By Page Six | Created at 2026-08-12 17:55:57 | Updated at 2026-08-12 22:47:11
6 hours ago
Former “The Great British Baking Show” judge Prue Leith revealed she was hospitalized after losing her sight and speech.
“A few weeks ago, staying in Yorkshire, I had a migraine attack,” the 86-year-old wrote in her column Prue’s News in the September issue of The Oldie magazine, which is out on Friday, according to The Sun.
Leith said she lost “half” of her vision before “a bright circle of flickering, colored lights” appeared in the upper right field of her eyesight.
The reality star told her husband, John Playfair, that she was only having a migraine, but her “incomprehensible jumble of disconnected words” convinced him that she was suffering a stroke.
“He rang our doctor, who asked me, could I raise my arms? Yes. Make a fist? Yes. Did anything hurt? No. Was the side of my face drooping,” Leith remembered, noting that “in spite of my answers,” an ambulance was ordered to take her to the hospital.
Leith said after a six-hour wait, she saw a doctor who decided Leith needed a CT scan.
“Two hours later, I had one, waited another hour for the results, and was released at 2 a.m.,” she added.
Leith confirmed the results showed she had a severe migraine attack, but is happy the doctors treated her under the assumption she was having a stroke.
“I knew all along that all I had was a migraine. But since the speech problem is a classic symptom of a stroke, and my extreme old age being a time when mini-strokes are common, everyone was determined to be safe not sorry,” she wrote.
Leith previously opened up about her health issues when she appeared on “Loose Women” in April 2025.
“Age stinks, come on, it takes me 10 minutes to get myself out of bed in the morning. If I don’t do my exercises, I can’t move,” she said at the time.
The former Netflix star also admitted that since she’s become “conscious” that the “end” of her life is near, she wants to “make the most of it and have fun.”
Leith was a judge on “The Great British Baking Show” for nine years before announcing her exit from the series in January.
“Bake Off has been a fabulous part of my life for the last nine years, I have genuinely loved it, and I’m sure I’ll miss working with my fellow judge Paul, Alison and Noel and the teams at Love Productions and Channel 4,” she said in a statement.
Leith added that it feels like “the right time” for her to step away, noting, “I’m 86 for goodness sake!”
Chef Nigella Lawson is replacing Leith for the Netflix show’s next season, which is expected to premiere in the US in September.
Welcome to the Page Six Community!
Our community is about connecting people through open and thoughtful conversations. We want our readers to share their views and exchange ideas in a safe space.
In order to do so, we've created a simple set of rules that will improve your experience.
Simply put, keep it civil.
Your post will/might be rejected if it contains:
- Spam
- Insults, profanity, incoherent, obscene or inflammatory language and threats of any kind
- Attacks on the identity of other commenters or the article's author
User accounts will/might be blocked if we notice:
- Continuous attempts to re-post comments that have been previously moderated/rejected
- Racist, sexist, or homophobic comments
- Attempts or tactics that put the site security at risk
So, how can you be a power user?
- Stay on topic and share your passion. Feel free to elaborate to get your point across.
- 'Like' or 'Dislike' when you are filled with emotions!
- Protect your community. Use the report tool to alert us when someone breaks the rules.
Thanks for reading our community guidelines. Don't forget, freedom of speech is not the freedom of reach!
