Prue Leith admits she had no idea who Noel Fielding was

Prue Leith has admitted she'd never heard of Noel Fielding before he appeared on The Great British Bake Off with her.

Leith was appearing on Lorraine to talk about her life and career including Matt Lucas' recent departure from Bake Off.

Leith was asked who she would like to replace Lucas to which she said: “I don’t know any young comedians... I’d never heard of Noel Fielding when he came on."

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She then joked: “[I’d like] someone I know, preferably!”

Noel Fielding has starred on Bake Off since the show moved to Channel 4 in 2017. He initially co-hosted with Sandi Toksvig before Matt Lucas replaced the QI star in 2019.

Lucas announced his departure from the popular cooking show earlier this December: “Farewell Bake Off! It’s been a delicious experience and I can’t imagine a more fun way of spending my summers. But it’s become clear to me that I can’t present both Fantasy Football League and Bake Off alongside all my other projects."

The Little Britain star added: “So, after three series and 51 episodes, I am cheerfully passing the baguette on to someone else.”

While Lucas will not appear in any future seasons of Bake Off, he will be seen in this year's Christmas specials which are set to air on Christmas Eve and New Year's Day.

Lucas recently began co-hosting a reboot of Fantasy Football League alongside comedian Elis James which airs on Sky Max.

The original series was hosted by David Baddiel and Frank Skinner in the 1990's which has since become controversial for Baddiel wearing blackface to impersonate Nottingham Forest striker Jason Lee.

Baddiel only recently apologised for his actions while Skinner previously admitted he was "ashamed" of the content in the sketch.

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