Has Prue Leith left Bake Off? All you need to know about her Great Celebrity Bake Off replacement

The Great Celebrity Bake Off For Stand Up To Cancer is almost back and certain announcements might have you curious about Prue Leith's future on the show.

Plenty of gripping dramas have come our way so far this year, from The Au Pair to Towards Zero, but for those who miss the joyful colours, jaw-dropping creations and uplifting mood of the Bake Off tent there’s good news this March. Whilst we’ll all have to be patient for several months longer to see the regular show back on our screens each week, The Great Celebrity Bake Off for Stand Up To Cancer returns on Sunday 16th March at 7:40 on Channel 4.

This special version of the hit baking show is just as beloved as the original series and sees four famous faces put their skills to the test in the signature, technical and showstopper challenges in each episode. These tricky challenges are set by the judges and this year will be the first series not to have Dame Prue Leith since she joined Bake Off in 2017.

Who is replacing Prue Leith on The Great Celebrity Bake Off?

Prue Leith will be replaced on The Great Celebrity Bake Off for Stand Up To Cancer 2025 by someone she knows very well indeed - her former co-owner and managing director of Leiths School of Food & Wine, Caroline Waldegrave OBE. Her appointment as Paul Hollywood’s new fellow judge was confirmed back in January and her credentials in the culinary world make her a brilliant choice. She’s also a personal friend of Prue’s and a co-author of several books with her.

Is Prue Leith leaving Bake Off and why has she been replaced?

As much as we’re looking forward to seeing Caroline in action as a judge alongside Paul Hollywood when this year’s celebrities enter the tent, long-time fans will also be relieved to know that Prue Leith isn’t leaving The Great British Bake Off main show. It was revealed last year that she wouldn’t be back to film The Great Celebrity Bake Off, but that her future on the regular series remained unchanged.

The reason for her being replaced by Caroline in the celebrity show is because of the huge commitment filming them both. As reported by The Independent, Prue explained previously that she’s very much looking forward to filming the 2025 show, but that it is a lot to do both.

"I absolutely love working on Bake Off and am looking forward to filming the next series and meeting our new bakers," she said. "I am only stepping back from the Celebrity series, which is just a question of the filming commitment involved as we make these shows back to back."

Opening up further about her decision on This Morning, as per The Standard, Prue Leith shared that the two shows are filmed from April to August "so you don’t get any time off". She added that there are places she wants to see as she gets older.

So we’ll at least get to see Prue Leith back on our screens when The Great British Bake Off 2025 airs. However, the 85-year-old star has suggested that this could possibly be her last, depending on how she feels, and that she wants to go before she’s "asked" to.

"I'm doing this year's Bake Off, and I don't know if this will be my last. I've got to stop some time, so I might stop next year. I thought I'd just see how I go this year, because I definitely feel a bit older this year than I did last year," she told the Mail on Sunday.

Prue continued, "Things like getting out of a chair takes me longer than it used to. I don't like big steps without a handrail. None of these things worried me two years ago - I could run upstairs - and so I'm very keen to leave Bake Off before I'm asked to leave. But on the other hand, I really enjoy it."

Who are the contestants on The Great Celebrity Bake Off 2025?

This year’s Great Celebrity Bake Off For Stand Up To Cancer has an impressive line-up consisting of broadcaster and business woman Sarah Beeny, comedian Adam Buxton, TV presenter Gloria Hunniford OBE, actor Maxine Peake, ITV’s Kate Garraway and podcasters Chris and Rosie Ramsey. Other members of the cast include actor and writer Meera Syal, comedian Phil Wang, actor and writer Sophie Willan, broadcaster Amelia Dimoldenberg, actor, writer and director Gbemisola Ikumelo and broadcaster Roman Kemp.

Comedian Tommy Tiernan, singer and actor Self Esteem, comedian Jamali Maddix, actor and writer Jim Howick, model, author and advocate Ellie Goldstein and TV presenters and property experts Scarlette and Stuart Douglas will also be baking in the tent this March. The Great Celebrity Bake Off is for Stand Up to Cancer which is a joint national fundraising campaign from Cancer Research UK and Channel 4.

It launched in the UK in 2012 and Stand Up To Cancer funds research and helps to turn academic breakthroughs into new treatments that make a huge difference to people. According to Channel 4, more than £113 million has been raised to date in the UK.

The Great Celebrity Bake Off For Stand Up To Cancer starts at 7:40pm on Sunday 16th March and will be available to catch-up on afterwards via Channel4.com.