Dame Prue Leith rose to fame thanks to her boundless energy, her colourful glasses and her witty humour. It can be easy to forget she is going to be turning 85 years old in 2025. Despite looking as healthy as ever, the Great British Bake Off presenter has recently explained she can feel her body ageing.
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Dame Prue Leith on ageing
On Tuesday 28 January 2025, the Great British Bake Off iconic presenter was a guest on Loose Women. The show had a special instalment named This Is 70+, which featured women over the age of 70, as they are rarely represented on television. True to herself, Dame Prue Leith made a brutally honest comment on how she feels about ageing. She explained:
Age stinks, come on, it takes me 10 minutes to get myself out of bed in the morning. If I don't do my exercises, I can't move. There are all sorts of things that are wrong with old age, you're very conscious that this is nearly the end.
You then decide that you're going to make the most of it and have fun.
This is not the first time she opened up about ageing and death. Last year, Dame Prue Leith had surprised fans when she publicly shared her opinion on assisted dying while in conversation with The Guardian, explaining she wishes it to be legal. She declared:
While I am healthy at the moment, I'd very much like to have a little lethal concoction sitting in a safe waiting for the right moment. And I'd rather it was legal.
With Prue Leith getting older and trying to 'make the most of it', she decided that she would not be part of Celebrity Bake Off for Stand Up to Cancer in 2025.
Who will replace her on the Celebrity Bake-Off?
Indeed, when Channel 4 announced the cast for the new series of the very much anticipated Celebrity Bake Off for Stand Up to Cancer fans were shocked to discover Dame Prue Leith would not be in the show this year.
In 2024, Dame Prue Leith announced she was stepping back from hosting the Celebrity Bake Off as she wanted to pursue other passions. However, she will still appear on the regular version of the show, as well as the US versions. She told This Morning at the time:
[The one] I’m not doing this year is the celebrity one and it’s mainly because these things are filmed back-to-back the whole way through the summer.
Now, it has been announced that her long-time friend Caroline Waldegrave will take over as a judge, alongside Alison Hammond, Noel Fielding, and Paul Hollywood. Caroline Waldegrave is a former Managing Director and co-owner of Leith's School of Food and Wine, which the two women founded together. Their official website shows how strong the bond is between the two are:
Prue Leith was a visionary. In 1975, when she founded Leiths School of Food and Wine alongside Caroline Waldegrave, spaghetti bolognese seemed exotic and ready meals were increasing in popularity.
Read more:
The Great British Bake Off: Former host Sandi Toksvig reveals why she walked away from the show
Paul Hollywood: Meet the Bake Off presenter's reported new wife, Melissa Spalding
Sources used:
Hello!: Prue Leith 'can't move' as she comments on health at 84: 'This is nearly the end'
Metro: Dame Prue Leith’s Celebrity Bake Off replacement confirmed as cast is announced
