‘Where is our Prue?’ cry Bake Off fans as she’s replaced by Caroline Waldegrave
Prue announced that she would be stepping down last year.
Fans of The Great British Bake Off were left confused as they tuned into The Great Celebrity Bake Off for Stand Up to Cancer to find one of the show’s key ingredients missing.
In the first of five celebrity specials, married comedians Chris and Rosie Ramsey joined siblings Scarlette and Stuart Douglas to bake off in the name of charity.
With Caroline Waldegrave stepping in to support Paul Hollywood as one half of the judging team, many found themselves wondering where Dame Prue Leith has gone.
Dame Prue, 85, has been a judge on Bake Off since 2017, replacing predecessor Dame Mary Berry when the show moved from BBC2 to Channel 4.
In that time, she’s seen hosts come and go (goodbye Mel and Sue, hello and goodbye Sandi Toksvig and Matt Lucas—all replaced by current hosts Noel Fielding and Brummie icon Alison Hammond) and, along with Paul, is now a part of the Bake Off furniture.
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But with Caroline, otherwise known as Lady Waldegrave of North Hill, replacing her for the Celebrity Bake Off, many have been left wondering what’s happened to the former judge.
Caroline joins Paul Hollywood along with hosts Alison Hammond and Noel Fielding in the tent (Credit: Channel 4)Writing on social media as the episode began, fans shared their sense of bewilderment at the upset with the status quo.
‘no no no no im not liking this already where is our prue!!!!!!’ exclaimed guildedmagnolioa on X.
‘where’s Prue?’ asked Z1OC_X.
‘hope Prue is back for the main series later in the year,’ commented Ryanthesoapking.
‘Who’s this new prue?!’ exclaimed jennielouu.
Prue revealed last year that she’d be stepping down from Celebrity Bake Off (Credit: Shutterstock)Fear not! Dame Prue will be back to appear in the normal UK and US versions of the show later this year.
However, last year, she revealed that she would be stepping back from the celebrity versions of the show to explore other avenues.
‘I’m not doing the celebrity one this year, and it’s mainly because these things are filmed back-to-back the whole way through the summer,’ she explained on This Morning.
‘You start in April, and you end in August, and honestly, you get no time off. And so, I’m getting a bit old and there are places I want to go to and other things I want to do.’
In a statement to Metro, she added that she ‘absolutely loves working on Bake Off and [is] looking forward to filming the next series and meeting [the] new bakers’.
Prue announced last year that she’d be stepping down from the celebrity versions of the show (Credit: Getty Images)Stepping into Dame Prue’s big shoes is her longtime friend, Lady Caroline OBE. The pair first met in the 1970s, when Caroline, 72, applied for a job at the Bake Off judge’s catering company.
The businesswoman, chef, and cookbook author is also the former managing director of Leiths School of Food and Wine, one of the country’s most prestigious cookery schools.
In 2000, she was awarded an OBE for services to the UK catering industry.
Since retiring in 2009, she has appeared in such TV shows as Chef School, MasterChef, and Tricks of the Trade.
When her Bake Off role was announced, she wrote on Instagram: ‘The news is out! I’m thrilled to announce that I will be one of the judges for this series @britishbakeoff @su2cuk.’
Caroline will join Paul in judging all five celebrity Bake Offs for SU2C (Credit: Channel 4) Comment nowWhat did you think of Caroline’s Bake Off debut?Comment NowMaking her Celebrity Bake Off debut, Caroline oversaw as comedian Chris took home the win with handshake-winning banana scones and a birthday cake showstopper.
Elsewhere, former I’m A Celebrity contestant Scarlette surprised the judges with a chocolate cake containing meal and buffalo worms, among the other ingredients.
Famous faces still to appear on the coming batch of episodes include Chicken Shop Date star Amelia Dimoldenberg, Good Morning Britain host Kate Garraway, presenter Sarah Beeny, Loose Women’s Gloria Hunniford OBE and radio presenter Roman Kemp.
The Great Celebrity Bake Off for Stand Up To Cancer airs on Channel 4 on Sundays at 7:40pm.
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