Prue Leith, 86, hospitalised over stroke fears

The Great British Bake Off legend Prue Leith has revealed that she was recently taken to hospital by ambulance after an incident left her unable to speak.

The 86-year-old’s husband John Playfair was convinced that she was having a stroke and called emergency services, although Leith, who stepped down from GBBO last year, said that she knew it was merely a “migraine attack”.

Writing in her column in The Oldie magazine, she revealed: “A few weeks ago, staying in Yorkshire, I had a migraine attack.

“It followed a familiar path. First, I can see only half of whatever I’m looking at. This is speedily followed by a bright circle of flickering, coloured lights in the upper right field of vision.

“If I don’t swiftly swallow one of my migraine ‘bombs’ (three pills: paracetamol, ibuprofen and sumatriptan), a crashing headache will follow.”

She continued: “This time, my incomprehensible jumble of disconnected words convinced John I was having a stroke. I tried to tell him it was just a migraine, but I couldn’t string two words together.

“He rang our doctor, who asked me, could I raise my arms? Yes. Make a fist? Yes. Did anything hurt? No. Was the side of my face drooping? No.

“In spite of my answers, she ordered an ambulance to take me to Harrogate Hospital. The ambulance man asked me the same questions, as did a nurse on arrival at A&E, and so, after a six-hour wait, did the doctor.

“In spite of my assuring him (I’d recovered coherent speech by then) that it was a migraine, he decided on a CT scan. Two hours later, I had one, waited another hour for the results, and was released at 2am.”

Leith has previously explained that she decided to quit Bake Off due to her advancing years, reasoning: “It was time I jumped before I was pushed.”