Restaurateur, cookery school owner and food critic Prue Leith has become an increasingly familiar personality on television in recent years. Once known only in food industry circles, more members of the public than ever now recognize Prue Leith from her appearance on television in series such as ‘Great British Bake Off’ and ‘The Great British Menu’. Despite her growing fame, there are many Prue Leith facts that people do not know.
Therefore, The Fruity Tart has decided to post an interesting article of facts about Prue Leith that you probably did not know. We have included information about her career, Prue Leith’s net worth, Prue Leith’s husband, and her interests outside of work, plus much more. We hope you enjoy reading these Prue Leith facts!
Prue Leith Facts: Early Life
- She Was Born in South Africa
According to Wikipedia, Prudence Margaret Leith was born on 18 February 1940 in Cape Town, South Africa. Her mother was an actress, while her father worked for African Explosives. She attended an English private boarding school in Johannesburg until she was 17.
2. She Quit Multiple Courses at the University of Cape Town
After leaving boarding school, Prue Leith enrolled as a student at the University of Cape Town. At the time, she was unclear about what she wanted to do in her future. Her indecision led to Leith starting and then quitting multiple courses at the University. These included French, architecture, fine art, and drama.
3. Studying in Paris Inspired Her Career in Food
After failing to settle at the University of Cape Town, Leith persuaded her parents to allow her to study at the Sorbonne, formerly known as the University of Paris. It was while living in the French capital that she realized she wanted a career in the food industry.
Facts About Prue Leith’s Family Life
4. Who is Prue Leith’s Husband?
One of the Prue Leith facts that many people are most interested to know is ‘who is Prue Leith’s husband?’ Prue Leith has been married twice. Her first husband was the author Rayne Kruger, to whom she was married from 1974 until Kruger died in 2002. Kruger was the husband of Leith’s mum’s best friend, and she had an affair with him for 12 years before their marriage.
Leith’s second husband is retired clothes designer John Playfair. They met when Leith was 70, and Playfair is seven years her junior. The couple married in 2016.
5. Does Prue Leith Have Children?
Prue Leith has two children from her first marriage. Her son, Danny Kruger, is a former speechwriter and advisor to David Cameron. He now runs the charity Only Connect with his wife Emma, and he is a Conservative MP for Devizes. Leith’s daughter, Li-Da Kruger, is a Cambodian adoptee who works as a filmmaker.
Facts About Prue Leith’s Culinary Career
6. She Is a Cordon Bleu Trained Chef
People now associate Prue Leith with the television, so one of the Prue Leith facts that many people do not know is that she is a Cordon Bleu-trained chef. She studied at the Cordon Bleu Cookery School after moving to London in 1960. After completing her studies, she started her own business supplying high-end business lunches. The business then became Leith’s Good Food, which catered parties and events.
7. Prue Leith Opened Her First Restaurant in 1969
As she is not a television personality, a fact about Prue Leith that many do not know is that she is also a restaurateur. She opened her first restaurant ‘Leith’s’ in 1969 in the Notting Hill area of London. She sold the Michelin-starred restaurant in 1995.
8. She Founded Two Cookery Schools
Leith is passionate about education in the culinary field, and she has founded two cookery schools. The first was Leith’s School of Food and Wine, which she founded in 1975. When she sold the company in 1993, it had a turnover of £15 million. Leith then helped to establish the Prue Leith College in South Africa in 1995. It has since been renamed the Prue Leith Academy.
9. She Helped to Improve Rail Travel Catering
Another fact about Prue Leith that people do not know is that she helped to improve catering for rail travel during her culinary career. In 1977, she was appointed the first woman on the British Railways Board. The railway had come under fire for its poor catering, and Lieth set about improving the situation.
Facts About Her Television Career
10. Prue Leith First Appeared on Television in the 1970s
Prue Leith first appeared on television during the 1970s, although it was not an experience that she enjoyed. She landed a job as a presenter of two magazine series, and the director preferred everything scripted. It put her off television work, and she did not appear on television again until the 1980s when she was included in two documentaries.
11. She Became a Judge on ‘The Great British Menu’ in 2005
One of the TV shows for which Prue Leith is best known is The Great British Menu. She was one of the first judges on this series, alongside Matthew Fort and Oliver Peyton. In the series, professional chefs compete in regional rounds to represent their area in a VIP banquet. She left the show in 2016 after 11 years, and her replacement was Andi Oliver, who has since become the presenter of the series. Current judges include Tom Kerridge and Nisha Katona.
12. She Was Also a Judge on ‘My Kitchen Rules’
Another show on which Prue Leith has been a judge is ‘My Kitchen Rules’, which is a series where amateur cooks compete against each other. She was a judge in the second series of the show alongside chef Glynn Purnell.
14. Leith Replaced Mary Berry on ‘The Great British Bake Off’
When The Great British Bake Off moved from the BBC to Channel 4, Mary Berry left the series and was replaced by Prue Leith as the new judge. Leith has worked on the series since 2017, alongside Paul Hollywood who is an original judge on the series.
Prue Leith’s Net Worth and Financial Deals
15. Prue Leith’s Net Worth is £85 Million
According to The Sun, Prue Leith’s net worth is estimated at £85 million($107 million). This makes her one of the richest celebrity chefs in the world as of April 2024. She has accrued this wealth through a combination of her business ventures in the food industry and her television appearances.
16. She is Paid £200,000 a Series for The Great British Bake Off
Reports suggest that Prue Leith receives £200,000 per series of The Great British Bake Off. It is significantly more than the former judge and presenter, Mary Berry, earned when the show was aired on the BBC. It is believed that both Mary Berry and Paul Hollywood were paid just £70,000 each per series. Therefore, it seems that Prue Leith has an eye for a lucrative deal.
Prue Leith’s Books
17. Leith Has Written 12 Cookery Books
During her career, Prue Leith has written 12 cookery books. One of her books is ‘Leith’s Cookery Bible’, which she co-wrote with Caroline Waldegrave, the principal of the Leith’s School of Food and Wine. She has also written an autobiography.
18. She Has Written for Magazines and Newspapers
As an experienced cookery writer, Prue Leith has also written for magazines and newspapers. She has worked as a columnist for publications including the Daily Mirror, The Guardian, Sunday Express, and the Daily Mail.
19. Prue Leith Has Also Written Fiction
Although she is best known for her cookery books, Prue Leith is also the writer of seven novels. Three of her books form the ‘Food of Love’ trilogy, which has been optioned for a television series by Sprout Pictures in partnership with Parallel Films.
Other Prue Leith Facts
20. She Has Been a Non-Executive Director for Multiple Organizations
One of the Prue Leith facts that many people do not know is that she has been a non-executive director for multiple organizations. These include British Rail, Safeway, British Transport Hotels, Leeds Permanent Building Society, Argyll plc, Woolworths plc, Halifax, and Whitbread plc, amongst others.
21. Leith Founded a Charity
Due to Leith’s passion for food education, she founded the charity ‘Focus on Food‘, which supports the inclusion of cooking in the school curriculum in the UK. The charity is now part of the Soil Association.
22. Prue Leith Has Received Many Honors
Leith has been awarded honorary degrees from 13 universities in the UK. In 1989, she was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) and was then appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 2010. She was also the Veuve Clicquot Business Woman of the year in 1990.
23. She Lives in the Cotswolds
In her younger years, Prue Leith spent most of her time living in cities. However, she realized that she was a country girl at heart. She bought a home in the Cotswolds in the 1970s, and she has lived there ever since. Her favourite room in the house is the kitchen. Not only is the kitchen where she cooks, but it is also where she does all her writing.
Her Hobbies
24. Prue Leith is a Collector
In an interview with The English Home, Prue Leith admitted that she is a collector. However, she only chooses things that she really likes as she uses everything she collects and does not just use them for display. Currently, she collects modern junk jewellery and antique teacups and saucers.
25. She Loves to Try New Food
While everyone has their favourite foods, Prue Leith says that she is always open to trying new things. On her website, she says that she loves to experiment and to try food that she has never eaten before. It is just as well that she is open to new things, as some of the contestants on The Great British Bake Off use some rather unusual flavour combinations.
Read More’ Facts About’ Articles
If you enjoyed reading our Prue Leith facts, then you might also enjoy reading our other articles with facts about celebrity chefs and television presenters of cookery shows. Click on a name to learn more:
- Gordon Ramsay
- Jamie Oliver
- James Martin
- Gregg Wallace
- John Torode
- Nigella Lawson
- Fred Sirieix
- Monica Galetti
Let us know what you think of our facts about Prue Leith below.