Prue Leith reveals why she 'never regretted' her 'painful' affair with late husband Rayne Kruger

Prue Leith has admitted that she doesn't regret her 13-year-long affair with her late husband, despite calling the experience 'very painful'. 

The Great British Bake Off judge has reflected on the extramarital relationship she had with her first spouse, Rayne Kruger. 

"I had an affair for 13 years with the man who became my husband, and he was someone else’s at the time," the South African chef revealed during her Prue Leith: Nothing In Moderation tour in Bath, according to the Mirror. 

"‘I can’t pretend it was right. I never regretted it as I loved him, and he loved me. It all ended well, but it was very painful for a while." 

The 82-year-old married South African property developer and author Rayne in 1974 after he had divorced his first wife, actress Nan Munro. The couple went on to have two children together, filmmaker Li-Da Kruger and Conservative MP Danny Kruger. Rayne died of emphysema in 2002 at the age of 80, passing away in hospital just 15 minutes before Prue arrived to say goodbye. 

The Cape Town-born restaurateur went on to marry John Playfair, tying the knot with the retired clothes designer in a 2016 lowkey ceremony after nine years of dating. The couple initially chose not to cohabitate, opting instead to live in separate houses located a mile apart in the Cotswolds. As of November 2020, it's understood they have moved in together. 

Prue previously spoke about her affair in 2012 ahead of the publication of her book, Relish: My Life on a Plate. 

"I decided that, if you have been a mistress for 13 years, and it's the most important time of your life, when you're setting up your business, in love for the first and final time, really, well you believe it's the final time, and you're so happy, and it's such a big chunk of your life, to have airbrushed it out, would just not have made it an honest book," she told BBC's Nick Higham.