Prue Leith has spoken out about Great British Bake Off presenter Matt Lucas’ recent exit from the show.
Later this year, Prue will return for her seventh series of Bake Off, where she’ll be joined by a new member of the team after Matt announced in December that he was stepping down as host.
Speaking to Exceptional.com, the TV cook admitted she was “very, very sad” about Matt’s departure.
“I totally understand why [he’s leaving], because Bake Off takes up four months of the year and he’s extraordinarily talented and wants to do more writing, more theatre,” Prue explained.
Asked if she had any ideas about a potential replacement, Prue added: “Not a clue. Although who wouldn’t want to work on Bake Off? It’s the best job on television. It absolutely changed my life.”
Last year, Prue was asked for her thoughts on who should replace Matt, which led to her making a rather bold admission about her co-star Noel Fielding.
“I don’t know anything about young comedians,” she said at the time before quickly adding: “I’d never heard of Noel Fielding until I met him.”
Prue continued: “I’d like somebody that I’ve heard of!”
On new additions being welcomed into the fold, she added that she would eventually “get to love them”, but shared: “The truth is that I’ve never understood Matt and Noel’s jokes anyway.”
Matt shared at the end of 2022 that he was stepping down from Bake Off after three years, telling fans: “It’s been a delicious experience and I can’t imagine a more fun way of spending my summers.
“But it’s become clear to me that I can’t present both Fantasy Football League and Bake Off alongside all my other projects. So, after three series and 51 episodes, I am cheerfully passing the baguette on to someone else.”
Read Prue Leith’s interview in full in on Exceptional.com.