'We all want TO BE LOVED!'

Prue Leith on health, loss and why she isn't ready to slow down yet

- VICKI POWER

Prue Leith still can't believe her luck at the twist her career has taken. After grafting for decades as a respected restaurateur, TV presenter, novelist and cookery writer, Prue achieved global fame when she joined The Great British Bake Off in 2017.

And she loves it. With a disarming lack of false modesty, Prue is happy to admit she adores the spotlight.

'I honestly think I'm the only person I've ever met who likes having their photograph taken, she says with a hoot of laughter. 'I don't always like the result - I'm vain but not that vain. But what I do love is the attention!'

Fame, says Prue, 'feels lovely. Let's face it: we all want to be loved. I did a photo shoot the other day for a new necklace range, and I had 12 people around me making sure I was happy. Who wouldn't like that?!'

Such candid self-awareness makes Prue a delight to talk to there's no artifice about her. We're meeting to discuss her next opportunity to bask in the spotlight, a new Saturday ITV cookery series called Prue Leith's Cotswold Kitchen.

'I've always wanted my own show, but never done much about it,' she begins, adding that last year ITV came calling, inviting Prue to make a show in which she cooks in her colourful, modern Cotswolds home, and invites friends and food producers on to chat while they whip up interesting dishes. The series features two of Prue's Bake Off mates-Sandi Toksvig joins her in episode one to make a pie from a recipe written by Enid Blyton, and in a future episode, Prue welcomes Alison Hammond.