Prue Leith's Complicated Relationship With The Great British Bake Off

Fans of "The Great British Bake Off" — or "The Great British Baking Show," as it's officially known in the U.S. — will be well aware of Prue Leith. With her love of boozy bakes and her iconic colorful glasses and statement jewelry, she's a great on-screen presence, balancing out Paul Hollywood's grumpier facade. But, Leith might have a complicated relationship with "GBBO." Rumors are flying that she's leaving the show for good. What's the truth behind this and should we be worried?

As far as we know, Leith isn't leaving the main series of "The Great British Bake Off" but she will be stepping back from the celebrity version of the show for scheduling reasons. "Bake Off" seems like an immutable show, but the fact is it'll have to come to an end one day. It's already had plenty of lineup changes between the judges and presenters, so it wouldn't be a huge shock for another one to say goodbye. Still, we want to get to the bottom of what's going on and learn whether we need to prepare ourselves for Leith's departure anytime soon.

Before we get into the nitty-gritty, what exactly is Prue Leith's background and what makes her suited to judging others' bakes? Born in 1940 in South Africa, Leith is no stranger to the culinary world. In 1960, when she was 20 years old, she moved to London to attend the Cordon Bleu culinary school. Soon after, she started a catering company, before dipping her toes into the restaurant world.

What few people realize is that Leith had an extremely successful restaurant career. In 1969, she opened Leith's, an upscale restaurant in the trendy Notting Hill neighborhood of London. Leith's earned her a Michelin star, which was an especially big deal for a woman at the time. The restaurant itself was popular with celebrities with members of The Rolling Stones and The Beatles dining there.

But, that's not where her ambitions ended. In the 1970s, she opened her own culinary school. It's now simply called Leiths, but was previously known as Leiths School of Food and Wine. But, that's not all. Leith has also released cookbooks, including "Prue" and "The Vegetarian Kitchen," which she released with her niece Peta Leith. It's safe to say that Prue Leith knows her way around the kitchen.

Prue Leith joined "The Great British Bake Off" in 2017 for the show's eighth season. She replaced another cooking icon, Mary Berry. Despite speculation, the real reason why Mary Berry left "Bake Off" is a simple one.

The show originally aired on the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), but the production company behind it wanted more money and a bidding war ensued. Ultimately, Channel 4 won the rights to the show and it moved networks. Mary Berry had a longstanding relationship with the BBC and chose loyalty to the network over loyalty to the show. It was for similar reasons that the original presenters Mel Giedroyc and Sue Perkins left. They were replaced by Noel Fielding and Sandi Toksvig.

As of the 2024 run, Leith will have judged for eight seasons, meaning she's been on the show for longer than Mary Berry was. While nobody can replace Berry for some viewers, Leith is now just as much a part of the show's legacy. If she were to leave, a brand new judge would take a lot of getting used to.

In March 2024, it was reported that Prue Leith would be stepping back from her role as a judge on "The Great Celebrity Bake Off for Stand Up to Cancer." This is another version of the show, in which celebrities battle it out in the tent to raise money for charity. She appeared on the version of the show that aired in March 2024 – as this was filmed the previous year — but a press release said she wouldn't be judging on any future seasons.

Talking to presenters of "This Morning" (a U.K. morning TV show), she said there was a straightforward reason for leaving "Celebrity Bake Off" — the filming schedule. The celebrity version of the show is filmed directly after the regular version. All in all, this means the judges are needed on set from April through to August. Leith explained that she was no longer willing to give up her whole summer. She remarked that, at age 84, there are places that she wants to see and things she wants to do and the lengthy filming commitments just don't work for her anymore.

Now you know that Prue Leith is leaving "The Great Celebrity Bake Off" but if you're based outside of the U.K. you might be wondering what this is. You can probably guess from the name, but this is a version of "GBBO" featuring celebrities instead of top-notch amateur bakers. It has a slightly different format to the main show, with four new contestants each week with one crowned star baker weekly. Due to other commitments, it wouldn't make sense to have a large group of celebrity bakers who got whittled down each week, like in the main show.

Outside of Britain, people might not recognize many of the bakers. For instance, the 2024 lineup included comedian and writer Fern Brady, "Strictly Come Dancing" professional Oti Mabuse, and radio DJ Sara Cox. However, there have been more notable international stars on "Celebrity Bake Off," including "Friends" actor David Schwimmer, Teri Hatcher from "Desperate Housewives," and "Good Omens" star Michael Sheen.

Prue Leith thinks that celebrities generally don't make the best bakers – and that's part of the fun of watching the celebrity version of the show. While you'll get some proficient bakers, many of them don't know their stand mixer from their spatula. This can lead to some impressive fails that are a good time to watch.

We're now aware that Prue Leith has filmed her last season of "Celebrity Bake Off," but who will be judging alongside Paul Hollywood on the next one? The next season will likely air in March 2025, but it will be filmed in summer 2024. We haven't yet heard who is set to replace Leith on the celebrity version of "Bake Off," but there are a lot of possible contenders.

According to the rumor mill, Nigella Lawson might be the one to replace Leith. We'd certainly be excited about tuning in if she did. The truth about Nigella Lawson is that she wasn't really into food as a child and taught herself to cook later in life. Now, she's one of the biggest proponents of eating for pleasure and we're here for it. Seeing Lawson in the "Bake Off" tent would be a joy. However, nothing is certain and there are other reports flying around.

It could be Ravneet Gill, who's been presenting "Junior Bake Off" since 2020 or Nadiya Hussain, who won the sixth season of "The Great British Bake Off" and has been in the public eye since. Other contenders include the multitalented Lorraine Pascale and former "Bake Off" winner Candice Brown. Ultimately, it remains to be seen.

It makes sense to assume that Prue Leith might have stepped back from some of her judging duties for a serious reason. However, as far as we know, nothing negative has happened to prompt this. It's just that she wants a bit more time off.

It seems that she's sick of getting no time off during the summer – and we don't blame her. Because "The Great British Bake Off" and "The Great Celebrity Bake Off" are filmed back-to-back, she's normally contracted to work from April to August. She mentions her age as a factor, not because she feels she's too old to judge the show, but perhaps because she's feeling the pressure of time.

Leith has a husband, two kids, and five grandchildren, so it makes sense that she might want to spend some time with them over the summer. Or simply have the chance to go on vacation while the weather's nice. Whatever her plans, we hope Leith enjoys her summers with fewer commitments.

There's no question over whether or not Prue Leith will be judging the 15th season of "Bake Off," airing in 2024, because it's already filmed. "GBBO" is filmed over a period of 10 weeks between April and June. The recording takes place over consecutive weekends, so the contestants have time to go home, see family, and practice their bakes during the week. When filming, days can be as long as 16 hours, so it's a grueling schedule.

If Leith wasn't going to appear on the show in 2024, this would have been announced alongside her departure from "Celebrity Bake Off." As usual, Paul Hollywood will judge bakes alongside Leith. The presenters for 2024 will be the same as 2023 — Noel Fielding, who's been on the show since 2017, and Alison Hammond, who's a relative newcomer, first appearing as a presenter in 2023. "Bake Off" 2024 is likely to start airing toward the end of September in the U.K., coming to the U.S. soon thereafter.

Since Prue Leith's announcement that she'd be stepping down from "Celebrity Bake Off," there have been rumors flying around that she won't return to "The Great British Bake Off" for 2025 and beyond. Although the statement she released only referred to relinquishing her duties for the celebrity series, it hasn't stopped speculation that she might leave altogether.

Whether or not it's true, the rumor makes sense. If Leith is finding her filming commitments a bit too much, she could decide to scrap them altogether. Or, perhaps she could be considering retiring and wants to ease into it. This notion is further fueled by the fact that Channel 4's contract with Love Productions, who makes "Bake Off," is coming to an end. People in the know believe that the rights to air it could be snapped up by Netflix or Disney+. Last time the show moved networks, Mary Berry left, so who's to say Leith won't be the one to move on this time?

Leith also has a new show airing, "Prue Leith's Cotswold Kitchen." This show features her and her husband, John Playfair, cooking at home in Moreton-in-Marsh in the Cotswolds. Perhaps if this show takes off, she might have less incentive to keep judging "GBBO."

Despite the rumors, it doesn't seem that Prue Leith will be leaving the main "Bake Off" show. The statement she initially made said she would only be leaving "Celebrity Bake Off" but talk of her leaving the regular version still built. She later appeared on talk show "This Morning" and addressed it directly. She said the rumors were "absolutely not true at all," and that she is only planning to leave the celebrity version of the show. Of course, people can change their minds, but that's a very certain answer for right now.

Leith seems to love judging on the show. She's invested in the successes of the contestants and seeing them improve. According to Leith, the biggest baking mistake people make is running out of time and she's always encouraging bakers to learn to manage their time better. Her enthusiasm for judging backs up what she says about not intending to leave "Bake Off" just now. We're sure there will be more changes to the lineup of judges and presenters over the years, but it doesn't seem that it will be right now.

The original iteration of "The Great American Baking Show" never gained a huge level of popularity. It just didn't meet the charm of the British version. But, as of 2023, there's a reboot of "The Great American Baking Show" and one of the judges is none other than Prue Leith.

This reboot has been much more successful. Using the franchise's British judges — Prue Leith and Paul Hollywood — has made it more like the original, and ultimately that's what people want. Given that Leith is reducing the amount of time she spends working on "Bake Off," you may be wondering if she's going to keep on going with "The Great American Baking Show."

Well, at least for the time being, it seems like she is. In her "This Morning" interview, she confirmed that she intended to keep on judging both the American and British versions, just not the celebrity one. In fact, this increased workload could be part of why she's quitting "Celebrity Bake Off." It could be that she has the time and energy to make two of the three shows and "The Great American Baking Show" made the cut over "The Great Celebrity Bake Off." Of course, this is just speculation. Either way, we're glad that we'll still be seeing her on the show's American counterpart.

You might have heard that Prue Leith was going to be leaving "The Great British Bake Off," but there's just no reason to come to this conclusion. Yes, she's definitely leaving "The Great Celebrity Bake Off" but it doesn't track that she's definitely going to leave the main show. In fact, she has explicitly denied it.

In a statement made to The Independent, Leith said "I absolutely love working on 'Bake Off' and am looking forward to filming the next series and meeting our new bakers, I am only stepping back from the 'Celebrity' series, which is just a question of the filming commitment involved as we make these shows back to back."

It's simply a matter of filming commitments becoming too much rather than a desire to leave the show in general. So, before you start weeping into your apron, know that Leith is likely to remain a "Bake Off" judge for some time, both in the U.K. and the U.S. on "The Great American Baking Show."