‘I can’t justify any of it’: Prue Leith reflects on her 13-year affair with first husband and ‘amazing’ forgiveness when his wife found out

Prue Leith is well known for her candour, and speaks out about important topics including intimacy in later life and finding love again over the age of 70.

She's often spoken about her first husband, writer Rayne Kruger, and how she didn't expect to find happiness again after his death.

However, she's been equally open about her joy and experiences of second marriage to new husband, John Playfair.

Prue has now shared incredible insight into the 13-year affair she had with her first husband, and the unexpected fallout when his wife found out.

Speaking on Begin Again with Davina McCall, Prue explains that she'd known Rayne since she was a child, as he was the husband of her mother's best friend, Nan.

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Prue's family lived in South Africa when she was young, and when she visited England without them as a girl, Rayne and his wife cared for her and Prue was best friends with their daughter.

Rayne had married Nan at 24 and she was 44 - she'd lost her first husband in the war and had three small children when she and Rayne got together.

"This whole thing will sound so revolting to anybody moral backbone and I can't justify any of it," Prue says honestly, as she shares the story of how their romance began to Davina.

Speaking about Rayne, she continues, "For me he was like a godfather and a surrogate father, and then my father died when I was 21."

Prue's mother later blamed the affair on the fact her father had died when she was young, insinuating she was searching for a surrogate father.

Prue shares that she "loved and respected" Rayne, but wasn't sure of his feelings until she was 21 and "we were listening to some music and he just came over and kissed me."

At the time, Prue "didn't want a husband" as she focussed on her career, so she and Rayne had a secret affair for 13 years.

"It worked fine," she reveals, adding, "We just didn't tell anybody. And if I was ever seen out with him, it wouldn't have been surprising because we were friends anyway and working together (Rayne helped her build her business.)

After seeing each other secretly for 13 years, there came a moment of undoing. This happened when Prue was 34 and wanted to start a family.

"Suddenly this hit me like a roller coaster," she says, continuing, "I thought, 'I want a baby.'" Prue's idea was to have a child with Rayne and simply never reveal his identity as the father and carry on as they were.

Rayne however, didn't like this idea, responding by saying a child "needs to know who their father is." So the couple took the plunge and told Nan about the affair, so they could be together and have a family.

Nan was "devastated" and "betrayed," but showed the couple incredible forgiveness. "She was an amazing woman, you know," Prue recalls, sharing that Nan told her she'd always been warned that Rayne would leave her because of their 20-year age gap.

The two families remained great friends despite the affair, and Prue eventually married Rayne two days before their son Daniel was born.

"She [Nan] used to come and stay with us in the country, and my children when they were little, were very confused. They grew up with my mother and Nan, but it was all fine," Prue reveals.

Davina concludes the conversation by saying to Prue of her first husband, But he was a big love?" to which she responds, "He was, he was an amazing man."

Prue and Rayne later adopted a baby girl, Li-Da, and lived happily together until Rayne's death from emphysema in 2002.