Prue Leith says she wants to quit Bake Off on her own terms. (Image: ITV)

Bake Off's Prue Leith says 'I want to get out' as she addresses BBC retirement

by · Birmingham Live

Great British Bake Off star Prue Leith fears the time to call it a day and retire may be closer than it ever has been before.

The 84-year-old joined Bake Off in 2017 alongside Paul Hollywood after long-time judge Mary Berry quit when the show moved to Channel 4. But she is now acutely aware of her advancing years and wants to go on her own terms.

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 said: “I’m going to have to retire sometime soon because I wouldn’t be able to do it forever - but I want to get out before I’m pushed.

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“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.”

Prue, who will return to screens with The Great Christmas Bake Off on Channel 4 tonight, appears to show no signs of slowing down soon however. When asked if she was planning to call it a day anytime soon, she replied: “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)

And while Prue, who is a few months away from turning 85, plans to continue working, she does admit she is concerned about “not having enough life left to live”. The star has previously revealed she is yet to complete all of her goals.

Opening up about her worries in her 2022 memoir, I'll Try Anything Once, Dame Prue said she wanted to turn her trilogy of books into a TV series. However, she accepts she needs to “get a move on” if she wants to achieve the goal.

Detailing her fears that she's running out of time, Prue wrote: "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."

The Great Christmas Bake Off will see Prue returning alongside favourites Paul, Noel Fielding, and Alison Hammond. Contestants will include EastEnders stars Natalie Cassidy and Dean Gaffney, Coronation Street ’s Shobna Gulati, and Emmerdale Chris Bison and Sheree Murphy.