Prue Leith serves up hard truth to struggling youngsters

The Great British Bake Off is one of the most popular television programmes among young people, but that hasn’t deterred Dame Prue Leith from speaking her mind about how they’ve been ‘mollycoddled’ by their over-protective parents.

Addressing an audience of students at the Cambridge Union this week, the Bake Off judge warned them that they might not like what she was planning to tell them.

‘Whatever I say, I am likely to offend people, but I am going to say it,’ she declared.

‘I think there is a real problem with mental health post-Covid. 

'There is no question. Lots of young people are struggling – they just can’t cope with modern life.

‘But I think a lot of that may be due to the fact that we have put such a lot of emphasis on sort of “me, me, me”. 

'Like, “How is my mental health? How is my wellbeing? Have I got enough time?”

‘We are encouraging a whole generation to think about themselves all the time. If they thought about other people a bit more, maybe it would be better.’ 

She added: ‘There is a danger of mollycoddling and becoming unhealthy. That’s not a very popular thing to say.’

Dame Prue, 85, who founded Leith’s School of Food And Wine, which trains professional chefs and amateur cooks, has some advice for young people: ‘The most important thing is never to be bored. 

'When you are young, you think it is quite cool as you are shy and unsure. It is really disastrous.

‘So don’t be bored. It is a sin to be bored. If you are sat at a dinner party next to some old codger and he is going on about his greenhouse, then question it.’

Sacre bleu! Carla takes up pole dancing

Ooh la la! France’s former first lady Carla Bruni-Sarkozy has taken up a surprising new activity.

The model and singer, 57, is learning pole dancing – and has shared a video online to prove it.

‘It’s such an incredible way to get fit,’ says Carla, who has been married to former French president Nicolas Sarkozy since 2008. 

The benefits of pole dancing are said to be weight loss and increased flexibility and strength.

Flexibility could be useful in dealing with her current woes: she was charged last summer over an election funding scandal dating back to 2007 involving cash from the then Libyan dictator Colonel Gaddafi.

How Simone didn’t cause a buzz over on-set bee sting

Life is imitating art painfully for Simone Ashley who, much like her Bridgerton character, was stung by a bee on the set of her latest film.

In the hit costume drama, Kate Sharma was stung, leading to a romantically-charged moment with Viscount Bridgerton.

Now, the star, 29, has fallen victim again, this time in real life. 

Prathana Mohan, director of new Prime Video romantic comedy Picture This, tells me: ‘I could see on the monitor she twitched her eye, and she just kept going.’

Speaking at a screening at the Barbican Centre in London, Mohan explains: ‘The stinger was still in there. 

'They took her to look at everything and then she came back on set and was, like, “I’m back”.’

Leo’s preparation for stardom

One Day heartthrob Leo Woodall reveals he underwent therapy to help prepare for stardom.

The Londoner, 28, who shot to fame in hit drama White Lotus, started seeking help while a pupil at ArtsEd drama school in Chiswick, to help build his confidence.

‘It takes work and therapy – I think everyone should do that,’ says the actor, who has continued his sessions.

‘Whatever I’m going through, I need to work through it to be able to talk about it. There are days where I’m like, “I feel great, I don’t need therapy”, but those days are incredibly important [to attend sessions].’

Selling home is not so easy for shamed Huw

When a house is owned by a famous name, a boost to its value would normally follow. 

The reverse appears to be the case with former BBC star Huw Edwards.

The shamed newsreader slashed the asking price of his family home in south London by £250,000.

The six-bedroom house would, however, still cost a whopping £4.5million.

Edwards, 63, and his estranged wife Vicky Flind bought the sprawling property for £1.85million in 2006. 

They put it on the market for £4.75million five months ago after Edwards pleaded guilty to possessing 41 indecent images of children, some of which were as young as seven. 

He was spared prison after expressing remorse but the lack of a custodial sentence sparked a debate over the treatment of paedophiles.

Kate Bush's 'Netflix effect'

Talk about the ‘Netflix effect’! Kate Bush has made £7.6million since her 1985 song Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God) was used in the streaming giant’s hit series Stranger Things in 2022.

Newly filed accounts for Bush’s artistic creation company, Noble & Brite Ltd, disclose that it made a profit of £3.4million in the year to March 2024.

This comes on top of the £4.2million profit the previous year.

The ethereal pop singer, 66, who has hits including Wuthering Heights and Babooshka, has made only limited public appearances since her 22 comeback gigs in 2014 and a live album released two years later.

American aristocrat slanders her homeland

She is our most prominent American aristocrat but the new Countess of Sandwich is desperate to distance herself from her homeland after President Donald Trump’s behaviour towards Ukraine and its president, Volodymyr Zelensky. 

‘I’m hiding my USA passport and accent,’ says the countess, yoga instructor Julie Montagu. 

‘Russia was the most despised country in the world... trust me, things have just taken a turn,’ she adds. ‘We [America] are not the greatest country in the world any more.’