On your marks, get set... and break! Prue’s hobbled during Wizard of Oz skit
FOR someone who’s injured themselves while dressed as the Cowardly Lion, Prue Leith seems to be putting on a remarkably brave face.
The 79-year-old head judge was left hobbling on crutches after snapping her Achilles tendon while playing the Wizard Of Oz character in a skit for the opening of the Great British Bake Off.
Ms Leith told how she jumped out to scare her co-presenters on the Yellow Brick Road.
But her leap was so enthusiastic that she suffered a ‘hammer blow’ to her ankle and had to spend the next hour
‘Finally gets to use his ambulance’
with her leg in an ice bucket.
Paul Hollywood was dressed as the Tin Man, Sandi Toksvig was the Scarecrow and Noel Fielding wore a Dorothy costume – with a dress and wig.
Praising the skills of the show’s medic, Ms Leith said: ‘I leap out onto the Yellow Brick Road, roaring – I feel a hammer blow to my ankle, and end up whimpering like the Cowardly Lion I’m portraying. ‘I have snapped my Achilles tendon.’ She wrote in The Spectator: ‘Danny the medic, who has had nothing more exciting than bakers’ cut fingers to deal with for three years, finally gets to use his ambulance, wheelchair and considerable skills.’
Unlike the timid character from the classic 1939 film, Ms Leith was undaunted by her injury – finishing the scene after putting her costume back on and propping herself up between Hollywood and Fielding.
She was spotted last week limping around a food festival in Oxfordshire, England, on multi-coloured crutches with her foot in a protective medical boot.
Ms Leith took over as Bake Off head judge from Mary Berry in 2017 when the contest – which is now in its tenth series – moved from BBC1 to Channel 4.