New queen of Bake Off Prue Leith reveals she was anxious to know what Paul Hollywood was really like before accepting £500,000 judging role
Cook admits she had only watched Bake Off 'very, very rarely' and says she didn't know who controversial new presenter Noel Fielding was
BEFORE accepting a £500,000 offer to join The Great British Bake Off team, Prue Leith had just one question:
What’s Paul Hollywood REALLY like?
It was only after reassurances from her old pal Mary Berry that she agreed to sign on the dotted line — and head up the show’s new line-up on Channel 4 from later this year.
Giving her first sit-down interview since accepting the job during a visit to The Sun yesterday, the 77-year-old says: “When Mary said she wasn’t going with it, I’ll confess I thought, ‘I’d quite like that job’.
“So I rang her up before I took the job to find out about Paul. I was very anxious to know. She said he was lovely, so that was OK.”
And despite the hefty pay cheque, multi-millionaire Prue is adamant that money was never a factor in her decision.
She explains: “No, it’s interesting, I didn’t think about the money at all. That probably sounds quite arrogant but I am lucky enough to choose what I do. I don’t have to do it for the money.
“I heard that I was going to earn three times as much as Mary. That would be nice but I don’t know what Mary earned.”
Prue admits she had only watched Bake Off “very, very rarely” and says of controversial new presenter Noel Fielding, “I don’t know him at all”.
But she believes the sexed-up line-up — also featuring the returning Paul Hollywood and QI presenter Sandi Toksvig — was necessary given the iconic show’s move from the BBC to Channel 4 in a £75million deal.
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Over a cupcake in the office of our Bizarre TV column, she says: “I think what would have been fatal is if they had tried to simply do exactly the same thing and replace Mary with someone very like Mary and to replace Sue and Mel with similar cookie-girl comedians.
“I think it would have been really hard to get it right. But if we’re all very different, it will be different.
“The main thing that will not change is the contestants because they want to make sure they’re good bakers. I love the fact that they’re mainly concerned in finding the best baker and also not humiliating anyone.
“I just hate television that’s out to make people cry because other people like to see people cry.
And Prue thinks there’s one main advantage to the signing of wild Mighty Boosh comedian Noel — her children Danny and Li-Da, both 42, will now watch the show.
She says: “I’ve only heard of him because my children just adored him. They don’t watch Bake Off but they do watch him.
“My daughter said rather rudely, ‘Well now he’s in it I might watch it’. I was like, ‘What about me?’.
“They were both hoping that Miranda Hart would get it. Noel and Miranda was their ideal.”
There have been whisperings among loyal Bake Off staff that Noel — who has admitted in the past to taking cocaine, ecstasy, ketamine, acid, marijuana and magic mushrooms — might turn off the show’s loyal family audience.
But Prue thinks that “depends on how he behaves” once it starts. She adds: “People don’t always behave the same way on different programmes.
“If you go to church you don’t behave the same way you do at a party in the middle of the night.
“So he might change a bit but I hope he doesn’t lose that wild side.
Prue praises Noel for opening up about his experiences with drugs, saying: “There’s lots of people, often in the music world, who have been brave enough to say, ‘When I was younger I did the stupidest things’.
But in a long and varied career, Prue insists she has mainly stayed away from drugs. She recalls: “I think I managed to miss most of it.
“I came through the Sixties so I was perfectly aware of drug-taking but I came from South Africa and we were brought up in quite an old-fashioned way.
“If I went to a rave or a party, I’d be behind the barbecue flipping the burgers. I wasn’t out there partying.”
But Prue is aware that drug- taking is rife in the world of food, revealing: “Even in my kitchens, I know there’s a lot of drug-taking that has gone on. I think it’s to do with the pressure of service and the late nights — you get into kind of a high like in a football match and then you come down. So there’s always a danger.”
Prue already knows Sandi Toksvig, who she praises for her sense of humour.
She says: “I had no idea she was even being inter-viewed or talked to or anything, but I’m just so thrilled about it because she is one of the funniest women I’ve ever met.
“She’s just naturally funny. She has to spark off and make jokes. She just lifts the level of conversation, she makes it funny.
“She’s quite sardonic and so well-read and intelligent.
“I honestly think it will change Bake Off a bit and gather more viewers who are her fans because they like that wit and that knowledge.”
This year marks Prue’s 40th anniversary in television — but it’s a career that very nearly didn’t happen. She says with a genuine dose of surprise: “I can’t believe I’m doing this programme because I hated TV at first.”
In 1977, she paid legendary BBC sports presenter David Coleman to train her up before her first on-screen role.
She says: “I asked him, ‘Will you teach me how to be a presenter in half a day?’.
“It was all I could afford because it £1,000 for a full day.”
But Prue’s first shows went so badly she made a big decision.
She explains: “I decided I’ll never do telly again. I didn’t enjoy it. I thought I was bad, I knew I was bad, so I just didn’t do it again for years and years.”
It was during her role on BBC2’s Great British Menu 11 years ago that she finally decided she could become a fully-fledged telly star, explaining: “I loved it because there were no scripts.”
Despite releasing a new edition of her hugely popular Leiths Cookery Bible, Prue is modest about her own talents.
She insists: “Everybody thinks of me as a cook and I am, but I’m not a fantastic cook and I’m not a baker like Paul, but I make a decent cake.”
Prue is also adamant that she’s nothing like national treasure Mary.
She says: “We’ve both been through writing, cookery writing, we’ve had very similar marriages and kids and we’ve known each other for a long time, but I wouldn’t say we’re alike at all.
“But she was so amazed and so thrilled about Bake Off.
“I remember talking to her a little while ago and she said, ‘For the first time, I can do pretty well what I like or say what I like and I can afford nice clothes’.
“She was just so pleased, not just with the lolly but the position. She was sweet enough to admit it. She knew how lucky she was.
“I hope I last as long as Mary — that would be a terrific triumph.”
Prue on Noel
My kids just adore him. They don’t watch Bake Off but my daughter said: ‘If he’s in it I might watch it.’ I was like: ‘What about me?’
Prue on Mary
We’ve known each other a long time but I wouldn’t say we’re alike. I hope I last as long on Bake Off – that would be a terrific triumph.
Prue on Paul
Before I took the job I rang Mary to find out about Paul. I was very anxious to know. She said he was lovely so that was OK.
Prue on Sandi
One of the funniest women I’ve met. Naturally funny and so well read...she lifts the level of conversation. Her wit will change Bake Off.
RISE OF THE GOLDEN OLDIES
PRUE has landed her biggest role at the age of 77, and it comes as more and more older women are taking up major jobs on screen.
Prue says: “It’s the age of the old lady, isn’t it? It’s great. I’ve always been lucky with timing.
“Now suddenly there’s this new age for oldies. It’s good. Also, they’ve got the grey pound who spend.
“It’s illegal to sack people now. You can’t retire people on their image. We need to work longer anyway with the pension problem.”
As for her youthful looks and sprightly attitude, she shrugs and says: “I’ve had a happy life, that’s the long and short of it.”
Prue doesn’t agree with Mary Berry that having kids – who can be harshly truthful with criticism – has given them an advantage over fellow cook Delia Smith.
She says: “I don’t think that’s necessarily true. If you’ve got children it’s a hell of an everyday job.
“From a business point of view, children and husbands slow you down.
“You look at Michelin-starred chefs and they all work at night, which would mean your husband has to stay at home and look after the kids six nights a week.
“Now that’s what stops women getting to the top.
“Until guys face up to the facts that they have to do a bit of babysitting, women will not get to the top in the kitchen. It’s always the women who give things up.”