Nigella Lawson is stepping in as a judge on The Great British Bake Off after Prue Leith‘s surprise departure.
“I’m uncharacteristically rather lost for words right now,” Lawson, 66, said in a statement on Monday, January 26, about her new role. “Of course it’s daunting to be following in the footsteps of Prue Leith and Mary Berry before her, great dames both, but I’m also bubbling with excitement.”
Lawson continued: “The Great British Bake Off is more than a television program, it’s a National Treasure — and it’s a huge honor to be entrusted with it. I’m just thrilled to be joining the team and all the new bakers to come, I wish the marvelous Prue all the best, and am giddily grateful for the opportunity!”
The announcement comes days after Leith, 86, revealed she was leaving the franchise.
“After nine series and judging more than 400 challenges, I have decided to step down as a judge on The Great British Bake Off,” she wrote via Instagram on Wednesday, January 21. “Bake Off has been a fabulous part of my life for the last nine years, I have genuinely loved it and I’m sure I’ll miss working with my fellow judge Paul, Alison and Noel and the teams at Love Productions and Channel 4.”
Leith noted that it felt like “the right time” for her to step away, adding, “I’m 86 for goodness sake! … There’s so much I’d like to do, not least spend summers enjoying my garden. Whoever joins the team, I’m sure they’ll love it as much as I have.”
The Great British Bake Off, which premiered in 2010 and became a global sensation after finding a home on Netflix, follows a group of amateur bakers competing against each other in a series of rounds. They have to impress two judges with their baking skills, with one contestant eliminated in each round.
Leith replaced judge Mary Berry in 2017. The series also stars fellow judge Paul Hollywood and host Noel Fielding, who was joined by comedian Alison Hammond in 2023.
Before her exit, Leith reflected on her future with the TV series during an exclusive interview with Us Weekly.
“Long term is not something I have any chance of seeing, but if you’re asking me am I planning to retire, no I’m not. I love doing it. And as long as they’ll have me, I will want to do it,” she said in November 2024. “I know I’m not as physically agile as I was eight years ago. For example, I asked them to put in a ramp [during the 2023 season] because I’d had a bad leg.”
Leith continued: “They put a little ramp for me to get onto the stage so I thought that ramp was really good, and we didn’t have it last year, so I think I’ll ask them for it next year.”
At the time, Leith revealed when she knew her time would be up on the show.
“I want to get out before I’m pushed. But it’s going to be up to my husband and my best friends to tell me when, ‘Look, it’s enough. We can’t have you hobbling onto the stage.’ You know?” she added. “Most television is really hard work. [Here] … I don’t have to rehearse anything. I don’t have to learn anything. I don’t have to write anything. I have to walk onto this set, eat cake, say what I think, walk off, get paid. I mean, is that not the best job in television?”
