Is Prue Leith coming to the GBBO?

Rumors are swirling that restaurateur, and cookery-school founder Prue Leith may be in the running to replace Mary Berry on the new GBBO. No one has confirmed this rumor, but many people agree that she is amply qualified for the hosting spot. Leith opened her Michelin-starred restaurant, Leith’s, in the late 1960s and founded Leiths School of Food and Wine a few years later. She’s written many cookbooks plus a handful of novels.

Leith says that she has had two auditions and several meetings with GBBO producers and thinks the job is down to two contenders (there’s no word on who the other contender may be). Hosting the show would be a dream job, according to Leith. “Of course I’d love to do it. Who wouldn’t want to do it?” she said in an interview. Both Love Productions, who purchased the rights to the show, and Channel 4 have declined to confirm whether Leith is being considered for the job.

The 76-year-old Leith is the same age as Berry, who chose to stay with BBC after GBBO was sold. The show is set to return later this year, as the BBC decided not to exercise a “hold-back” clause that would have precluded Channel 4 from airing the show in 2017.