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Dame Prue Leith’s recipe for when to quit Bake Off: at 84, she wants to leave on her own terms

Dame Prue Leith’s recipe for when to quit Bake Off: at 84, she wants to leave on her own terms

At 84, Dame Prue Leith fears retirement is closer than ever.

But the Bake-Off presenter admitted she wanted to leave on her own terms before producers gave her the axe.

Ms Leith has urged her friends and husband to tell her when it is time to hang up her TV apron.

She revealed her retirement expectations before fans saw her at her best again in The Great Christmas Bake Off, which aired on Christmas Eve on Channel 4.

Ms Leith said: “The only thing I would say is that I’m obviously going to have to retire very soon because I wouldn’t be able to do it forever, but I want to get out before I’m pushed.

“So I don’t want to get to the point where I suddenly politely say, ‘you know, Prue, it’s been ten years now, I really think maybe we should think about a change’.”

“I don’t want this conversation.

“I want to be gone before this conversation, but it will be up to my husband and my best friends to tell me when it is enough. We can’t let you go on stage.

“If you ask me, do I plan to retire? No, I’m not. I love doing it, and as long as they have me, I’ll want to do it.

The Bake-Off presenter admitted she wanted to leave on her own terms before producers gave her the ax

Prue joined the cast of Bake Off in 2017, replacing Mary Berry as a judge.

The Lady added that one of her concerns was about her movements at 80.

“I’m not as physically agile as I was eight years ago,” she told US Weekly while promoting her new book Life is Too Short to Stuff a Mushroom.

“Last year, because I had a bad leg, they gave me a little ramp to get on stage.

The celebrity chef will be joined by fellow judge Paul Hollywood, 58, and will host Noel Fielding and Alison Hammond on Christmas Eve – with a special performance from Paloma Faith.

For the first time ever, the one-off episode will be soap themed and feature stars from EastEnders, Coronation Street and Emmerdale.

From EastEnders will be actors Natalie Cassidy and Dean Gaffney who played siblings Sonia Fowler and Robbie Jackson.

Emmerdale’s Chris Bisson (Jai Sharma) and Sheree Murphy (Tricia Dingle) will also be there.

Coronation Street favorite Shobna Gulati (Sunita Alahan) completes the line-up.