Prue Leith Admitted She's Not A Baker But Is A Great GBBO Judge

If you love watching baking shows with handshakes and comic relief, you may already be a fan of "The Great British Bake Off." Besides tasty- and magnificent-looking bakes, the U.K. show is probably most famous for its celebrity judges, Paul Hollywood and Dame Prue Leith. A baking enthusiast who tunes in might expect the judges of that show to either be bakers themselves or love the art of baking. That seems to be true in the case of Hollywood, who is not only the grandson of a head baker at a hotel but the son of a man who headed a bakery business, per the Independent. The GBBO judge also published successful cookbooks, many of them dealing with bread (via Hollywood's website).

However, in the case of Leith, baking doesn't seem to be at the top of her list of priorities outside of the show. Leith has been an incredibly busy woman – when she's not judging tasty bakes on GBBO, she might be writing books or reading them. And before she became one of the judges on GBBO, Leith occupied that role on the shows "Great British Menu" and "My Kitchen Rules" (via Leith's website). So it could be said that judging food is in this woman's blood. And surprisingly, although judging might be in Leith's blood, the joy of baking isn't.

In a stunning twist, according to "Great British Bake Off" judge Prue Leith, she is not a baker. In an interview with The New York Times, Leith talked about many things: her new cookbook, "Bliss On Toast," her favorite cookbooks with the accompanying recommendations, and her work as a GBBO judge. In the interview, the GBBO judge admitted, "I'm not really a baker. I'm a cook." This isn't some deep, dark GBBO secret she was hiding, though. Leith had already dropped a few less-than-subtle hints in 2018 about her thoughts on baking.

The Mirror reported that in 2018, Leith told a group of students, "I don't have a passion for baking – I have a passion for eating cakes." In fact, she thought cooking savory dishes was more interesting. So how did she end up on GBBO? Leith explained to The New York Times that she has "a competent set of taste buds." As the founder of a school of food and wine, she has judged a lot of exam dishes. In addition, she has been a food writer, restaurateur, caterer, and eater of fine food. So Leith had what it took to be a GBBO judge.