The irony is, Prue, that success is all about … timing

AT THE start of last night’s final, Prue Leith revealed just how big a deal it was.

“I woke up this morning so excited.” So did seven million other fans.

Then someone went and ruined it. Bravo Prue.

Considering she has provided most of the sunshine on Channel 4’s Bake Off, we shouldn’t be too harsh on her for revealing the winner on Twitter.

I can’t deny it ruined the final as a spectacle for me, though. If I wanted a talent show final where I already knew the winner before the finale, I’d watch X Factor.

The fact Prue’s slip-up was blamed on confusion over time zones while on holiday in Bhutan did prove amusingly ironic – as she and Paul Hollywood kept reminding us, success last night was all about getting the timings right.

If Prue could go back, I’m sure she would consign that tweet forever to drafts.

It would probably be the only thing Channel 4 would change, too.

Despite predictions Bake Off would be a disaster following its move from BBC, it ended up anything but. The ratings were higher than most people (me) thought they’d be.

Noel Fielding and Sandi Toksvig worked better than most (me again) thought.

And Prue lessened the pain of missing Mary Berry.

Let’s have more of the same next year. With one obvious tweak – confiscate Prue’s phone before she jets off on holiday.