Dame Prue Leith has reacted after Nigella Lawson was named as her successor on Great British Bake Off.
She will join the baking show as a judge following the departure of Dame Prue Leith, who announced her decision to leave the show last week.
Dame Prue described Ms Lawson as the "perfect" replacement in a piece for The Times.
She said: "Nigella Lawson is to replace me.
"Perfect.
"She's a great baker and knows her onions, cookies, crumbles, and croissants.
"She's also really nice, mighty glam and seriously bright, sexy and sassy.
"I'm just glad she wasn't in the running nine years ago."
Dame Prue joined the show in 2017 when it moved to Channel 4, replacing Mary Berry.
The chef said her decision to leave was motivated by a desire to spend more time travelling with her husband, John Playfair.
Ms Lawson, 66, has said she was "lost for words" on being offered the role.
Dame Prue said she will miss her Bake Off colleagues, including co-judge Paul Hollywood and hosts Alison Hammond and Noel Fielding.
She and Mr Playfair married in 2016, 14 years after the death of her first husband Rayne Kruger, with whom she had two children.
Speaking last year on the Travel Diaries podcast, Dame Prue said: "I haven't got much longer, I'm 85, I want to spend as much time as I can with him."
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Her culinary career began in the 1960s after attending the Cordon Bleu Cookery School in London.
She went on to open her own catering company and later founded Leith’s School of Food and Wine.
Dame Prue has appeared on several television shows, including The Great British Menu, and currently presents Prue Leith’s Cotswold Kitchen on ITV One.
Her departure marks the end of a nearly decade-long run on Bake Off, with Ms Lawson set to join the judging panel.
