Prue Leith Opens Up About ‘Quarrels’ With Husband & Admits She’s a ‘Terrible’ Grandmother

The Great British Baking Show star Prue Leith has been getting candid about her life, including the one thing she quarrels about with her husband and why she considers herself a “terrible” grandmother.

In a recent article for the British national newspaper The I, the 85-year-old Leith touched on how she met her second husband, retired clothes designer John Playfair, in the Cotswolds and quickly fell in love with him.

“When you fall in love with somebody, it doesn’t really matter if you’re 70 or 17. It’s the same thing. You’re worrying about whether he’ll text you or ring you or can you text him. Did I play it cool? No, not at all. I was just so lucky. John had been divorced for 10 years or something. He’s a really attractive fellow and very funny,” the South African restaurateur said.

Leith was previously married to property developer and author Rayne Kruger from 1974 until he passed away at age 80 in December 2002. She and Playfair tied the knot in October 2016.

Prue Leith and John Playfair attend the National Portrait Gallery Re-Opening at National Portrait Gall; Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images

While Leith stated that she and her husband “get on pretty well most of the time,” she admitted that one thing puts them at odds.

“The only thing we quarrel about is that I’m very tidy – he would say anally so,” she shared. “I would like a sterile house, but he is the messiest man I’ve ever met but after 13 years of marriage I just say to myself: ‘Is he worth it or not?’ And he obviously is.”

She also confessed to having a “banishment bedroom,” where either of them can be sent if they snore too loudly. “It’s really John’s dressing room and it’s got a big double four-poster in it, usually strewn with his clothes. I call it the banishment room because if he really snores that badly – or I do – then that’s where we’ll have to go,” Leith explained.

Just had the most fabulous time at @Circus1903 with my grandchildren. Such fun for all ages. #circus1903 pic.twitter.com/tdO72MnK0A

— Prue Leith (@PrueLeith) December 23, 2021

Related

'Great British Baking Show' Star Prue Leith Slams Meghan Markle's New Netflix Show

Leith had two children with her first husband, a son, Conservative MP Danny Kruger, and a daughter, filmmaker Li-Da Kruger (a Cambodian adoptee). Both Danny and Li-Da now have children of their own.

However, Leith revealed she’s “never been a good grandmother.”

“It’s a good thing I don’t live in the same town as them because it would really show up what a terrible grandmother I am,” she said. “I wouldn’t be the one who would step in to help babysit and take the kids to school. I hardly do any of that. The excuse is that I live in the country, and they live in London, but the truth is I don’t think I’d do it anyway, as I’m too busy doing my own stuff.”

Leith served as a judge on the BBC’s Great British Menu for 11 years before joining The Great British Baking Show in March 2017, replacing Mary Berry. Last year, she hosted the ten-part cookery series Prue Leith’s Cotswold Kitchen on the U.K.’s ITV; the show has been picked up for a second season.