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The Great American Baking Show premiered its latest installment, season 3, on April 11, 2025. Hosted by Casey Wilson and Zach Cherry, the show welcomed Paul Hollywood and Prue Leith as the experts on the judging panel. The Paul-Prue duo tasted the dishes and guided the amateur bakers throughout their journey on the show, helping them learn and eventually leave the contest with improved skills.
Prue Leith, best known as a judge on The Great British Bake Off and now The Great American Baking Show, seems, in my opinion, overqualified for the role. She's a dame, a Cordon Bleu-trained chef, and a Michelin-starred restaurateur. She's ghostwritten recipes for British royalty and revamped the British railway menu.
Prue has written over ten books, showing her strong culinary skills. Given her impressive career, judging amateur bakers on the American show feels like an odd fit.
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Even though she might be overqualified for the position, I appreciate how the bakers are given the opportunity of a lifetime to learn as much as possible from a veteran like Prue.
The Great American Baking Show judge Prue Leith has many accolades under her belt
Prue Leith, a South African restaurateur, attended the Cordon Bleu Cookery School in 1960. It was there that she started her own lunch-supplying business. The business garnered some momentum and eventually became Leith's Good Food, a catering company.
Nine years later, The Great American Baking Show panelist opened her own restaurant, Leith's in Notting Hill, which eventually earned her a Michelin star. In an interview with The Splendid Table in December 2022, Prue said:
"Right at the beginning, from the very beginning, we had top actors like Alec Guinness and John Gielgud, and we had Lulu and The Rolling Stones and The Beatles and all these people come to the restaurant."
It shows how successful Prue was, not just as a chef, but also as an entrepreneur in the culinary world. She, right from the start of her career, had the knowledge about how to run a business. It further supports my argument that she is one of the most overqualified judges on the panel of The Great American Baking Show. She is not only a celebrated chef but also an extremely successful businesswoman.
Prue's achievements do not stop there. In 1975, she founded her own culinary school called Leith's School of Food and Wine. The institution generated a turnover of £15 million in 1993, attesting to Prue's success as a businesswoman.
The Great American Baking Show judge, in 1995, founded the Prue Leith College, which was later renamed to Prue Leith Chef's Academy. Apart from that, Prue was the first woman to secure a seat on the British Railways Board in 1980. She consistently strived to improve the catering, reworking the food served to the passengers.
The panelist also tried her hand at writing while managing her other ventures concurrently. She served as a food columnist for major newspapers, including the Daily Mail and The Guardian. Apart from that, Prue published 12 books about recipes and other cookery tips. She then wrote seven novels, which include the Food of Love trilogy. in 2013, Prue published her memoir, Relish.
Prue also contributed to helping disenfranchised food enthusiasts by allowing them an opportunity to learn and improve their skills. She started the Hoxton Apprentice, which aimed at training the disadvantaged section of society. For three years until 2010, Prue worked as the Chair of the School Food Trust, where she struggled to improve the quality of school dinners.
The Great American Baking Show alum has also worked under other non-profit organizations, striving toward the betterment of society and ensuring consistency in the level of food available in the country.
Thus, in my opinion, Prue Leith, who has impacted not just the food industry but also played a role in improving the country's food scene, is overqualified to judge a show like The Great American Baking Show. However, I think it is beneficial as it gives the contestants the opportunity to learn from a seasoned veteran.
The Great American Baking Show is available to stream on Roku.
