Prue Leith’s Bake Off replacement Caroline Waldegrave ‘completely terrified’ about taking over

The ladies are great friends

Caroline Waldegrave is taking the reins from Prue Leith as judge on the Great Celebrity Bake Off, and will have her first outing on the programme tonight (March 16), in episode one of its Stand Up To Cancer special.

At the age of 85, Prue said she’s getting a bit old to regularly present both The Great British Bake Off and its celebrity spin-off.

As such, she’s taking a step back from the charity series and allowing her friend and business partner Caroline a swing of the hammer.

Prue Leith won’t appear on this series of the Great Celebrity Bake Off (Credit: YouTube)

Why is Prue Leith not on the Bake off?

Speaking earlier this year, Prue revealed: “It’s mainly because these things are filmed back to back [the celeb and normal version of the show].”

I’m getting a bit old and there’s places I want to go.

She added: “The whole way through the summer, so you start in April and you end at the end of August. Honestly, you get no time off. And, I’m getting a bit old and there’s places I want to go.”

Meet new British Bake Off judge Caroline Waldegrave

Caroline Linda Margaret Waldegrave, Lady Waldegrave of North Hill – to use her full name and title – is the managing director of Leiths School of Food and Wine. Born in 1952, she’ll turn 73 later this year.

Prue founded Leiths School of Food and Wine in 1975. It’s an educational institution that trains professional chefs and amateur cooks. By the early 1990s, it was turning over several million pounds a year, and she sold it to Waldegrave in 1994.

Caroline had already worked with Prue for a long time, however. She had been principal of the school from 1975, and continued to be after buying it until 2002, when she became its managing director.

She has also co-authored several cooking books, including Leiths Cookery Bible and Leiths Fish Bible. In 1999, she was awarded an OBE. And she has four children with her husband William, a former Conservative politician and Cabinet member (from 1990 to 1997).

Caroline said she was ‘terrified’ of taking the reins from friend Prue Leith (Credit: Channel 4 Productions/YouTube)

Lady Waldegrave ‘completely terrified’ to take over from Prue Leith

“I was completely terrified,” Caroline Waldegrave said of her mindset going into shooting the Great Celebrity Bake Off for the first time, per the Bournemouth Echo.

“Then, when I turned up, I went to the shepherd’s hut I was allotted and there were banners outside saying ‘Welcome!’ and flowers.”

She was full of praise for Love Productions, the company that produces the show, and fellow hosts and judges Paul Hollywood, Alison Hammond and Noel Fielding.

“Particularly Alison. I mean, she’s so hugging that it was just magic.”

Prue reportedly gave her a few pieces of advice before her first shoot. Follow the guidance of your stylist. Say what you think, when you think it. And be brave.

She nevertheless appears to have found her footing on the show without issue (Credit: Channel 4 Productions/YouTube)

Caroline’s word of warning for Paul Hollywood

Paul Hollywood told the Telegraph that, from an aristocracy point of view, Caroline Waldegrave has the “trump card” over Prue.

Prue Leith is a Dame while Caroline is a Lady.

“We were going to call her Lady,” he told the paper. “But she said: ‘No, no, no! I don’t want to be called lady.’”

Alison, meanwhile, described the new Bake Off judge as “lovely – an absolute breath of fresh air”.

She noted that Caroline is not as strict as Paul and said she’s a “lovely” addition to the family. However, most of the jokes go “over her head”, Alison added.