Prue Leith Says She Wants to Spend More Time With Husband as She ‘Hasn’t Got Much Longer’
Great British Baking Show judge Prue Leith is trying to cherish her time with her husband as she believes she hasn’t “got much longer.”
The 85-year-old South African restaurateur got candid when speaking with Holly Rubenstein on the latest episode of The Travel Diaries podcast, where she acknowledged her age and the heartbreaking likelihood she hasn’t got many more years ahead of her.
“I haven’t got much longer; I’m 85. I want to spend as much time as I can with him,” Leith said, referring to her second husband, retired clothes designer John Playfair, whom she met and fell in love with in the Cotswolds over a decade ago.
Leith went on to say how Playfair supports her and often accompanies her on work trips. “And so, if we are filming abroad, or like next week, we’re going to New York because I’ve got to publicise the American baking show, then I’m now old enough for my agent to say ‘I’m sorry, but she has to bring her husband because she’s 85, she needs someone to carry the bags.’
She quipped, “She doesn’t quite say ‘she needs a carer,’ but it’s pretty close.”
Prue Leith Instagram
Leith was previously married to property developer and author Rayne Kruger from 1974 until he passed away at age 80 in December 2002. They shared two children: a son, Conservative MP Danny Kruger, and a daughter, filmmaker Li-Da Kruger (a Cambodian adoptee).
She and Playfair tied the knot in October 2016.
The host of Prue Leith’s Cotswold Kitchen revealed that Playfair is fine with being her “handbag carrier,” sharing, “One of the wonderful things about him is that he is totally without ego, he doesn’t feel threatened by the fact that I have a higher profile than he does, when I introduce him he always just says ‘I’m the handbag carrier, I’m her chauffeur.'”
Last week, Leith opened up about her marriage in an article for The I, noting that “The only thing we quarrel about is that I’m very tidy – he would say anally so. 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.”
Leith recently announced she will be stepping back from the celebrity edition of The Great British Baking Show, though she will continue to serve as a judge on the civilian version.
“These things are filmed back-to-back all the way through summer from April to August so you don’t get any time off,” Leith explained on The Travel Diaries podcast. “I’m getting quite old, and there’s places I want to see. So I’m not doing this year’s [celebrity version].”
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