Page 26
AS a judge surrounded by sumptuous
sponges and decadent desserts, it’s
perhaps no wonder she worries about
her waistline.
Now Bake Off ’s Prue Leith has admitted
she is on a ‘perpetual diet’ thanks to all
the temptations that come her way.
The cook, 79, said she tries to balance
her love of food with regular personal
training sessions, and attempts to avoid
too many glasses of wine.
In an interview with today’s Daily Mail
Weekend magazine by Katherine Hassell,
Miss Leith said: ‘Like most women I’m on
a perpetual diet I never keep to.
‘I wake every morning thinking, “I’ll have
no breakfast, very little lunch and not too
many glasses of wine tonight”. By the end
of the day, I’ve eaten my usual 2,000 calo-back in the Bake Off tent for the new
series, which starts on August 27.
Hollywood, 53, who recently split from
his girlfriend Summer Monteys-Fullam, 24,
offered some hints about this year’s
bakers. One is a vet, one a truck driver and
another a super fan who has followed the
programme since childhood.
‘They shook hands with me in the second
year of Bake Off,’ he revealed. ‘Now eight
years later, they’re in the tent.’
Bake Off, which moved to Channel 4 from
the BBC in 2016, has retained millions of
viewers, in part thanks to the chemistry
between the two judges. Miss Leith said of
Hollywood: ‘He’s got such a filthy mind.
He can make anything into something
rude. And then he starts laughing.’By Alisha Rouse
Showbusiness CorrespondentBan on the WI bakers is lifted
A HEALTH and safety ban on Women’s
Institute members baking cakes for a
hospice has been lifted.
The Daily Mail reported in May that
the Loros hospice in Leicester had
stopped accepting home-made cakes
because council rules said food had
to come from registered, approved
establishments.
It meant that the WI volunteers
faced submitting their kitchens torigorous checks. But Leicester City
Council now says that because many
members who bake cakes for the
charity did so infrequently, there
was no need for them to have a
hygiene certificate.
Janet Kirk of Leicestershire and
Rutland WI said: ‘Our members are
delighted to resume baking for
Loros.’ The hospice cares for 2,500
people every year.Food for thought:
Prue Leith with
co-star Paul
HollywoodFULL INTERVIEW
- SEE WEEKEND
ries. But I do have a personal trainer who
comes twice a week.’
Miss Leith said that while she tried to
stick to her exercise regime, she was often
relieved to miss a session or two.
‘I love it when she can’t come or I have to
cancel,’ she said. ‘I hate it, and she knows
I hate it. But I should keep doing it
because I’m getting to be an old lady. I
want to be able to get up the stairs.’
Her co-star, baker Paul Hollywood,
agreed that judging the Channel 4
competition often involves eating one too
many sugary treats. ‘In this year’s final, I
judged my 500th challenge,’ he said.
‘That’s a lot of calories.’
But he insisted reports he went on a diet
before each series are false, saying he
simply drinks more water and enjoys horse
riding for exercise. He and Miss Leith are(^) Daily Mail, Saturday, August 17, 2019
POSTBOXES in a town in Essex
have been taped up as a secu-
rity precaution after the local
postman lost his keys.
Residents of Canvey Island
found the slots and keyholes of
ten postboxes had been sealed
while Royal Mail awaited the
arrival of replacement keys.
David Thomas, a local council-
lor and Royal Mail worker, said:
‘I can confirm a set of keys have
gone missing. All postboxes
were cleared of mail using a
spare set of keys and then all
affected boxes were sealed up
as a security measure.
‘As the original keys went
missing, the boxes cannot be
used because someone in the
public domain may have these
keys and could gain access to
people’s mail.
Local Joan Thomas, 56, said: ‘It
makes for a brilliant story, but
you have to feel for the people
who just want to post a letter.’
No remorse – but girl’s
killer may still be freed
Court judge has ruled Hopkins, 42,
can now have a full hearing relat-
ing to his bid to move to an open
prison – which would move him
closer to parole being granted.
Yesterday, Naomi’s half brother
told of his family’s fury at unre-
pentant Hopkins’s attempt to
move to open conditions, claiming
they only learned about the bid on
social media.
Andy Freeman, 41, said: ‘Hop-
kins should never be free – it’s a
simple as that. He’s never shown
even a flicker of remorse for what
he did.’ Naomi was last seen leav-
ing her home in Ansley Common,
Warwickshire, to post a letter for
her mother. She was found with a
bite mark on her breast which
matched Hopkins’s ‘lop-sided’
jawline perfectly. Hopkins was
ordered to serve a minimum of 18
years behind bars before he would
be considered for parole, a tariff
which ended in 2013. But Hopkins
claims he hasn’t been considered
because he won’t admit his guilt.
The High Court heard the Parole
Board considered his case in Feb-
ruary last year and recommended
his transfer to an open prison. But
the move was blocked by the then
Justice Secretary David Gauke.
Another review in September
2018 refused to downgrade Hop-
kins’s security rating. At the High
Court in London last week, Judge
Mark Gosnell said Hopkins’s
refusal to accept his guilt had led
to ‘an impasse’. But he concluded
that the decision not to hold an
oral hearing was unlawful.
Mr Freeman said: ‘The longer
Hopkins stays inside, the safer my
kids are. I’ll be at his next parole
hearing, make no mistake.’
By Andy Dolan
Jailed: Edwin Hopkins Victim: Naomi Smith
A JAILED sex killer who has refused
to admit murdering a 15-year-old
schoolgirl for more than two decades
has won a court bid that could pave
the way for his release.
Edwin Hopkins has always denied kill-
ing Naomi Smith, whose mutilated body
was discovered in a playground in 1995
just 120 yards from her home, despite
overwhelming DNA evidence.
He was jailed for life in January 1997 and
has been held as a Category A prisoner – the
highest security risk – ever since. But a High
Second-class
postie who
lost his keys
My perpetual diet
in battle with^
cakes and wine,
by Bake Off Prue
SLIP