Dame Prue Leith has opened up about "plotting and planning" suicide in the event that the assisted dying bill is not passed soon.
It was revealed last month that the 86-year-old, who lives in the Cotswolds, will bow out of the Great British Bake Off after nine series and judging more than 400 challenges.
She has been a judge on the popular baking show alongside Paul Hollywood since 2017, when the series moved from the BBC to Channel 4, replacing Henley resident Dame Mary Berry.
It was then announced on Monday, January 26, that Oxford University graduate Nigella Lawson will replace her as the judge on the Bake Off.
Read More: Paul Hollywood breaks silence on Nigella joining Great British Bake Off
Now, writing in The Mail on Sunday, the TV presenter has opened up about death, saying that she hopes the assisted dying bill will be put on the statute books soon.
"If it has, I can stop plotting and planning how to achieve suicide while avoiding my relatives being arrested for assisting me in my getting out of an intolerable life,” said Dame Prue.
"I am seriously thinking of trying to find out the surest, most painless and simplest way to do it.
Read More: Dame Prue Leith reacts to Nigella Lawson replacing her on Great British Bake Off
"It would have to be with the knowledge and agreement of my immediate family, so they can be with me if they want to be. But they cannot be helpers or accomplices, which would be illegal, and cannot assist with the research or the actual deed."
Dame Prue has long supported the right to assisted dying, becoming a patron of Dignity in Dying following the death of her older brother, David, in 2012.
He was 74 years old when he passed away from bone cancer, which was an experience she has spoken about as being "agonising".
