Leith: fathers make a meal of being tired

FATHERS “do go on about how hard work parenthood is”, Prue Leith has said as she revealed that Noel Fielding is often tired on the Bake Off set.

The Great British Bake Off judge revealed that her costar, who recently became a father, had complained about how tired it was making him.

The 78-year-old, speaking at the Cheltenham Literary Festival yesterday, joked that men tended to complain about having the easier side of the parenting bargain.

She said: “Noel is one of the funniest young men I have ever met. He is such a darling and he’s just had a baby. These men who have babies, they do go on about how hard work it is.

“They are always feeling exhausted all the time. Men go on a lot about how tiring motherhood is.”

Leith, who gave up writing cookbooks 20 years ago to become a novelist, also revealed she was loving the “limelight” that being on Bake Off had afforded her

She later added that when she watched the Channel 4 show she could only focus on herself. “I have to say that I don’t watch it with the right attitude,” said Leith.

“I watch it and think ‘why is the camera going round the back of me showing my fat cheek? Why aren’t I smiling? Why am I so grumpy?’ I am just so vain. When I am on the screen I just cannot look at anyone else.”

The television chef also revealed she would like her last meal before she dies to be the same one she had the day she married for the second time two years ago: double oysters and treacle tart.

Leith told the audience she had been to an oyster bar in Edinburgh with her husband, John Playfair, and the two friends who acted as witnesses for the couple, before the ceremony.

After enjoying her first course of 12 oysters so much she ordered a second for her main and then finished with the tart and custard.