Prue Leith: Leaving Bake Off & Falling In Love At 70

Begin Again with Davina McCall

FlightStory

Education, Society & Culture, Self-improvement, Health & Fitness, Mental Health

4.7 • 970 Ratings

🗓️ 26 February 2026

⏱️ 64 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

A life of bold choices, second chances, and refusing to fear getting older. In this episode of Begin Again, Prue Leith opens up about leaving The Great British Bake Off, falling in love again at 70, and why she believes ageing can be the most liberating chapter of all. After nearly a decade in the tent, Prue shares why she chose to step away from a job she has loved. She reveals the remarkable story of meeting her second husband in her seventies, following a 13-year secret relationship that changed her life. From growing up in apartheid South Africa to fighting sexism in professional kitchens, adopting her daughter from Cambodia, and campaigning for assisted dying after personal loss, Prue reflects on love, risk, reinvention and resilience. With sharp wit and hard-won wisdom, she explains why she refuses to fear getting older, why colour matters more than ever, and why she never looks back. Prue’s gratitude for the “lucky” life she’s lived is remarkable, and as she so often shows, it’s truly never too late to begin again. 🌟 Follow us for more inspiring stories of strength, transformation, and growth Follow Prue: https://www.instagram.com/prueleith/?hl=en Buy “Being Old”: https://www.waterstones.com/book/being-old-and-learning-to-love-it/prue-leith//9781804193747?sv1=affiliate&sv_campaign_id=626889&awc=3787_1771942462_b8fa8f4e75d9660ba0d74489de17f8a3&utm_source=626889&utm_medium=affiliate&utm_campaign=adstrong Follow us here: 📸 www.instagram.com/beginagain 🎥 https://www.tiktok.com/@beginagainpod (00:00) Intro (01:53) Leaving Bake Off After 9 Years (04:48) Falling in Love in Her 70's (15:36) Her New Book 'Being Old' (18:52) Growing Up in Apartheid South Africa (23:09) Moving To Paris And Falling in Love With Food (27:29) Being A Woman in the Culinary World (30:36) Airbnb Ad (31:41) Her 13 Year Affair with Her Mother’s Best Friend’s Husband (41:41) Adopting Her Daughter and Motherhood (48:29) Feeling Lucky, Inspiring Women, and Why She Wrote the Book (51:21) Why She's Campaigning for Assisted Dying (58:02) Prue on Her Colourful Style and Being Seen (01:00:43) A Special Letter From Alison Hammond Sponsored by: Airbnb: Your home might be worth more than you think. Find out how much at Airbnb.co.uk/Host Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	I have left Bake Off and I will miss it definitely.
0:03.0	For nine years I suddenly realised that Prulythe, at 19, you went to France to learn French.
0:08.0	My dad was really good because he waited for us to decide what he wanted to do.
0:13.0	And I did get on with the French, but I also fell in love with food.
0:17.0	But what was it like?
0:18.0	I remember the head chef laughed and said, women are not meant to be in the kitchen. They're meant to be at home in the kitchen. That's where they belong. And I didn't want a husband. I was busy building my business. So, your wonderful husband, John, was it an instant attraction? Not for me because... Oh my God, that's insane, isn't it? And you've had two husbands, and I know you'd known Rain, your first husband, since you were a young girl.
0:41.3	He was the husband of my mother's mother's friend.
0:44.3	I can't justify any of this.
0:46.3	What absolutely undid it was.
0:48.3	And then my father died.
0:50.3	It was horrible death in the sense that he had like my brother bone cancer. My brother,
0:55.3	he was sometimes screaming because he wanted to die so badly. So I've been campaigning for a long
1:00.5	time for a sister dying, help a dying person die a bit more peacefully. You've lived an incredibly
1:06.2	varied life. How do you want to be remembered? Well, probably if the newspapers they have
1:12.8	anything to do, it would be that I'm a great cake maker, which is totally false, because I'm a
1:17.8	great set of taste buds, but I couldn't make one of those fancy wedding cakes or anything.
1:25.2	So welcome to Begin Again Prue.
1:28.3	Am I right in saying that this is your first interview since you've announced leaving
1:34.4	Bake Off?
1:34.7	No, no, I've done a few because I've been doing all sorts of other stuff.
1:38.5	I did a Vinanomi show last night.
1:41.3	Oh yes, the fashion show?
	...

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