Prue Leith challenges assumptions that old age means misery

Dame Prue Leith, an 86-year-old former Great British Bake Off judge, spoke about ageing at the 2026 Henley Literary Festival in Henley-on-Thames.

She said she wrote her book, Being Old...and Learning to Love It!, because she was tired of people treating old age as something miserable.

Leith said her turbulent teenage years were more stressful than being old.

She acknowledged that some older people are ill, lonely or unhappy, but said people who are well should enjoy their lives.

After her first husband died in 2002, she spent two years feeling deeply unhappy before coming to value living on her own.

She later fell in love with John Playfair at 70, and said the experience felt like falling in love at 17.

Her message is that staying open to new experiences can help people find happiness; the festival runs until 11 October.