Joanna Lumley inspired me to take to the stage, says Bake Off’s Prue Leith

BAKE Off judge Dame Prue Leith has revealed how Joanna Lumley inspired her to take to the stage ahead of a live performance at the Hay Festival on Thursday.

She told GB News: “I’ve gone all over the UK with this show, this is my last. This is your last chance to see me and so I’ve actually done 36 appearances from Belfast to Edinburgh to everywhere and I must say it’s been one of the best experiences of my life.

“I’ve absolutely loved it. And it’s so extraordinary because I got into it almost by mistake. I met the producer at a lunch and he does all Joanna Lumley’s productions, both TV and film and also live. And so he just came back from a tour with Joanna and he said ‘you should do one of these’.

“That was four years ago and so I brought it up when I met him again. He said, ‘well, why not do it?’, so I am.”

In a discussion with Ellie Costello and Martin Daubney, she added: “The funny thing is that when I went to university, I went first of all to drama school because I thought I’d be an actress.

“And the reason I didn’t go on with it and I’d swapped to doing other things and most of them unsuccessful it has to be said but I was too frightened. I found the stage terrifying but this time I really loved it.”

She said she is in the midst of filming the new series of Bake Off and hinted that it is going to be an eye-opener.

Prue said: “We’re in the middle of filming it now. I came to Hay and then I’ll go straight back on to the set to do the next one. It’s going to be good.

“I think I’m not allowed to tell you anything about it, as you know, but as always, the Bakers are just astonishing. Everybody always talks about the show as if it belonged to Paul and me and the presenters.

“Actually, it’s always about the bakers. The Bakers are, year after year, they just come up trumps because first of all, they’re very good bakers, but they have such personalities and you get really fond of them and I completely understand why the audience is so addicted.”