Dame Prue Leith, the 86-year-old Great British Bake Off star, was rushed to hospital while on holiday in Yorkshire after a severe migraine left her struggling to speak. The television personality revealed the scare in her column for The Oldie magazine, describing how the unusual symptom prompted fears she might be having a stroke.
Writing in her “Prue’s News” column for the September edition, due to be published on Friday, Leith explained that she has experienced migraines since the age of nine and is familiar with their warning signs. Typically, her attacks begin with visual disturbances, followed by flickering coloured lights and, if she does not take medication quickly, an intense headache.
Sudden speech loss during holiday
During the recent episode, however, she experienced a symptom she described as “rare”. “I couldn’t string two words together,” she recalled, adding that her speech had become an “incomprehensible jumble of disconnected words”. Despite her attempts to reassure her husband, John Playfair, that it was a migraine rather than a stroke, he was sufficiently concerned to contact their doctor.
The doctor asked Leith to perform simple checks, including raising her arms and making a fist, and to report any pain or facial drooping. Although she passed these checks without those symptoms, the doctor advised that an ambulance take her to hospital.
Hospital assessment and CT scan
Leith was taken to Harrogate hospital, where she was assessed by a paramedic and a nurse before waiting to see a doctor and undergo a CT scan. She eventually left after spending around 10 hours there. Reflecting on the experience, she said she had been confident the episode was caused by a migraine, but acknowledged why those around her had taken no chances. She noted that difficulty speaking can be a classic warning sign of a stroke, and that strokes and mini-strokes become more common with age.
“I knew all along that all I had was a migraine,” she wrote, but said the medical team had been right to make sure it was “safe not sorry”. The former Bake Off judge also used her account to praise the NHS staff who treated her, describing them as “cheerful, sympathetic, polite, helpful and professional”.
Praise for NHS and ongoing health management
Leith said that although patients can face lengthy waits in A&E, she felt staff treated her with individual care once it was her turn. She added that the experience left her understanding why “the nation is devoted to the NHS”.
Leith has spoken previously about living with migraines and keeps medication in several places, including her handbag, washbag and her husband’s shoulder bag. The chef and broadcaster has remained a prominent figure in British food and television throughout a career spanning six decades. Alongside her time as a judge on Great British Bake Off, she has appeared on Great British Menu and has campaigned extensively for food education. She was made a dame in 2021 in recognition of her services to food, broadcasting and charity.
