Prue Leith has admitted she tried to resign from her role as a judge on The Great British Bake Off . The restaurateur, 84, has been a part of the much-loved baking programme since its move from the BBC to Channel 4 in 2017, replacing the expert role formerly held by Mary Berry . Leith said she realised Bake Off ’ s filming schedule had become too intense when she was forced to sacrifice time off and seeing her family in order to keep up with the show’s demands.
Speaking to The Mirror , she said: “I was in a new house and I hardly saw the garden, I hardly saw my family and I never had a summer holiday.” In order to stop Leith from quitting, Bake Off producers agreed to change the star’s filming schedule so she could have more time off. “So, I got what I wanted, which is to do less,” she said.
“I’m so grateful to Love Productions because they’ve been very accommodating.” Last year, it was announced that Leith would not take part in a future celebrity edition of the programme, raising money for cancer charities. In a comment made to The Independent , the judge 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 comes shortly after Bake Off presenter Noel Fielding said Leith and her co-judge Paul Hollywood make him “livid” when .