Joining the pudding club is top priority says Prue. . .

NEVER one to mince her words as a judge on The Great British Bake Off, now Prue Leith has some advice for Britain’s young women: get a bun in the oven as soon as possible.

‘What I would be saying is: “yes, independence is important, but don’t leave it too late,” ’ she advises the younger generation.

Prue, 80, had a son, Danny Kruger (now a Tory MP), with her first husband, the late author Rayne Kruger. They also adopted a daughter from Cambodia, Li-Da Kruger.

The cook has been moved to make her comments because Li-Da was unable to have children herself.

‘So many young women I know have been so focused on their career and so confident that you don’t have to have your babies early,’ says Prue (pictured). ‘Then they are heading for 25, and then what happened to Li-Da is that she got breast cancer the moment she wanted to get pregnant. It takes five years for those drugs to get out of your system. and in that five years, you can’t have babies because the body rejects them. ‘There is no such thing as having it all. you can have 90 per cent of it, but something has to give. ‘you do live with a bit of guilt if you work a lot. you definitely lose a lot of independence and you lose a lot of sleep. There is a lot wrong with it, but if you want children, it is easier to do it in your 30s than it is in your 40s. and probably easier in your 20s.’ Prue has also admitted that she initially disliked her son Daniel’s wife, Emma, a former teacher. ‘Daniel has only had two serious long-term affairs,’ she says. ‘The first was with a woman who was perfect for him. When he met Emma I did not think she was perfect for him. I was convinced Emma was too scatterbrained. I was her enemy, really. But it is a lesson that you can be so wrong. It sounds ridiculous now, as I so adore her.’

HIT ITV crime drama Des, starring David Tennant as Dennis Nilsen, brought back unwelcome memories for writer Toby Young. He claims the serial killer tried to lure him back to his flat when they met at West London pub The Boltons when Toby was a teenager. ‘One of my friends introduced me to someone he described as the “civil servant”, a slightly awkward, bespectacled man with dark hair who invited me back to his flat,’ Young recalls. Luckily, he didn’t go. ‘When I read later that one of his hunting grounds was The Boltons, I thought: “Oh, my God, that was the guy!” ’