Dinner’s on Me with Jesse Tyler Ferguson - Prue Leith – on late-in-life fame, scandalous love, and why ‘Bake Off’ is ‘a piece of cake’

Episode Date: August 12, 2025

'The Great British Bakeoff’ and ‘The Great American Baking Show’ Prue Leith joins the show. Over escargot, we talk about her incredible life before TV: growing up during apartheid in South Africa, falling in love with her mother’s best friend’s husband, and becoming a celebrated chef, novelist, and memoirist. Plus, Prue shares how it feels to be thriving in her 80s, and the lemon curd cupcake she still remembers from my time in the tent. This episode was recorded at L’Escargot in Soho, London. Ps. Don’t forget to see me (alongside Prue) in The Great American Baking Show: Summer Special – out August 16 on Roku! Want next week’s episode now? Subscribe to Dinner’s on Me PLUS. As a subscriber, not only do you get access to new episodes one week early, but you’ll also be able to listen completely ad-free! Just click “Try Free” at the top of the Dinner’s on Me show page on Apple Podcasts to start your free trial today. A Sony Music Entertainment & A Kid Named Beckett production. Get 15% off your Saily plan with the code ⁠⁠⁠⁠dinnersonme⁠⁠⁠⁠. Just download the Saily app or head to ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://saily.com/dinnersonme⁠⁠⁠⁠. Stay connected — and don’t miss your dinner reservation. Stay connected — and don’t miss your dinner reservation. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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Hi, it's Jesse. Today's guest, you know, is one of the judges on the Great British Bake Off and its American counterpart, the great American baking show. It's legendary Prue Leith. I watch really very little telly anyway. And did you know I was on Modern Family? No. I love that.

Do you know any of the people that come on this show? You're like, I don't know. They're famous in America. I don't know anybody who comes on the show. It's too embarrassing. This is Dinner's On Me, and I'm your host, Jesse Tyler Ferguson. So last summer, I was able to come to the UK and be a contestant on the great American baking show. I was so excited.

It's coming out very soon on Roku. I felt like I was living a dream. And I got to meet two of my heroes, both Paul Hollywood and the legendary Prue Leith. They are the two judges on both the Great British Bake Off and its American counterpart, the great American baking show. I knew after I met Prue, I wanted to sit down and have a meal with her because not only is she legendary in the television world with the Great British Bake Off, but she also has this incredible history and this incredible past that I really wanted to dive into. She's a celebrated chef. She's a pioneer in the food industry.

She's a novelist. She's a memoirist. Her memoir relish is absolutely incredible. It reads like a novel in itself. She's someone who has reinvented herself more times than I've changed dinner reservations. I brought Prue to Les Cargo, which is one of London's oldest and most storied French restaurant. I used to walk by this place all the time when I would stay in Soho as a tourist. I've always wanted to come here.

They have incredible Moufritz, foie gras, and yes, of course, snails. Since 1927, they've been operating. The dining room is gorgeous. It's seen it all. It has had rock stars, writers, actors, politicians, Coco Chanel used to eat here, Elton John, Dame Judy Dench, Princess Diana. It's elegant. It's not fussy. It's sort of theatrical, which, you know, I love.

And it is a perfect setting to talk to someone like Prue Leith. I met you initially because I got to be a contestant on the American... The Great American baking show. I know it's weird that there's like a different title for the Americans. It's not Bake Off, it's baking show. And the reason is, do you know what the reason is? No. Pillsbury owned the name of Bake Off.

Oh. So they wouldn't let us have it or they, I don't know, maybe they want lots of money to use it. Oh. But we would love to, of course, it's American Bake Off. But you can call it the Great British Bake Off. That's what it's... Yes, they don't own it.

They don't know it here. They only are in American. Oh, interesting. I didn't know that. Yeah. Okay, so that's why it's called Baking Show. Yeah. It's not as exciting.

But I had the best time I was so excited to be asked for, you know, this one-off celebrity episode for, you know, we played for charity. But when I left, when I finished that, you know, three days, I told the person. I told the producers, I was like, if you ever want to, like, consider me for a full-time contestant, I would do it. I had the best time I didn't want to go. And people do have a good time, yeah. You know, I'm good in the kitchen. I have a cookbook.

I wrote it with a friend of mine who's way more skilled in the kitchen than I am. But it's a cookbook about, you know, cooking with your friends. So it made sense that I was cooking with this friend of mine who basically taught me how to... Did you call it cooking with friends? I called it food between friends. You're probably going to get a copy of it. One of my cookbooks was cooking with friends. Oh, really?

Like, oh, come on, I'm planning. Copyright. And maybe we tried, and they're like, oh, it's been taken. But so I'm okay in the kitchen, and I've been asked to do a few, you know, shows like that. And I've always said no because I don't want to be duped or I don't want to be made to look foolish if I can't do something. And the moment I was asked to do The Great American Baking Show, I said yes, immediately because I was such a fan of the original, you know, the old. the original show, and it's filled with so much positivity. And, yes, people make mistakes. And I didn't think anybody feels humiliated.

No. Yes. I mean, that's the whole point of it. It's very joyful. Yeah, yeah, it is. I had a great time. Yeah, I had a wonderful time. So, you know, I've watched the show since the very beginning when Mary Berry was judging with Paul Hollywood, and you replaced Mary Berry in 2017.

Did you feel that those were? Big shoes to fill. I mean... Do you know, I didn't simply because I had never watched Bake-off. Really? No, I hadn't. I watched really very little telly anyway. Does you know I was on Modern Family?

No. I love that. Do you know any of the people that come on this show? You're like, I don't know. They're famous in America. I don't know anybody who comes on the show. It's too embarrassing. I have to have a little crib sheet and mud you all up.

Do they give you a little Che-C-C-Chi? I don't know what Honor family is. I've never heard of it Oh, that's okay I know But I don't watch Very much British television Never mind American

And so no And I knew Mary Mary And I'd rung her up To find out what Working with Paul would be like And she said You have to hold your ground Because actually he doesn't need you

He knows so much about baking He could quite easily judge the show Without any help from anyone But they want to have two presenters Interesting. How did you find your, like, your, I guess, placement in that relationship? You know, you obviously bring a lot to the show. Was it difficult coming into it, you know, replacing someone who had, you know. Well, she'd been famous for cakes. Right. I mean, she's a really great baker, Mary. No, I didn't worry too much about that because I felt perfectly competent. I'm not nothing. I mean, I haven't made my living out of cakes, but out of cooking. So it's a little bit different. Yeah. But I think I'm quite relaxed and fairly confident anyway.

And I don't actually mind if I make an idiot of myself too much. I think you get more relaxed about that as you get older. You've got a way to go. But, you know, I just think, well, what does it matter? It's not the end of the world if you cock up. Yeah. And I have a program now which is called Pruleith's Cotswold Kitchen. It goes out on Saturday mornings on my TV.

And it's a sort of chop and chat show But it's done on such a budget And it's done in my kitchen In my real kitchen at home And I start the show by demonstrating some dish And we don't have any time to do what most shows do Which show, they have sort of four backup chickens in case You know, in case you make a cock-up

There's so little money for this So if I make a mess If I break a turn out a cake and it comes out cracked I say, ah Well, what you do is, what you do lose, you get some ice, and you'll cover it up. That's what people want to know. Yeah.

That's great. And so it's hugely popular because it's, and sometimes I think I should do some more deliberate mistakes because people love it when they learn how to fix it. Sure. That's what I want to know. Yes. Yeah. I mean, the testing process for a cookbook is so mind-numbing because you have to, you know,

adjust here and there and write everything down, and it's quite a process. And you can make things seven, eight, nine times before you figure it out. I don't know. This is at least just me. No, that's true. You know, you can't afford to make a mistake in a recipe because that's somebody's money going down the drain. It's an absolute cardinal sin to make a mistake in a couple. Yeah.

I once made one quite amusingly when I was writing for the Daily Mail. Oh, tell me. And I said, instead of mince the chicken, I said mince the children. Oh, that's so good. popular. That's so funny. Oh my goodness, that is serious, Ascargo. Heavens.

You're not messing around here, are they? It's garlic, parsley and butter. Just parsley and butter. Oh, wow, lovely. I need a piece of bread with it, don't I? That's glorious. I think I'll have a palompa. Oh, it's warm, too.

Do you know, I think the test, the first test of a restaurant is the bread. Mmm. And this is four varieties, and they're warm. Just beautiful. That is nice. Nice springiness, wouldn't you say, Prue? Nice crunch. Oh, lovely.

Perfect. Mmm, that's great. You see, the trouble with this is, there's got to be three or four ounces of butter on this. Yeah. And it's all melted. Yeah. And I will end up putting all the bread into the butter.

Yeah. And absolutely divine and about as bad fused can get. It's a special day. It is. We're together, and that deserves to be celebrated, don't you think? Oh. Did you realize that your life would change so much when you joined a baking show? No, I didn't.

I know. I often think about this, because I think, of course, because I'm getting on, I do think about retirement, and I think what I really miss is all the perks of so-called celebrity. I mean, I think most people still don't know who I am when I walked down the street, which is good, because I'm not stopped all the time. But the fact that somebody thinks I'm a celeb is really good because I get wonderful invitations like to go to the Chelsea Flower Show. But I also, I just love that, do you mind sharing your age? No, I'm 85. Wow.

To have, and when did you join the bake-off? my ninth year now. Oh my goodness. It's like such a renaissance moment to have in, and, you know, your 70s to, to, to have this, you know, all of a sudden this new popularity and this fame. I just find that so exciting and inspiring. Well, I'm so lucky. I mean, I was, before I did Bake-off, for 11 years I judged a show called The Great British Menu. And it was a competition between top chefs. And that was good training for Bakeoff, because Bake Off is a piece of tape. Excuse the pun.

Yeah. But it is a piece of tape compared to a great British menu. I judged a show in the States called So You Think You Can Dance. But I always, there were times when, you know, criticism was necessary. And I always struggled with how to say something kind of. kindly without hurting someone's feelings or destroying their dreams. And these were also kids, I might also add. Making it very unhappy.

Yeah. Did you remember a time when you really struggled with, you know, crushing someone and also being honest and doing your job? Well, you know, I had a cookery school, which is lots of students in it and a restaurant and catering company. And people would come and go all the time. And I very quickly learned that if you're nasty to people. people, they don't stay. So it's in your interest to be kind. It's in my nature to want to teach people or help them rather than put them down. So if I thought that was too salty, I wouldn't say you put too much salt in that, naughty boy. I would say, you know what? That

tomato is absolutely delicious and it's really, really good. The feta has quite a lot of salt on it. So if I was you, I'd go easy on the salt. And then they feel they're just getting advice rather than getting a punch in the face. Right. Well, I had a blast to doing it. I was, like I said, in heaven. And I would have done a whole series if they wanted me to. Now for a quick break, but don't go away. When we come back, Prue opens up about her special bond with her childhood nanny. She talks about growing up in South Africa during apartheid, and the brave stand she took against her Catholic school as a child. Okay, be right back.

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I like novels, which my husband doesn't read novels at all, which seems to me ridiculous. Well, I've written eight novels. I know. We're going to talk about that. And he says they're the only novels he's ever read because he, when he was checking me out before we had our first date, but we'd met. But he thought, well, I better find. And somebody told him that I was a novelist. So he ordered, he never does anything by halves.

So he ordered all of them from Amazon. Is there eight? I thought that was more than eight. No, eight novels. I've written 16 cookbooks. Right. And eight novels. Gotcha.

And an autobiography. Anyway, so he got them all, including the autobiography. Well, no, the memoir and autobiography, yeah, that's, there's a lot in there. Yeah. So he, you laid a lot out on the table. I know. Yeah. So by the time you met me, he knew me quite well.

Very well. Yeah. Very well. I mean, researching you was a lot of, A lot of fun, Prue. All right. Yeah. I also researched you and read a bit of that book, too.

All right. We have things to talk about. There you are. That's what happens. If you write an autobiography, you put it all out. You put it all out there. People have follow-up questions. Well, I did think about it, you know, because a lot of people's biographies are really

irritating because you want to know more. Mm-hmm. And they're obviously clamming up because they don't want to offend somebody or something. Well, also, a lot of people, when they write their own stories, they, there's a bit of a revisionist history, like they write what they kind of wanted. Yeah, that's what I find. Or like, you know, they're able to color or sort of influence the way. Well, I think that probably happens to everybody a bit.

I mean, I think, I'm sure, you know, for example, about my childhood, I sent the chapters on out my childhood to both my brothers. Okay. To check, you know, that I've got it right. Fraccarcy, yeah. And, of course, they were both in it. And they both came back and said, it's great, but none of it's true. And I said, what do you mean? Every word of it is true.

And then I said, well, tell me your version. And then they both told me they were it. It's completely different from each others. The fact is no three people remember the same thing. That's why it's so difficult. You know, I once worked for a judge. And he said that if you have two witnesses and their story, totally matches you know they corroborate each other completely they're lying because they

planned it they've plotted it they put it together because nobody does remember the same thing there's so much i'd love to touch on with your let's i mean do you mind if i ask you some questions because a lot of people you know i think you know are new to your history you've you lay out so much of it in the book so much of it it's so interesting and i really do love your honesty first of all you're a brilliant writer. I mean, you're a great novelist. You can come again. Yeah, yeah, yeah. You're a fantastic writer, and so you tell these stories so beautifully. But you grew up in South Africa, during apartheid, and you had a, like, middle class. Very privileged white, South African upbringing. But my mother was an actress. And an activist, well, right? And an

activist. Yes, she used to campaign against apartheid. And I'm not. And I'm not. And I, Our whole family was much more liberal than the average white South African family. Right. And so we were brought up with the knowledge that apartheid was wrong. But what I didn't realize was that how much that system of keeping black people away from white people permeates everything so that you don't even notice it. I didn't think twice about sitting in the front of the bus as a little kid while my nanny had to see. sit at the back of the bus. You know, it just, that's how

it was. If we, if I walked with her into a shop to buy something, she would always send me to buy it because I could go straight to the front of the black queue. I mean, there'd be a long queue of black women at the till, but white, even white kids could

jump that queue. Wow. And it didn't occur to me to say that's wrong. Right. And you know, it didn't worry me. until I got to university and really started thinking properly. I joined an anti-apartheid movement and I used to go marching in the street and all the rest of it.

But it didn't occur to me until I was thinking about it that my nanny and our gardener and cook they only got two weeks off a year for holidays and my nanny only saw her children in that two weeks when she went all the way back to where they lived because of the Group Areas Act. The fact is that we were with our parents all the time. We grew up under the influence of our parents.

She had to pass her bringing up of her children over to her mother. And she was lucky she had a granny. You know, they had a granny. But she saw them for two weeks here. Yeah. And she had to travel over a thousand miles to get there. Wow.

I assume you were close with her. Oh, yeah, I was. She was called Emma. She was absolutely wonderful. Yeah. And you have some great stories about a boarding school as well. I went to Catholic school for 12 years. As my mother would say, it's really unnatural to lock up a 40-year-old,

all young women in their 30s and 40s with a lot of adolescent girls and no other contact. But anyway, there was a tradition in my school that the living. leaving class, the sixth fall, before they left, they had a meeting with the head teacher, which was supposed to be a feedback session that they could tell the teacher what they thought could be improved in the school. And usually it would be, you know, could we have a bigger swimming pool? Right. Yeah. We have more sweets on Saturday or something. But we had decided the bunch of us that the thing that was really wrong with the school was all that we'd call it abuse today.

but what was going on with the nuns. And we'd grown out of that, that age, because what they really were after were the sort of pre-prevesant girls. And we were now sort of 17 or 60, 16, 17, 18. And I had never been a border in that younger time. But I knew about it. And what this nun particularly used to do was she'd make, it's quite easy to make girls cry.

And she would make them cry, get angry with them. And the girls would start to cry. And then she'd comfort them. And the comforting would turn into, you know, stroking them all over. So we all thought this was really wrong. And so somebody had to say it. So I said it. She was called Sister Irene Benedict.

And she was a woman of about 35. I said, Sister, what we want to say is that we think it's really bad the way you make the girls cry and then by comforting them start to stroke them and put your hands where you shouldn't. And then the Angelus, which is a bell

and if you went to Catholic, you'll know what an angelus is but basically at 6 o'clock the tradition was that whenever the angelus bell rang everybody stood up and whoever was most senior in the room would then recite the Hail Mary and Hail Mary full of grace So as soon as the bell rang

I thought thank God I can stop telling this and other stuff And so we all stood up And of course we expected her She was the most senior person in the room She was the head of the school And she didn't say a word And so I looked at her

She was dumbstruck, yeah And I just saw that her whole face was crimson. I mean, absolutely scarless. And she just couldn't speak. Yeah, thank you. The Morfritz over here. Yes, thank you. The warm, got cheese, figs and honey. Oh, that looks good. Thank you. Thank you so much. No problem.

It's very happy. Got it. Thank you. I appreciate it. Thanks so much. It's so strange for eating this dinner at now. I know, I know. Are we pretending it's dinner? No. We know it's the middle of the day. Did you, when you were a little, which I certainly did, growing up in a very Christian school, I was terrified that I'd get the call that God would want me to be a nun. Oh, God, no, I never worried about that. I wonder what that call it sound like. I had a very religious phase when I was 11.

I'd be down on my knee. My father was completely atheist. Interesting. And I'd be on my knees begging God to not send him to hell. I was really praying hard for my father because he didn't believe in him. And, of course, I ended up an atheist and still am. Wow. Now for a quick break, but don't go away.

When we come back, Prue shares the unexpected love story with her first husband. We also chat about filming the Great American Baking Show summer special, which I was a contestant on, dot on Roku very soon. I want to know if my baking passed the Proust. Okay, be right back. All right, let's talk about something near and dear to my heart, building the perfect sandwich. And yes, yes, I take this very seriously. Step one, you need a great bread, fresh, crusty, something with character.

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Kate McKinnon, and Allison Janney. A hilarious new comedy filled with drama, excitement, and a little bit of hatred, proving that marriage isn't always a bed of roses. See the roses only in theaters August 29th. And we're back with more dinners on me. You have the most remarkable love story with your first husband, I had no idea. I mean, this was like if you Google your name is the first thing that comes up. I mean, and you've written about it so beautifully. But it is, I mean, it's a page turner in itself.

It's always difficult to talk about it because, I mean, it's not too bad with you, because in a way I can tell you enough for you to understand it. But in most contexts, I just refuse to answer this question. Because the question is, how can you have had an affair with your mother's best friend's husband? Well, the truth was, I'd known him since I was three. And, you know, my family were living in South Africa, and they were living in England, so we didn't see them. But we were still very close.

My mother and Rain's wife, Nan, were still best friends. And then when I came to live in England, when I went to the Cordobler, Cookery School, I stayed, I lived with them, I stayed with them. He was 20 years younger than Nan, his wife, and I was 20 years younger than him. So there was 40 years between me and Nan, his two wives, as it turns out. And I adored her, and she was wonderful to me, and she was like a mother to me, and she couldn't have been more welcoming. But I fell in love with her husband, and he with me.

mean. And so for years, we kept it absolutely secret. We had a 13-year secret affair. And I never pushed him. I never asked him to marry me. I never asked him to leave Nan. I love Nan. We all, I loved the whole family. But of course, it was living a lie for 13 years. But I knew it would be heartbreaking for her if he left. I was quite content because I just started my restaurant and he was the chairman of my company. He'd helped me all along. And so we worked together all the time.

So it never seemed odd. You know, if we were very discreet, we didn't go to the cinema together, we didn't go out to lunch or anything together. But if we had ever been seen together in the street or something, it would have been perfectly natural because we spent a lot of time anyway together. So, I mean, I can't justify it

because I think it's wrong. I still think adultery is bad, but I wouldn't undo it. See, people say to me, if you think it was wrong, would you have done, would you do things differently? No, I wouldn't.

He was the most important man in my life. And then you ended up, when he left his wife, when he left Nan, you ended up being married to him for many, many, 25 years. We both had 25 years of him. The love of your life, yeah.

She was married to him for 25 years, and then I was married to him. Then I was with him for 25 years. I wasn't married to him all that time. And he was particularly amazing because he was determined that we'd all still stay friends. And of course, Nan was really very upset at the beginning. She said to me, we had lunch together after a while, and we talked about it, and I explained. and more or less I just said, you know, I'm desperately sorry, but I couldn't help it and I wouldn't change it.

And she said, well, I understand that, she said, because I remember when I, she said, when I first met Rayne and he wanted to marry me, my mother was saying, Nan, you can't marry me, he's 20 years younger than you, it'll never work. And she said, if I have five years of him, it will have been worth it. You know, I love him so much.

I've got to marry him. So she did, and they had 25 years. And so she was saying to me, I understand this because I had this conversation in reverse when I was first met him. Interesting, yeah. So she was a remarkable woman. Again, a lot of empathy there. She was a remarkable woman. Wow.

She died when she was in her 90s. Rain used to see her. Did she remarry? No, she didn't. I mean, she was already, when we met, let's think. when I had the reason that the secrecy stopped we were secretly together for 13 years then I got pregnant and then we had to tell everybody yeah yeah it's sort of hard to be yeah couldn't have exactly that would have been a secret too many

right right so she lived to 97 I think 97 It's quite a full life And when she was ill and dying Rain used to see her Well, usually once a week And then she got more ill She was there all the time And it's the only time that I've known him

Were twice in his life When he just had a period For a few days when he didn't talk to anybody And he was just very withdrawn and silent And that was when his mother died And when his first wife died so anyway

it's just it's it's cinematic that's like I can say it's really a remarkable love story and I I'm just fascinated by it and I know

you speak also so so eloquently about how heartbroken you were when he passed awful I did honestly that he were that was awful yeah

I know but you know this The old queen, our old queen, Queen Elizabeth. I thought you were just throwing a slur at me. This old queen. No, I don't mean this old queen. I don't mean this old queen. I mean, when the old queen was talking about loss,

I think she was talking about Prince Philip's death. she said grief is the price you pay for love and it's a very exact price you know if you love somebody a lot the grief is horrific yeah I have lost my mom in November and I miss her deeply

and I always say that the grief is a reminder of how much I loves her what are your favorite memories with rain well I think the thing that used to which I suppose was the most point is that he was very reclusive. I'm very gregarious. And he, when we moved to the country,

he wanted to not be able to see anybody. So we found this. Oh, I'm so relented that. Absolutely. Me and right are the same person. He wanted a sort of derelict farmhouse where there was absolutely nobody in sight. So we bought this enormous place,

much too big for us. But it was miles from anyone else. Okay. And I would be commuting to London a lot because I was running my businesses because by then I had the restaurant, the catering company and the school, the cookery school. And so I was very busy. And so I was mostly on a train or going backwards and forwards. But wherever we were at 7 o'clock in the evening, if we were at home, we'd meet for a drink in the summer on the terrace in the winter in the sitting room.

and seven o'clock we'd have half an hour together before I made supper or whatever and so when he died that seven o'clock was the most terrible time because it was sort of so built into me after 25 years of it's seven o'clock I must ring rain because wherever I was I'd ring him if we were not together how long have you been remarried um well quite a long time now um 15 years We have not been married 15 years We've been together 15 years

Took us five years to do Your new husband I'll just call him your new husband What's your young lover's name? John He's my toy boy Your toy boy He's 76

Okay He is All right Thank you Oh, thank you Oh, I got something sweet Yeah I got something sweet.

Yeah, lovely Thank you Are you Do you still enjoy cooking and do you spend a lot of time in the kitchen? I know you have your cooking show. I do. I just love it.

Even if I'm just making omelets, I like it. I don't have to do posh stuff. My mother used to say to me, you know, like mostly you say to people, when they're going to go for a walk, go outside, get some fresh air or something. What you need is asleep. You say to children, you're just tired. Well, everybody just says to me, oh, Prue, go and cook. Get in the kitchen.

That'll fix it. So, yeah, I do. cook every day. I'm just so astonished by how you have continued to, your life is so full at 85 and you're doing so much and you're shooting two TV shows and you have this, you know, this such rich history and this big family and are there things that you are still hoping for that are you looking toward, are you letting life surprise you? Well, one of my unfulfilled dreams.

Okay. I really, really want one of those novels to be made. into a film. Okay. Is there one in particular that you think would make a great film? I think the gardener. Okay.

I mean, basically it's about a rather academic girl who has been a landscape architect and she becomes a gardener. And she has two children. She's divorced. And the owner of the garden she goes to work for is, of course, charismatic and delicious and wonderful.

but he is really crude and Irish. Who's your dream casting? Well, my dream casting for her is probably Phoebe Waller. Feeby Waller Bridge. We love her. She's wonderful. She'd fit this character very well. I want that to happen.

Well, I do too, but it's showing no signs of doing so yet. Okay, well, maybe this podcast will generate more exciting. Yes, exactly. I'll get it started for you. MGM will be on the phone. Right, exactly. You never know. Listen, you never know. So you're starting filming again for...

We're filming bake-off now. You're filming bake-off and then baking show. A baking show, yes. We're going to talk about baking show. Yes, we should talk a bit about it because I think the baking show would like us to. Yeah, no, no. Well, I mean, I talked a little bit about at the beginning, but I... But you loved it, so...

I had the best time, I... Remind me of all the things you've made. Okay. I made a lemon curd, Cupcake. Oh, yeah. You loved it. I did love it. You did love it.

I do remember that. In fact, I remember thinking, why doesn't, why isn't lemon curd a regular thing on cupcakes? Oh, it's delicious. It's so delicious. You often get lemon cupcakes in that the cake is lemony, but yours had actual lemon cur. I wanted that, like, surprise in the middle, and that was an addition. So I, listen, I practiced. So what a lot of people don't know is when you go on to.

The show is, you know, two of the things you're going to make. And you can practice them as much as you like. You can practice them as much as you like. The other, the technical challenge is something that you're going to be surprised with. So I practiced my bakes. Yeah. I don't know if all of my contemporaries practice theirs. When you were in the sort of celeb episode.

Yes. So it was me, Andrew Reynolds, Yarra Shihidi, and June Diane Raffiel. And Yara was my competition for sure. I don't want any spoilers, but just know that Yara is one to keep an eye out. Yeah, she brought it. But I had so much fun. And it was so magical, like, being in that tent that I've seen on TV so much. Well, you know, a lot of people say that.

They say that when the first time they walk into that tent, it's sort of take a deep breath because it's quite awe-inspiring because it's exactly like you see in the tent. It's exactly like it is. It feels bigger. it feels bigger it does and um it was just it was just the best time and i i i felt like i was i honestly felt like i was in a dream because i've watched the show so many times or you sit on the floor and watch your bake and like you know i was doing all those things and there was a proofing drawer which i never had to use but um it was just for someone someone like me who

loves to be in the kitchen it's such a cook's dream or baker's dream because you have everything you could possibly want. Including somebody else to wash up. Exactly, someone will also wash up. But, you know, if you want sprinkles or, you know, you call them jimmies, I think. But, you know, there's a whole drawer of these things, decorations and all these things you can use. Yeah, no, it's the best way to cook. It really is.

It really is fantastic. It's the best way to make, I should say. Yeah, yeah, with a crew to clean up afterwards. Anyway, yeah, no, it is fun. And I'm quite looking forward to this year. because this will be my third year on American baking show. And I love it. You know, when I first was asked if I'd do it,

and I had been doing the British one for a long time, I thought, oh, I don't know, I've watched American competitions, and they're so brutal, and the contestants always sort of bad-mouthing each other and sort of sabotaging each other. There was some smack talk on art. That's all horrible. And I thought, oh, and they're all. Everybody's so loud and trying to grab the camera's attention.

And I just don't think I like it. Anyhow, it's just not like that at all. I mean, all the bakers, not just you guys, celebs who know what, you know, goes on. Just everybody, it doesn't matter where they come from all over that enormous country of yours. They all have watched the British Bake-off for years. They're all complete fans. We know what we're walking in. They all know how to behave.

They're already in that mood. Well, we're there because we love the show and we have reverence for it. And that means that you're a really nice people, frankly. Yes. And so they like each other, they support each other, they behave exactly like they do on Great British Baylor. The atmosphere in the Bake Off Tent is supportive and fun. And we have a great time.

I mean, I enjoy it. Yeah, I can tell you do. It's lovely. Yeah. Well, I cannot wait to see this. I haven't seen the episode. It's airing in the near future. I don't have an exact date, but on Roku, you can watch it in the States on Roku.

I'm so happy you did this with me. Well, I'm sorry. This has been absolutely lovely treat eating lunch in the middle of the day. It's a pleasure to take you out to dinner. Thank you. Or breakfast or whatever we're calling this. Whatever it is. Morning escargo.

Also, I have a little treat for you. You get to witness. a true bucketless moment for me. Check out Prue and I on the Great American Baking Show Celebrity Summer Edition, which I was a contestant on, streaming on Roku starting August 16th.

This episode of Dinners On Me was recorded at Les Cargo in Soho, London. Next week on Dinners On Me, you know him from films like The Sound of Metal and the TV series The Night of. He's out with a new film called Relay. It's Riz Ahmed. We'll get into growing up as a first-generation,

British Pakistani Muslim and South Asian representation in film and TV and how he's changing it and also how he prepares for playing such intense roles. And if you don't want to wait until next week to listen, you can download that episode right now by subscribing to Dinners on Me Plus. As a subscriber, not only do you get access to new episodes one week early, they'll also be able to listen completely ad free. Just click try free at the top of the Dinners On Me show page on Apple Podcasts to search Free Trial today.

The Dinner's On Me is a production of Sony Music Entertainment and a kid named Beckett Productions. It's hosted by me, Jesse Tyler Ferguson. It's executive produced by me and Jonathan Hirsch. Our showrunner is Joanna Clay. Our producer in the UK is Grace Laker. Our associate producer is Alyssa Midcalf. Sam Bear engineered this episode. Hansdale She composed our theme music.

Our head of production is Sammy Allison. Special thanks to Tamika Balance Kalasni and Justin Makita. I'm Jesse Tyler Ferguson. Join me next week.