TV star issues Great British Bake Off warning to Nigella

In January, it was announced that the cook, who lives in Moreton-in-Marsh just over the Oxfordshire border, would bow out of the Channel 4 show after nine series and judging more than 400 challenges.

The 86-year-old has been a judge on the popular baking show alongside Paul Hollywood since 2017, when the series moved from the BBC to Channel 4, replacing Henley resident Dame Mary Berry.

It was then announced on Monday, January 26, that Oxford University graduate Nigella Lawson would replace her as the judge on the Bake Off.

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The 66-year-old read Modern Languages at Oxford University’s Lady Margaret Hall, edited the student magazine Isis, later saving it from financial trouble, and graduated in 1979.

A portrait of Ms Lawson was then hung in the very same Oxford college, installed in 2018, to inspire students.

Dame Prue has told BBC Radio Oxford that Ms Lawson will bring a “whole fresh look” to the programme and would be “wonderful”.

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She added that the new presenter “doesn’t need any advice from me”, although she admitted there might be one small caveat.

On Bake Off, a standout creation would sometimes lead the South African‑born chef to joke that it was “worth the calories”, but she said this apparently light-hearted line ended up causing “trouble”.

Dame Prue even issued a gentle warning to Ms Lawson as she advised: “Don’t say that. I got into a lot of trouble. Apparently, that was fat shaming.”