Prue Leith says she worried that Channel 4 would get sued after she accidentally revealed the winner of The Great British Bake Off.

The cookery writer, 78, sparked one of TV’s biggest blunders when she tweeted Sophie Faldo’s name ahead of the final.

She told The Sunday Times that “a few tweeters said, ‘You’ve ruined my life,’ but you just think, ‘Well, get a life’.”

And she added: “I was really frightened that they (the bookies) could sue Channel 4 or me or something, but nobody did.”

Leith said she had not realised the responsibility she was taking on when she signed up to replace Mary Berry, because she had never watched the show on BBC1.

Prue Leith replaced Mary Berry on the show (Isabel Infantes/PA)
Prue Leith replaced Mary Berry on the show (Isabel Infantes/PA)

“People said, ‘Weren’t you frightened taking over from Mary Berry?’

“But I’d never watched Bake Off, so I had no idea that it mattered so much to so many people,” the star said.

Leith joined Paul Hollywood as a judge on Channel 4, alongside new presenters Noel Fielding and Sandi Toksvig.