Put children to bed early so their parents can get some rest, says Prue Leith

TODAY’S parents frequently complain that they are worn out by constant battles with their children over bedtime.

But Prue Leith has revealed she brought her son and daughter up with strict ‘Victorian’ values, sending them to bed early every night so she could relax.

The celebrity chef – the new Channel 4 Bake Off judge – said making her children turn in at 7pm allowed her and her first husband, Rayne Kruger, who was 18 years older than her, to unwind with a drink.

Speaking at charity event Symfunny at the Royal Albert Hall, Miss Leith, 77, said: ‘The reason they went to bed was not because it was good for them, we just knew it was good for us. We needed them to be in bed so we could have a drink at seven o’clock.’

Miss Leith, who has three grandchildren, said today’s mothers and fathers are worn out by children making the rules. She said: ‘Now the children are up at 10 o’clock and nobody gets any sleep.’

Discussing her son Danny’s children, she added: ‘My grandchildren are incredibly badly behaved. They’re not badly behaved with me… They [the parents] both look exhausted all the time… The children look fine because they sleep when they want.’

The star, who married her second husband, 70-year-old John Playfair, last year added that she likes to take her grandchildren to museums and teach them about healthy eating. She said: ‘I cook with them, which is fun.

‘I teach them how to eat and what to eat.’ Miss Leith is taking over from Mary Berry as a Great British Bake Off judge after the programme was bought by Channel 4.

Speaking about the show, she said: ‘I’m absolutely delighted to have got it because I never thought I would and I liked the line-up before.’