Key Points
- Prue Leith credits testosterone gel, estrogen patches and progesterone pills for boosting libido and youthfulness.
- She says hormone replacement therapy enabled continued activity, work and appearance in her late eighties.
- Leith is stepping back from Bake Off to prioritise holidays and more leisure time.
Why They're In The News
SHE might be nearly 90, but Prue Leith is stilling get laid.
The Bake Off star, 86, revealed to Saga magazine that she is spicing up her sex life with husband John Playfair with the by using testosterone gel.
She says she introduced the gel — but doesn’t reveal exactly where she applies it — in addition to to oestrogen patches and progesterone pills.
“It’s great for libido. You feel better and younger,” she said.
“I asked a doctor, ‘What’s normal [concerning sex in older couples]?’ She said there are no studies, because it’s just imagined people my age don’t.
“I don’t think I’d be active in every sense without hormone replacement therapy. When people ask, “How do you look so young? How are you still working?” Well, that’s the secret.”
Prue and fashion designer John, 78, married in 2016 during a ceremony in Scotland, after first crossing paths in 2011. She was married to her first husband nearly 30 years before his death in 2002
Leith recently announced she was stepping back from Bake Off in January and it has since been confirmed Nigella Lawson will take her place.
She recently discussed her decision to quit in an interview with The Spectator.
“When I joined nine years ago, I thought, since I was in my mid-seventies, that I’d be lucky to manage two years,” she said.
“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.
“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.”
Why This Matters
Leith's candid admission destigmatizes sexual health and hormone therapy for older adults, challenging ageist assumptions and prompting public and medical conversations about quality of life, informed consent, and access to treatments that can improve wellbeing in later life.
