I Had To Tell Prue To Stop Talking So Much!

Great British Bake Off judges Paul Hollywood and Prue Leith talk to woman&home about their friendship and what happens when they disagree

- Christine Smith

Can you believe, it’s been three years since Prue Leith replaced Mary Berry as Paul Hollywood’s co-judge on The Great British Bake Off. But Prue’s very much made the role her own – so much so that we couldn’t imagine the show without her now.

The hit Channel 4 show is back for its tenth year, which will see Paul, 53, and Prue, 79, once again put a batch of bakers through their paces, alongside hosts Sandi Toksvig and Noel Fielding. But the hopefuls shouldn’t be too scared because, although Paul can come across as icy as his blue eyes on the screen, Prue insists he’s actually a big softie. ‘He is always giving the bakers hugs,’ she tells us. ‘And words of encouragement. He doesn’t want to make anyone cry.’ Now that’s a side of Paul we want to see…

Paul The first time I met Prue was when she came to the audition to replace Mary Berry as a judge on Bake Off. She walked in looking very colorful and within 30 seconds of chatting, I knew I liked her. I felt very comfortable and we talked about everything from the show and Mary to how we judged. She laughed a lot and I just kept thinking ‘this is chilled’.

Prue What I like about Paul is, he is so honest. He is also determined the bakers understand where they have gone wrong, which is why he will be critical, but he’ll then give a big explanation about how they can improve.