Who is Prue Leith, and will she replace Mary Berry on Bake Off?

Image source, Getty Images

There are rumours that 76-year-old food critic and campaigner Prue Leith could replace Mary Berry when The Great British Bake Off starts on Channel 4, but who is she?

Here are five facts you need to know about Prue:

1. She grew up in South Africa and helped to start a cooking college there, now called 'Prue Leith's Chefs Academy'.

2. She went to the famous Le Cordon Bleu cookery school in London.

Image source, Getty Images

Image caption, Here's Prue opening her first restaurant in 1969 in Holland Park, London

3. But she's not just a cook, she opened her first restaurant in 1969 and she already knows what it's like to be on TV... She spent 11 years as a judge on 大象传媒 Two programme The Great British Menu. She's also a writer and has written seven novels so far.

4. She loves her mad dog Meg, a rescue mongrel, and her beautiful cat Magnificat (known as Mags).

5. And she's received a couple of royal awards, an OBE in 1989 and a CBE in 2010.

Image source, Getty Images

Image caption, Prue Leith poses after becoming a Commander of the British Empire (CBE) at Windsor Castle in 2010

So there are a few facts about Prue Leith. We'll let you know if she does end up joining Paul Hollywood on The Great British Bake Off.

Channel 4 said it would be announcing the programme's line-up "in due course".