At 85, Dame Prue Leith, the sharp-witted judge of The Great British Bake Off, isn’t mincing words about her mortality. In a candid chat on The Travel Diaries podcast, aired earlier this month, she laid it bare: “I haven’t got much longer, I’m 85, I want to spend as much time as I can with him.” The “him” is John Playfair, her husband of nine years, a retired fashion designer who’s become her rock—and, unexpectedly, a bit of a TV star himself. Their life together, as revealed in recent interviews and their ITV show, Prue Leith’s Cotswold Kitchen, is a mix of love, practicality, and the quiet grit of aging.
Playfair, 71, doesn’t shy away from the realities of their day-to-day. Leith’s career—still buzzing with transatlantic trips to promote shows like the American baking series—keeps them on the move. But age has slowed her step. She’s candid about needing help, telling podcast host Holly Rubenstein on April 16 that her agent now insists Playfair tags along for work trips. “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,’” Leith said, her tone half-joking, half-resigned. It’s not quite a carer, she added, but it’s “pretty close.”
Their home, a Cotswolds haven where they film their ITV series, is where their partnership shines. The show, which kicked off in 2024 and airs Saturdays at 11:40 a.m., has turned Playfair into an unlikely celebrity. Leith recounted a moment at a supermarket checkout, where a cashier gushed over him, not her. “She said, ‘Oh, you’re the man on Cotswold Kitchen. I love that show. You’re wonderful!’” Leith recalled, chuckling at his newfound fame. Playfair, ever humble, brushes it off, introducing himself as “the handbag carrier” or “her chauffeur” when meeting fans.
Leith’s health challenges are no secret. On April 13, she told a Gloucestershire outlet she’s less hands-on in her garden now, her back too sore for heavy work. “I like propagating because I can do it on a high stool,” she said, admitting physical limits have curbed her once-tireless energy. She’s also gone public about her hearing loss, revealing at a Cambridge Union event that she struggles to hear without aids, which she often forgets to wear. Playfair, she noted, gets “so cross” when she skips them.
Their marriage, Leith’s second after the death of her first husband, Rayne Kruger, in 2002, is a partnership of mutual support. Married in 2016, they’ve built a life that balances her high-profile career with quiet moments at home. Leith, who stepped back from The Great Celebrity Bake Off last year to ease her grueling schedule, explained on April 18 that the summer-long filming from April to August left no room for travel or rest. “I’m getting quite old, and there’s places I want to see,” she said. The main Bake Off series, though, still has her as a fixture, her contract now including a clause for an hour’s nap after lunch—a nod to her need for rest.
Playfair’s role extends beyond carrying bags. Leith praises his lack of ego, a trait that keeps their dynamic grounded. “He’s totally without ego,” she told Rubenstein, noting he’s unfazed by her higher profile. Their Cotswold Kitchen series has been a joint venture, letting them share their home and culinary passions with viewers. It’s a far cry from Leith’s early days, when she opened her Michelin-starred restaurant, Leith’s, in Notting Hill at 29, or trained at the Cordon Bleu Cookery School in the 1960s. Now, it’s about savoring time together.
Leith’s reflections come as she continues her TV work, with a trip to New York planned to promote the American baking show. Her Cotswold Kitchen series aired its latest episode on April 26 on ITV1. She remains a judge on The Great British Bake Off, which she joined in 2017, replacing Mary Berry.