Scotland is never far from Great British Bake Off judge Dame Prue Leith’s thoughts.
Whether it’s her Caithness and Borders roots, her Scottish husband who wooed her with haggis, fishing our lochs and rivers or making treats like Atholl Brose or skirlie for Christmas dinner, she wants to spend more time here.
And she’s ready to take the ultimate step – possibly a modern-day rite of passage – and try a deep-fried Mars Bar.
The 82-year-old South African has sampled almost everything and makes many Scots dishes throughout the year.
Speaking from her Cotswolds home, she said: “I keep wanting to have a deep-fried Mars Bar. Can I have it in batter? I’m going to try one. It might be delicious.”
The big moment will come during her first-ever stage tour – amusingly called Nothing in Moderation – which arrives in Edinburgh and Glasgow in February.
On Bake Off she’s known for her love of anything boozy but perhaps less well known is her affiliation to Scotland.
She said: “I love Scotland. It’s never far from my thoughts. The connections are very deep. My mother’s family come from Douglas. Legend is they were border cattle thieves and my father’s family come from Wick in Caithness.
“My mother was born in South Africa but she loved Scotland and we always went there for holidays.
“At one point she wanted me to marry a distant cousin and I swear the only reason she wanted me to marry him was because he was Scottish. He had a beautiful Edinburgh accent and he wore a kilt so she thought he was terrific.”
Her first marriage wasn’t to a Scot but her second was. John Playfair, a retired fashion designer, is from Edinburgh and he stole her heart by filling her stomach with Scottish food.
She said: “My husband wooed me with haggis. When we were eying each other up, he asked if I’d like to come to supper and he gave me haggis and bashed neeps. It was absolutely delicious so how could I resist him?”
His second meal though didn’t go to plan as Prue saw him put two Aberdeen Angus fillet steaks on a half-cold pan and, horrified, pushed him out of the way to do them herself.
She laughed: “From then on I did the cooking. He’s not cooked since and we’ve been together for 12 years.”
They married in 2016 in the Capital’s Lothian Chambers and continue to holiday regularly in Scotland. Prue was also made Chancellor of Queen Margaret University “which was a good excuse to come up even more”.
Fishing is something close to her heart and for the big 8-0 she took 10 friends to the Spey.
She added: “I love fishing. I’ve fished a lot of Scottish rivers. We took 10 friends to Ballindalloch for a week.
“It was a glorious birthday and we had the most beautiful weather.
“I didn’t catch any fish. John didn’t catch any fish. But it didn’t matter.”
She’s now 82 and will celebrate her 83rd on her first-ever tour. Sadly, though, she’ll be in Wales and not Scotland. “Although I’m not sure turning 83 is anything to celebrate.” she laughed.
She admitted her tour has given her sleepless nights. She said: “I’m half-looking forward to it and half really scared.
“It’s odd. I’ve done lots of lectures and talks at literary festivals, often to hundreds of people, and haven’t been particularly nervous but I was absolutely scared stiff when we did some try-outs. I think as it’s a properly produced show.
“The first few I really didn’t enjoy I was so scared. Everyone was happy about it except I wasn’t enjoying it and I thought we’d made a mistake.”
They went to America to do more try-out shows and the Los Angeles audience were so enthusiastic she found her mojo. “I felt like a rock star and got this great warm rush of affection,” she said.
The idea came after she met Joanna Lumley’s producer and director Clive Tulloch who does her theatre and TV shows and he suggested she do her own.
Prue said: “I’ve had a really interesting life but nobody knows anything about me apart from I eat cake on telly for a living. But Paul Hollywood had done one, which was a success, and I called Joanna and she told me to go for it.”
Prue does have acting in her blood. Her mum Peggy Inglis was an actress and Prue wanted to follow her into theatre and went to drama school but admitted: “I wasn’t very good at it.
“As I loved the theatre I thought I’d be a stage designer. I went to art school and wasn’t very good at that either. So I ended up a cook one way or another.”
Prue hasn’t thought about going on stage since, so doing 34 dates is “a bit scary”.
She will keep energised by having naps in the afternoon, saying: “My secretary has started booking an hour into every afternoon so I can have a kip.”
The TV star won’t be having a rest this weekend, unsurprisingly, and will be cooking Christmas dinner for 13.
She’ll be at her son Danny Kruger’s house. The Tory MP will be having the family including sister Li-Da at his London home.
She said: “I’m going to take up everything for Christmas dinner and then cook it at his house.”
They’ll have Atholl Brose, a whisky-laden dessert, and she may do skirlie, another Scottish dish of oatmeal and fried onions which is a great alternative to stuffing.
She’ll also be back on our television screens for a Bake Off Christmas special on Saturday with celebs including Gaby Roslin and Sir Tony Robinson.
A New Year’s Day special will see presenter Matt Lucas bowing out of the series.
Prue, who was a judge on Great British Menu for 11 years, took over from Mary Berry on Bake Off in 2017 when the show moved from the BBC to Channel 4.
She said: “I’m really sorry that Matt is leaving but he’s always being asked to do exciting stuff and he loves working in the theatre.”
She has no idea who could replace him and laughed: “I’d never heard of Noel Fielding before I met him. So I have no idea.
“They are bound to produce someone I’ve never heard of.
“I’m so old I don’t know most of the celebrities that come on Bake Off.”
But she’ll always root for them if they are Scottish?
“Of course,” she roared.
● The Great Christmas Bake Off is on Christmas Eve, Channel 4, at 8.25pm. Prue's tour Nothing in Moderation, Edinburgh International Conference Centre on February 4 and Glasgow Theatre Royal on February 5. Tickets from: Mickperrin.com
