Prue Leith has admitted she recently came close to leaving the Great British Bake Off due to its demanding schedule.
Next week, Prue will begin judging her eighth season of Bake Off, meaning she’s now been part of the show for longer than her predecessor Mary Berry.
However, the 84-year-old has admitted to The Mirror that she almost quit the show due to how much time it takes to shoot.
“I was in a new house and I hardly saw the garden, I hardly saw my family and I never had a summer holiday,” she explained.
Prue was ultimately talked around when producers agreed to adjust her filming schedule, and she will also no longer take part in the show’s celebrity specials in aid of Stand Up To Cancer.
“I got what I wanted, which is to do less,” she said. “I’m so grateful to Love Production because they’ve been very accommodating.”
Prue previously explained back in April: “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.”
Of her future with the show, Prue added to The Mirror: “I’ve got to stop some time, definitely before some producer says to me: ‘You know what, Prue? I think you’re getting a little bit… erm. I think you ought to stop now’.”
The Great British Bake Off will return to our screens for its 15th series on Tuesday 24 September at 8pm on Channel 4. Get to know this year’s 12 amateur bakers here.