Keeping the weight off during lockdown is tough at the best of times – especially if you’re Prue Leith in the Great British Bake Off tent, surrounded by delicious cakes week after week.
The TV chef put on a stone during filming on the 2019 series, but has now revealed how she’s managed to avoid gaining weight during the current run.
The answer? Strict calorie counting and skipping meals between judging bakes.
Speaking to the Daily Mail, Prue said: ‘People ask, how do I manage to eat all that sugar? If you have 12 bakers in the tent doing two challenges a day, that is 24 teaspoons.
‘If you are careful, you can get away with 600 calories [from the tastings], which means you can have dinner. You do have to skip breakfast and lunch, however.’
Prue might be skipping meals, but the judge revealed that Paul Hollywood made no changes to his normal routine and still ate three meals a day during filming.
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‘Paul and I both love it when we have a healthy bake challenge because it is such a relief from all the sugar we eat,’ she said. ‘Paul can eat anything and never gets fat. It makes you want to kill him really.’
The judge also spoke about the Great British Bake Off helping to keep the nation’s spirits up during lockdown, saying: ‘I do think it is important to the nation’s health, despite the fact it is pushing sugar.’
The 11th series of the Great British Bake Off recently passed its halfway stage, with six bakers left in the competition.
The show has made special allowances for coronavirus regulations this year, moving the tent to the grounds of Down Hall Hotel in Essex and housing the contestants in biosphere bubbles.
The Great British Bake Off airs on Tuesday nights at 8pm on Channel 4.