to the show.
01:45It was for similar reasons that the original presenters, Mel and Sue, left.
01:49They were replaced by Noel.
01:52Rumors are flying that beloved Great British Bake Off host Prue Leith might soon be leaving
01:56for even greener pastures.
01:58But the facts of the matter are as clear as day.
02:00Here's what she's said about her future with the show.
02:03A background in food writing Nitty gritty.
02:06What exactly is Prue Leith's background, and what makes her suited to judging others'
02:11bakes?
02:12Born in 1940 in South Africa, Leith is no stranger to the culinary world.
02:16In 1960, when she was 20 years old, she moved to London to attend the Cordon Bleu Culinary
02:21School.
02:22Soon after, she started a catering company before dipping her toes into the restaurant
02:26world.
02:27What few people realize is that Leith had an extremely successful restaurant career.
02:31In 1969, she opened Leith's, an upscale restaurant in the trendy Notting Hill neighborhood
02:36of London.
02:37Leith's earned her a Michelin star, which was an especially big deal for a woman at
02:41the time.
02:42The restaurant itself was popular with celebrities, members of the Rolling Stones and The Beatles
02:46dine there.
02:47But that's not where her ambitions ended.
02:49In the 1970s, she opened her own culinary school.
02:53It's now simply called Leith's, but was previously named Leith's.
02:56But that's not all.
02:57Leith has also released cookbooks, including Prue and The Vegetarian Kitchen, which she
03:01released with her niece.
03:03It's safe to say that Prue Leith knows her way around the kitchen.
03:06Joining GBBO
03:08Prue Leith joined The Great British Bake Off in 2017 for the show's eighth season.
03:13She replaced another cooking icon, Mary Berry.
03:16The show originally aired on the British Broadcasting Corporation, BBC, but the production company
03:21behind it wanted more money, and a bidding war ensued.
03:24Ultimately, Channel 4 won the rights to the show and it moved networks.
03:28Mary Berry had a longstanding relationship with the BBC and chose loyalty to the network
03:32over loyalty to the show.
03:34It was for similar reasons that the original presenters, Mel and Sue, left.
03:38They were replaced by Noel Fielding and Sandy Toksvig.
03:41As of the 2024 run, Leith will have judged for eight seasons, meaning she's been on
03:45the show for longer than Mary Berry was.
03:48While nobody can replace Berry for some viewers, Leith is now just as much a part of the show's
03:52legacy.
03:53The Great Celebrity Bake Off
03:55As you can probably guess from the name, The Great Celebrity Bake Off is a version of GBBO
04:00featuring celebrities instead of top-notch amateur bakers.
04:03It has a slightly different format to the main show, with four new stars.
04:06I have never traveled as much in my life as I am now with John.
04:11Star Baker Weekly
04:13Due to other commitments, it wouldn't make sense to have a large group of celebrity bakers
04:16who got whittled down each week, like in the main show.
04:19Outside of Britain, people might not recognize many of the bakers.
04:22However, there have been more notable international stars on Celebrity Bake Off, including Friends
04:27actor David Schwimmer, Terry Hatcher from Desperate Housewives, and Good Omens star Michael Sheen.
04:32ProLeaf thinks that celebrities generally don't make the best bakers, and that's part
04:36of the fun of watching the celebrity version of the show.
04:39While you'll get some proficient bakers, many of them don't know their stand mixer
04:43from their spatula.
04:44This can lead to some impressive fails that are a good time to watch.
04:48Stepping Back from Celebrity Bake Off
04:50In March 2024, it was reported that ProLeaf would be stepping back from her role as a
04:54judge on The Great Celebrity Bake Off for Stand Up to Cancer.
04:58This is another version of the show, in which celebrities battle it out in the tent to raise
05:02money for charity.
05:03She appeared on the version of the show that aired in March 2024, but a press release said
05:07she wouldn't be.
05:09It makes sense to assume that Leith might have stepped back from some of her judging
05:12duties for a serious reason.
05:14However, as far as we know, nothing negative has happened to prompt this.
05:17It's just that she wants a bit more time off.
05:19Talking to presenters of This Morning, she said there was a straightforward reason for
05:23leaving Celebrity Bake Off.
05:25The Filming Schedule
05:26The celebrity version of the show is filmed directly after the regular version.
05:30All in all, this means the judges are needed on set from April through to August.
05:34Leith explained that she was no longer willing to give up her whole summer.
05:37She remarked that, at age 84, there are places that she wants to see and things she wants
05:41to do, and the lengthy filming commitments just don't work for her anymore.
05:45Leith has a husband, two kids, and five grandchildren, so it makes sense that she might want to spend
05:50some time with them over the summer, or simply have the chance to go on vacation while the
05:54weather's nice.
05:55Whatever her plans, we hope Leith enjoys her summers with fewer commitments.
05:59The News
06:00We're aware that Prue Leith has filmed her last season of Celebrity Bake Off, but who
06:03will be judging alongside Paul Hollywood on the next one?
06:07The next season will likely air in March 2025, but it will be filmed in summer 2024.
06:12We haven't yet heard who is set to replace Leith on the celebrity version of Bake Off,
06:16but there are a lot of possible contenders.
06:19According to the rumor mill, Nigella Lawson might be the one to replace Leith.
06:22We'd certainly be excited about tuning in if she did.
06:25As a child, Nigella Lawson wasn't really into food but taught herself to cook later in life.
06:30Now she's one of the biggest proponents of eating for pleasure, and we're here for it.
06:34However, nothing is certain, and there are other reports flying around.
06:37It could be Ravneet Gill, who's been presenting Junior Bake Off since 2020, or Nadia Hussain,
06:43who won the sixth season of the Great British Bake Off and has been in the public eye since.
06:47Other contenders include the multi-talented Lorraine Pascal and former Bake Off winner
06:51Candice Brown.
06:52Ultimately, who gets the difficult job of replacing Leith remains to be seen.
06:56Already Filmed the Next Season
06:58There's no question over whether or not Prue Leith will be judge-
07:01I think we need a little glass of wine to go with goat's cheese.
07:05I thought you'd never ask.
07:07Airing in 2024 because it's already filmed.
07:10GBBO is filmed over a period of 10 weeks between April and June.
07:14The recording takes place over consecutive weekends, so the contestants have time to
07:18go home, see family, and practice their bakes during the week.
07:21When filming, days can be as long as 16 hours, so it's a grueling schedule.
07:26If Leith wasn't going to appear on the show in 2024, this would have been announced alongside
07:30her departure from Celebrity Bake Off.
07:32As usual, Paul Hollywood will judge bakes alongside Leith.
07:35The presenters for 2024 will be the same as 2023, Noel Fielding, who's been on the show
07:40since 2017, and Alison Hammond, who's a relative newcomer, first appearing as a presenter in
07:452023.
07:46Bake Off 2024 is likely to start airing toward the end of September in the UK, coming to
07:51the U.S. soon thereafter.
07:54Rumored to Leave GBBO
07:56Since pre-Leith's Celebrity Bake Off, there have been persistent rumors flying around
08:00that she won't return to the Great British Bake Off for 2025 and beyond.
08:04Although the statement she released only referred to relinquishing her duties for the Celebrity
08:08series, it hasn't stopped speculation that she might leave altogether.
08:12Although it doesn't seem to be true, the rumor makes sense.
08:15If Leith is finding her filming commitments a bit too much, she could decide to scrap
08:19them altogether.
08:20Or, perhaps, she could be considering retiring and wants to ease into it.
08:24This notion is further fueled by the fact that Channel 4's contract with Love Productions,
08:28who makes Bake Off, is coming to an end.
08:31People in the know believe that the rights to air it could be snapped up by Netflix or
08:34Disney+.
08:35Last time the show moved networks, Mary Berry left, so who's to say Leith won't be the one
08:40to move on this time?
08:41Leith also has a new show.
08:43Show airing, Prue Leith's Cotswold Kitchen.
08:53This show features her and her husband, John Playfair, cooking at home in Moreton-in-Marsh
08:58in the Cotswolds.
08:59Perhaps if this show takes off, she might have less incentive to keep judging GBVO.
09:04Denying the rumors
09:05Despite the rumors, it doesn't seem that Prue Leith will be leaving the main Bake Off show.
09:09She might be leaving Celebrity Bake Off, but talk of her leaving the regular version's
09:13still built.
09:14She later appeared on This Morning and addressed it directly.
09:17She said the rumors were, quote,
09:19"...absolutely not true at all," and that she is only planning to leave the celebrity
09:23version of the show.
09:24Of course, people can change their minds, but that's a very certain answer for right
09:27now, and Leith seems to love judging on the show.
09:30She's invested in the successes of the contestants and seeing them improve.
09:34According to Leith, the biggest baking mistake people make is running out of time, and she's
09:38always encouraging bakers to learn to manage their time better.
09:42Her enthusiasm for judging backs up what she says about not intending to leave Bake Off
09:46just now.
09:47We're sure there will be more changes to the lineup of judges and presenters over the years,
09:50but it doesn't seem that it will be right now.
09:52The Great American Baking Show
09:54The original iteration of The Great American Baking Show never gained a huge level of popularity.
10:00For many viewers,