Fat jabs? I just wish people would eat less says TV legend Prue Leith

With her vibrantly stylish clothes, chunky ’n’ funky jewellery and groovy glasses, there’s no denying Great British Bake Off judge, telly cook and food queen supreme Prue Leith likes to look good – and manages it, too. But even she has her limits… and admits thinking many women spend too much time, energy and money obsessing over their appearance.

“I get irritated by the endless self-absorption and constant, ‘Me, me, me’ stuff,” she reveals as we chat over Zoom. “Something’s wrong when we seem to want or need so much pampering all the time. I was in Western Australia a couple of months ago and went to this little town where there were no proper shops but endless massage places, wellness centres, foot clinics… just about every kind of maintenance you could think of for mind, body and soul.

“I’m not saying we shouldn’t have these but so many women seem to think of nothing but themselves. It’s very navel gazey, and sort of unhealthy actually. I don’t want to sound pompous but if they were thinking a little bit more about other people and a little bit less about themselves, they would be happier.”

Prue doesn’t hold back when it comes to the issue of feminism, either. While undoubtedly brilliant for girls and women, she feels it’s had quite an unsettling effect on some adolescent boys and young men.

“Those who don’t know what their roles are in life and don’t know what to think. Many aren’t toxic but they just feel ineffectual,” she explains.

“But undeniably some are toxic – the ones who look upon Andrew Tate as a role model. They hate women because Tate does. Confident, competent women taking charge provokes two reactions in men or boys who feel inadequate.

“They’re either cowed and intimidated by females or they hate them. I’m no psychologist but I think this also links in to people just thinking about themselves and how they feel. About looking inwards rather than outwards.”

Yikes! Never one to mince her words, Prue is in particularly fiery form today.

We’re supposed to be talking about her ITV cooking show, Prue Leith’s Cotswold Kitchen, a mish-mash of tasty recipes, celebrity chat and culinary hacks now in its second series.

But it’s clear Prue worries about young people – and specifically the effect of social media on their mental health.

“I don’t really know what can be done about it. Kids these days just don’t seem to have the confidence and resilience earlier generations had – and social media must have something to do with that,” she continues.

“They’re constantly comparing themselves to these ‘amazing’ people with seemingly ‘amazing’ lives whom they see on their screens.

“It makes them feel inadequate and unhappy. It breeds feelings of general discontent – this myth that everyone else is ‘living their best life’.

“In reality, the people doing the posting are likely to be living a false life themselves and probably pretty miserable, too. With regards to the young people in my own life – my two grandchildren from my daughter are too little for it to affect them, while my son’s three have been brought up quite strictly. Their screen time is limited and their parents are very supportive and encouraging, which, in turn, makes the children confident.

“Young people would be far better off doing something real rather than staring at a screen at these so-called ‘perfect lives’ all the time – theatre, music, sports, debating… Outgoing things rather than inward-looking things. Activities which give them self-confidence, happiness and purpose. Things that make them feel alive and a valued, valid part of society.”

Prue, whose two children are the Conservative MP Danny Kruger and TV producer Li-Da Kruger – whom she adopted from Cambodia as a baby – has long been an advocate of healthy eating. She believes strongly that getting our youngsters to start eating food that’s good for them rather than the junk variety would be a step in the right direction to improving their mental as well as their physical well-being.

“Obesity rates in children are alarming and getting worse with almost a third regarded as obese or overweight. I’ve been saying for 60 years that we start addressing this by teaching children to love healthy food – and the way to do this is to teach them how to cook.

“If we fed our children healthy, non-processed food, we wouldn’t have this problem with obesity. Look at Japan. Just 4% of their children are overweight and the rate is falling. Obviously, they’re doing something we’re not. Children in Japanese schools sit down to a healthy, free meal every day. Nothing processed is allowed into a school kitchen. From an early age, a whole nation is taught how and what to eat.

“They even have rules about what can be sold in supermarkets. However, our Government just looks at the amount of tax raised from chocolate, fast food and the like, and thinks, ‘We can’t afford to do that.’ But the Government must look more long term.” Such as allowing the NHS to prescribe more weight-loss medication such as Mounjaro – which proved more effective than rival Wegovy in recent medical trials – to the obese and overweight than theycurrently do?

Prue, it seems, is cautiously in favour of so-called “fat jabs”. She explains: “Something like 60% of hospital admissions are due to diet-related diseases and so this form of treatment could save the NHS a lot of money. If the jabs can help people change the way they eat, then they may literally be life savers and possibly the saviour of the NHS, too.

“I just wish people would eat less. Portion sizes these days are vast. It’s ridiculous. We just eat too much. I think this ispartly due to unhappiness. When we’re not happy, we comfort eat. It’s true that when you’re miserable, you go straight to the fridge or want chocolate.” But as Prue, 85, will know, food is the recipe to a life well lived – especially in the extraordinary one she has lived.

Born in South Africa, she’s an uber successful restaurateur, broadcaster, cookery writer and novelist. But it hasn’t all been plain sailing, particularly when it comes to her private life. In her 20s, she began a secret, 13-year-long affair with much older business man Rayne Kruger who was married to a close friend of her mother’s.

Eventually Rayne left his wife and six months later ‘officially’ got together with Prue whom he would go on to marry.

“Morally it wasn’t right – I know that. I don’t think that you should sleep with another woman’s husband,” admits Prue. “But I don’t think I could not have fallen deeply in love with Rayne. This means that while it wasn’t right, we couldn’t have done anything differently.

“We did try to part a few times but always got back together. Rayne was the love of my life. What made it so awful was that Nan, his first wife, was a close family friend. Rayne loved her and so did I. She was wonderful.

“Rayne was determined not to make an enemy of her and they stayed friends. We all did. Eventually, she would come and stop with us every weekend. We got through it the best way we could – my mother included. She was angry when Rayne left Nan, which he did several months before he and I officially became an item. But when she learnt I was pregnant and that I was supremely happy, she was wonderful.

“I have no advice for people in this situation – it’s different for everyone. You can only do your best and try to think thebest of people. That’s all I want to say about it. It was a long time ago.”

Rayne passed away in 2002. She met her current husband John Playfair in 2011 and they married in 2016. A fashion designer before he retired, John has lately become a bit of a telly star by appearing alongside Prue on Prue Leith’s Cotswold Kitchen.

“He’s stealing my thunder and I’m supposed to be the TV star in the family!” she laughs. “We were at a supermarket checkout the other day and the girl on the till recognised John. She said, ‘Oh you’re the man on Cotswold Kitchen. You’re wonderful! You’re so funny!’ And I’m stood there packing the bags and she hasn’t a clue who I am!

“I’m pleased for John, though. He’s a natural. We have jokingly been compared to Fanny and Johnnie Craddock!”

While the Duchess of Sussex may film her As Ever show in a hired kitchen, Prue loves working from home.

She says: “I wouldn’t want to film it anywhere else. I’m very proud of my kitchen and love living on the job, so to speak. I love the fact that Bambi – the make-up lady on both my show and The Great British Bake Off – wakes me up at 8am with a cuppa and I go straight into the make-up chair. On Bake Off, I have to get up about 5.30am to be in the make-up chair for 7am.”

With regards to Bake Off, eyebrows were raised a few months ago when Prue revealed she wouldn’t be doing the celebrity Stand Up For Cancer version of the show. She’ll be back judging the regular show which is broadcast in September, though.

“I said no to the celebrity one because I wanted some time off,” she explains. “I love Bake Off. It’s great fun. Everyone gets on and the bakers are amazing. Will this bemy last one? I honestly don’t know. I

know I’ll have to stop some time and I’d rather jump than be pushed but right now I’m very happy.”

Prue Leith’s Cotswold Kitchen is streaming on ITVX now