The colorful glasses and the grandmotherly charm on The Great British Bake Off paint a very specific picture of Dame Prue Leith. It’s a wholesome image. It’s warm. But the reality of her personal life is a lot more complicated than a well-baked victoria sponge. Years ago, Prue dropped a bombshell in her memoir Relish: My Life on a Plate that shifted how everyone saw her: she had a secret 13-year affair with the man who would eventually become her first husband.
That man was Rayne Kruger. The kicker? He was the husband of Nan Munro—who happened to be the best friend of Prue’s own mother.
Honestly, it sounds like something straight out of a soap opera. People were shocked. It wasn't just a brief lapse in judgment; it was a decade-plus of living a double life. But if you listen to Prue talk about it now, at 85, she isn't interested in making excuses. She’s blunt. She’s honest. And she’s surprisingly unapologetic about the love that defined her life, even if the beginning was, by her own admission, "wicked."
The 13-Year Secret
The Prue Leith affair didn't start in a vacuum. She was in her early 20s when it kicked off. Rayne was 20 years her senior, a South African property developer and author. He wasn't just some guy she met at a bar; he was her mentor and the chairman of her business. He had helped her build her culinary empire from the ground up.
They were incredibly discreet. No dinners at flashy London restaurants. No public sightings that could trigger gossip. Because he was a family friend, nobody suspected a thing when they spent time together.
Prue has often said she was "very happy" with the arrangement for a long time. She was a young woman focused on her career. She had a man who loved her, but she didn't have the "duties" of a wife. No laundry to do for him, no expectations to manage. She had her independence and her secret romance. It was a setup that worked—until it didn't.
Why things finally changed
You can only live a lie for so long before biology or ambition catches up. For Prue, it was the "famous thirties." She hit 34 and suddenly wanted a baby. Badly.
She knew Rayne wasn't going to leave Nan on his own. So, she did something drastic: she ran away. She literally left him and started seeing someone else just to break the cycle. It worked. Rayne realized he couldn't live without her. He left Nan, and in 1974—the same year his divorce was finalized—he and Prue got married.
Their son, Danny Kruger (who grew up to be a Member of Parliament), was born that same year. They later adopted their daughter, Li-Da, a filmmaker from Cambodia.
The Forgiveness of Nan Munro
One of the most mind-bending parts of this story isn't the affair itself—it’s what happened after. Most people assume Nan Munro would have vanished from their lives, fueled by a justified rage. That didn't happen.
Nan was, by all accounts, an "extraordinary woman." She stayed friends with both of them. She even spent weekends at their home. When people asked Nan how she could stay friends with the "witch" who stole her husband, Nan’s response was legendary: "They are my friends, I love them. Yes, it’s been hard, but Prue’s still Prue."
It’s a level of grace that most of us can't even imagine. Prue has admitted that while the relationship between the families was never quite the same, they managed to keep the peace for the sake of everyone involved.
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Why she spoke out
Why tell the world? Prue’s logic is simple: boring books don't sell. She figured that if she was going to write an autobiography, she had to include the "interesting bits," even if they weren't flattering.
"Nobody’s interested in your achievements. They’re interested in your failures."
That’s what she told E! News recently. She felt that skipping Rayne’s full story would be dishonest because he was the most influential person in her life. He was her husband for 28 years until he passed away in 2002.
But there was a cost. Her children were upset by the revelation. Not because they didn't know the story—they did—but because of the public scrutiny that followed. Suddenly, their parents' private history was tabloid fodder. Prue acknowledges it was her fault for "going public," but she stands by the writing.
Life after Rayne
After Rayne died, Prue found love again, which is a whole other chapter of her life that feels much less scandalous. In 2016, she married John Playfair, a retired fashion designer. They’re still together today, living in the Cotswolds and dealing with the typical hurdles of aging, like trying out weight-loss jabs (which Prue recently admitted didn't really work for her).
They even have a "banishment room" in their house for when one of them snores too much. It’s a very different kind of relationship than the high-stakes secrecy of her youth.
The Takeaway: Lessons from a "Wicked" Past
The Prue Leith affair is a reminder that people are rarely as one-dimensional as they appear on TV. You can be a national treasure and still have a past that involves significant moral gray areas.
If you're looking for a "moral of the story," it's probably about radical honesty and the complexity of forgiveness. Prue doesn't try to justify the adultery. She says it was wrong. But she also says she wouldn't change a thing because it led to her children and the life she cherished with Rayne.
What you can learn from how Prue handled the fallout:
- Own your narrative: If you don't tell your story, someone else will. By putting it in her own book, she controlled the framing.
- Acknowledge the harm: She hasn't tried to pretend the affair didn't hurt people, specifically Nan and her children.
- Prioritize the "Interesting": In work and in life, the mistakes are often where the growth (and the best stories) happen.
- Value grace: The fact that Nan Munro remained in their lives is a testament to the power of moving past resentment.
Prue Leith is still a judge, a cook, and a dame. She's also a woman who lived a secret life for thirteen years. It just goes to show—you never really know what’s happening in someone else’s kitchen until they decide to open the oven door.
Next Steps for Readers
If you're interested in the full, unvarnished story, the best place to find it is in Prue's memoir, I'll Try Anything Once (the updated version of Relish). It covers not just the affair, but her upbringing in South Africa and her rise in the male-dominated world of 1960s London catering.
You might also want to look into the work of her children, particularly Li-Da Kruger’s documentaries, which offer a different perspective on the family’s unique history. Understanding the human side of celebrities helps bridge the gap between the "brand" we see on screen and the messy, authentic reality of being alive.