Dame Prue Leith's recipe for when to quit Bake Off: At 84, she wants to walk away on her own terms

At 84 years old, Dame Prue Leith fears retirement is closer than ever.

But the Bake-Off presenter has admitted she wants to walk away on her own terms before producers give her the axe.

Ms Leith has urged her friends and husband to advise her when it is time to hang up her telly cooking apron.

She revealed her retirement expectations before fans see her back at her best on The Great Christmas Bake Off, which airs on Christmas Eve on Channel 4.

Ms Leith said: 'The only thing I'd say is that obviously I'm going to have to retire sometime soon because I wouldn't be able to do it forever, but I want to get out before I'm pushed.

'So I don't want to get to the stage that suddenly politely says, 'you know, Prue, it's been ten years now, I really think perhaps we should think about a change'.

'I don't want that conversation.

'I want to be gone by before that conversation, but it is going to be up to my husband and my best friends to tell me when it's enough. We can't have you hobbling on to the stage.

'If you're asking me, am I planning to retire? No, I'm not. I love doing it, and as long as they'll have me, I will want to do it.'

The Dame added that one concern is her movement in her 80s.

'I am not as physically agile as I was eight years ago,' she told US Weekly whilst promoting her new book Life's Too Short to Stuff a Mushroom.

'Last year because I'd had a bad leg, they put a little ramp for me to get onto the stage.

The celebrity chef will be joined by fellow judge Paul Hollywood, 58, and hosts Noel Fielding and Alison Hammond on Christmas Eve - with a special performance from Paloma Faith.

For the first time ever the one-off episode will be soap themed and feature stars from EastEnders, Coronation Street and Emmerdale.

From EastEnders will be actors Natalie Cassidy and Dean Gaffney who played siblings Sonia Fowler and Robbie Jackson.

Chris Bisson (Jai Sharma) and Sheree Murphy (Tricia Dingle) from Emmerdale will also be taking part.

Coronation Street favourite Shobna Gulati (Sunita Alahan) completes the line up.