'It's just imagined people my age don't have sex' - Prue Leith on intimacy in later life and testosterone for libido
The presenter also sings the praises of HRT for preventing 'horrendous' menopause symptoms at 86
While Prue Leith slowly steps back from her presenting duties, leaving Bake Off to enjoy her summers instead of working through them, she's certainly not stepping away from her faithful brand of humour and honestly.
The presenter has previously spoken about finding love again at 70, and has now openly shared her thoughts about intimacy in later life.
Prue's first husband, Rayne Kruger, died in 2002. At first, she wasn't interested in finding love again. But after being a widow for eight years, she changed her mind when she met John Playfair in 2011.
They married in 2016 and at the age of 86, Prue reveals that she asked her doctor what is normal when it comes to sex in older couples.
She didn't quite get the reaction she was expecting, telling Saga Magazine, "She [the doctor] said there are no studies, because it's just imagined people my age don't."
This lacklustre response doesn't appear to have stopped Prue getting the information she needed, as she follows up by discussing her HRT usage and how this helps with intimacy.
Alongside oestrogen patches and progesterone pills, she also uses testosterone gel. "It's good for libido," she says of the gel, adding that it also makes her feel "better and younger" as well as helping with sex drive.
Prue also credits HRT with giving her the ability to carry on working for so long. Having first been prescribed it following a hysterectomy at the age of 40, she's chosen not to stop taking it.
"If I came off it now, I'd go through menopause symptoms at 86, which would be horrendous," Prue shares.
She adds, "HRT must save the NHS money, it prevents acute depression, heart disease, strokes, but there's a puritan thing where they think it's wicked to make yourself younger than you are."
While singing the praises of HRT and the benefits of testosterone, there is one thing you won't find Prue waxing lyrical about in relation to feeling younger and healthier: exercise.
She reluctantly works her way through half an hour of exercises daily, as directed by a physiotherapist.
"I race through it, it's so boring," she says, adding, "I lie on my bed and roll my knees from side to side, then I bicycle my legs in the air 30 times."
Prue continues, "Then 30 lunges and 30 leg lifts, then I bounce up and down on my toes until my ankles ache - I never do anything anymore, once my ankles start aching."
Her dalliance with weight-loss drug Mounjaro also didn't fare too well. Prue was a little upset when her husband starting using it, but eventually tried it herself when she saw how well it worked for him.
However, it left her feeling "too sick to eat anything and too exhausted to move," and also, when her entire career has been in the food industry, Prue is naturally a "foodie" and wanted to enjoy eating again.
"I think my body must've had a defensive reaction because it was being starved," she says, suggesting she won't be trying to lose weight again anytime soon.
