Prue Leith on 'odd' feeling of 'fancying' someone new as a widow as she talks finding love again at 70

Prue Leith has opened up on the moment she realised she was interested in someone new after years as a widow.

Appearing on Fearne Cotton's Happy Place podcast, the Great British Bake Off judge recalled how in the years that followed the death of her first husband, Rayne, she hadn't felt interested in any other men. Until she met John in 2011.

"When I met John, I had been a widow for eight years, and I hadn’t ever felt any pangs or looked at somebody and thought 'Oh yeah, I fancy you'," she told Fearne.

"I just thought that part of me had disappeared with my first husband, who I adored because we had a very happy marriage. So you know I was content really. I had got to that stage when you think that actually living alone is great."

Prue added, "And then I met John and I thought this is very odd, I actually am interested in that chap."

John and Prue have now been married for almost a decade - but the culinary star had concerns that her age might push John away at first.

She explained, "I realised that he is much younger than me. I think he was 64 and I was 70. I was giving a talk in a church, which would be used as a venue for literary festivals. And I knew he was going to turn up to it.

"So I thought well, I'd better put my cards on the table right now because I don’t want to get into any kind of relationship with this guy if he’s going to walk away the minute he discovers that I’m much older than him."

But the pair's age difference didn't hinder their love story, with Prue declaring that John "stuck around" after she clarified how old she was.

Prue has previously opened up on the devastating grief that she dealt with after the death of Rayne in 2002.

Speaking on the Dinner On Me podcast last year, Prue recalled how the late Queen Elizabeth II opening up about the loss of her own husband, Prince Philip, reminded her of the power and poignancy that grief carries.

"When the old Queen was talking about loss, I think she was talking about Prince Philip‘s death, she said, ‘Grief is the price you pay for love,'” Leith told Jesse Tyler Ferguson.

"And it’s the very exact price. If you love somebody a lot, the grief is horrific."