Prue Leith to Exit 'The Great British Baking Show'
After nine years in 'The Great British Baking Show' tent, Prue Leith is hanging up her judge's spectacles.
The shake-ups at The Great British Baking Show continue as filming for Season 17 is gearing up. Love Productions has been tweaking the series behind the scenes since Season 13’s disastrous run, from nixing the “Global Theme Weeks” to new twists during the Technical Challenge, and most recently, adding Audience Choice Week to the lineup.
However, the real issue, as Lacy has repeatedly told everyone who will listen, is judge Paul Hollywood. His overbearing behavior and determination to see his favorites make the final, regardless of skill level, have resulted in some of the most disappointing finales this decade. The production has mitigated the issue somewhat by hiring Alison Hammond to co-host with Noel Fielding, after Matt Lucas left the tent, creating a counterweight to Paul’s overbearing behavior. Unfortunately, Hollywood’s co-judge, Prue Leith, has never really had it in her to stand up to Paul, and the hosts can only do so much.
However, Love Productions finally has an opportunity to fix the problem at the judging table. Leith has announced she is exiting the series; she turns 86 in February 2026 and has been slowly handing off her commitments, starting with the U.K. Celebrity editions in the last couple of years.
For those who can’t see the full Instagram text, here’s Leith’s statement:
After nine series and judging more than 400 challenges, I have decided to step down as a judge on The Great British Bake Off. 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 judges, Paul, Alison, and Noel, and the teams at Love Productions and Channel 4. But now feels like the right time to step back (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. I feel very lucky to have been part of it.
While this won’t solve the Hollywood problem completely, it does give the producers a second chance to find a judging partner who will keep his worst impulses in check.
To be fair, when the show moved from the BBC to Channel 4, the production was more interested in having a 1:1 replacement for the departing Mary Berry, which is why they hired another turn-of-the-century staple of the BBC cooking world, without considering how the dynamics would change with Hollywood (who, up until then, had always shown deference to his more famous co-star). Unlike Berry, Hollywood never treated Leith as an equal, and whoever steps into her place will need to be someone who does – either by fame, stature, or sheer force of personality.
If the hiring process follows the same pattern as Lucas’ exit (who announced his exit in January 2023), we will find out who is joining the tent around mid-March, just ahead of Season 17’s start of filming. Until then, we’ll be keeping an eye on any frontrunners who may emerge.
The Great British Baking Show Seasons 1 through 7 are streaming on the Roku Channel; Seasons 8 through 16 (called Collections 5-13) are available on Netflix. The original Holiday specials and Masterclasses from the show’s first seven seasons are on Roku. Netflix has the Christmas specials from Season 8 onward under the title The Great British Baking Show: Holidays, Seasons 1-8. Everything else Love Productions-related is available on Roku, including all seasons of Celebrity Baking Show, The Great Canadian Baking Show, The Great American Baking Show, The Great British Sewing Bee, and the new seasons of The Great Pottery Throw Down.
Season 17 is currently expected to premiere in or around September 2026 on Channel 4 and Netflix.
