Great British Bake Off judge Prue Leith has opened up on a heartbreaking family loss as she talked about her brother’s death, admitting she will “miss him until the day I die”
Dame Prue Leith has shared a touching tribute, saying “I’ll miss him until the day I die” as she spoke candidly about the devastating loss of her brother.
Having become a household name in the culinary scene, Dame Prue’s expertise has graced some of the nation’s most beloved programmes.
Her career took a huge leap in 2016 when she was revealed as the new judge alongside Paul Hollywood on The Great British Bake Off. Despite her rise to stardom through her exceptional talent in baking, the 85-year-old has recently opened up on the sorrow of losing her “best friend”.
Speaking to the The Times, Dame Prue fondly remembered her brother David, saying: “David died in 2012, and Jamie, six years younger than me, died three years ago. It feels like yesterday. He was my best friend, confidant, supporter and critic and he knew what mattered in life: his family were his world, and his friends were important.”
As Gloucestershire Live reported, she looked back on his life, which involved several careers, and how he was mostly “househusband” to care for his four kids: “He had various jobs, as an actor, restaurateur, journalist and businessman, but mostly he was a househusband, looking after four children while his wife, the writer Penny Junor, brought home the bacon. He wrote a hilarious memoir, Ironing John: The Househusband’s Tale,” she said.
Dame Prue continued the touching tribute, saying: “When the children had grown up, he took an office job. When he retired, he said it was to spend more time with his tennis racket, fishing rod and golf clubs. I will miss him until the day I die.”
Besides this touching reflection, Dame Prue has been passionately campaigning for assisted dying following David’s struggle with bone cancer.
During an interview with Sky News in April last year, she said: “He was spending every three weeks out of four in absolute agony.
“For his family to be round while he was crying, begging to die, begging to be given more morphine, it was desperate to watch.”
In the same year that Prue spoke out, UK MPs found themselves debating the issue before casting their votes.
Labour MP Kim Leadbeater introduced the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill 2024-25 to Parliament in October 2024, aiming to “allow adults who are terminally ill, subject to safeguards and protections, to request and be provided with assistance to end their own life”.
A month after, the bill gained approval in a vote by MPs, passing 330 to 275, and moved to a public bill committee for further scrutiny.
