Prue Leith has said her decision to quit The Great British Bake Off came from a desire to "work less and play more".
It was announced last week that Leith was stepping down as a judge on the popular Channel 4 baking show after nine series, including judging more than 400 challenges.
Leith joined the show in 2017 when it moved from the BBC to Channel 4, and will be replaced by TV cook and cookbook author Nigella Lawson.
Writing for The Spectator, Leith said: "I have been dithering for years about when to stop judging The Great British Bake Off.
"When I joined nine years ago, I thought, since I was in my mid-seventies, that I'd be lucky to manage two years.
"At that age, my mother was deaf as a post and away with the fairies, believing her son was her father and that her cat was the one she’d had 40 years before.
"But my marbles stayed more or less in place and there seemed no good reason to give up a job I loved.
"Finally, though, the desire to work less and play more got to me.
"Bake Off and its offshoots such as The Great American Baking Show and even the Christmas specials are all filmed in the summer, which has meant I could never have a summer holiday."
Following a trip to Madagascar to escape the English winter, Leith said she "finally jumped" and made the call to leave.
She said: "I suddenly realised that if I don’t give up Bake Off, I’ll never again have a holiday in the south of France, in Italy, in Spain, or even in Cornwall or Scotland."
Leith also described her replacement Lawson as "a great baker" and "mighty glam", and said that despite filming schedules making summer plans challenging, she "never had to learn lines, rehearse, go to meetings" and was able to just walk on and eat cake.
"There cannot be a better job in the world," she said.
Leith added: "(Lawson is) also really nice, mighty glam and seriously bright, sexy and sassy.
"I’m just glad she wasn’t in the running nine years ago."
Leith said she will miss "being treated like a VIP (very important person)", fellow judge Paul Hollywood’s teasing and the Bake Off co-presenters, specifically the "unstoppable, loving, hilarious" Alison Hammond and her "giant hugs" and the "multi-talented, slightly crazy" comedian Noel Fielding.
She said: "I’ve made truly great friends.
"It has been a joy to work in such great company.
"I find it irritating when businesses insist their staff are all just one happy family.
"But that tent does seem to create an atmosphere of enjoyment, friendship and mutual support.
"But in the end, I persuaded myself that at 86, it was time I jumped before I was pushed.
"In all my conversations over the past two years with the bosses of Love Productions, which makes the programme, they’ve always insisted I was doing a great job and could stay as long as I like.
"And I know I’d enjoy it if I stayed. But I do want to reorganise my life a bit. Ideally, I’d like to work in winter and play in summer."
The Great British Bake Off will air later this year.
Source: Press Association
