Prue Leith admits she wants to retire before she is "pushed" out.(Image: Channel 4)

Bake Off's Prue Leith makes heartbreaking retirement confession with eight-word comment

by · Wales Online

Great British Bake Off judge Prue Leith has opened up about the future as she hints towards her retirement plans.

The 84-year-old stepped into Mary Berry's shoes on the show after its move to Channel 4 in 2017. She, is now increasingly mindful of her age and wishes to leave on a high note.

Prue says she has told her husband, and adviser, John Playfair to tell her when it is finally time to call it quits and hang up the cooking apron. Speaking to US Weekly, Prue candidly admitted she would have to retire "sometime soon" as "I wouldn't be able to do it forever".

READ MORE: MasterChef winner Dan Merriman speaks out on Gregg Wallace amid BBC controversy

READ MORE: South Wales' top police officer issues Christmas warning to women and girls

The main reason to leave, she said in a heartbreaking confession, is: "I want to get out before I'm pushed. I don't want to get to the stage that [producers] suddenly, politely, say 'Prue, it's been 10 years now, I really think perhaps we should think about a change'. I don't want that conversation."

Despite this, Prue, who looks forward to delighting viewers with The Great Christmas Bake Off on Channel 4 tonight, shows no loss of enthusiasm for her craft, insisting: "I'm not, I love doing it."

Hosts Alison Hammond and Noel Fielding with judges Prue Leith and Paul Hollywood on the latest series of The Great British Bake Off(Image: Channel 4/Love Productions/Mark Bourdillon/PA Wire)

As she approaches her 85th birthday, Prue acknowledges her concern about "not having enough life left to live" yet remains unfulfilled in achieving all of her life's ambitions, reports Birmingham Live.

In her 2022 memoir, I'll Try Anything Once, Dame Prue Leith expressed her desire to adapt her trilogy of books into a TV series. She acknowledged the need to "get a move on" to realise this ambition.

In the book, she shared her concerns about running out of time, writing: "My main concern is not having enough life left to live. I feel as energetic and enthusiastic, or almost, as I ever did, but of course it can't last."

Fans can look forward to seeing Prue in The Great Christmas Bake Off, where she will be joined by favourites Paul Hollywood, Noel Fielding, and Alison Hammond. Contestants will include EastEnders stars Natalie Cassidy and Dean Gaffney, Coronation Street's Shobna Gulati, and Emmerdale's Chris Bisson and Sheree Murphy.