Prue Leith announced she is leaving the hit series The Great British Bake Off after nine seasons.

The beloved judge who brought warmth, wit and culinary expertise joined the show in 2017.

She stepped in alongside Paul Hollywood after the program moved from the BBC to Channel 4.

Over the years, she became a fan favorite known for her sharp critiques delivered with kindness and her signature colorful style.

In her statement shared on Instagram Wednesday, Leith expressed gratitude for the opportunity to be part of the Bake Off family.

“After nine series and judging more than 400 challenges, I have decided to step down as a judge on The Great British Bake Off,” Leith began her post.

“Bake Off has been a fabulous part of my life for the last nine years, I have genuinely loved it, and I’m sure I’ll miss working with my fellow judge Paul, Alison, and Noel, and the teams at Love Productions and Channel 4.”

The 86-year-old shared ‘she now feels like the right time to step back’

“There’s so much I’d like to do, not least spend summers enjoying my garden,” she added. “Whoever joins the team, I’m sure they’ll love it as much as I have. I feel very lucky to have been part of it.”

Fans have already taken to social media to share heartfelt tributes, praising Leith’s warmth and humor and expressing sadness at her exit.

For many her presence was integral to the show’s charm which made her departure a bittersweet moment in Bake Off history.

Fans as well as past contestants poured messages of love.

The 2018’s winner Rahul Mandal commented, “We will miss you so much. It was a joy and privilege to be in the tent with you. You are kind, funny, passionate, and always inspired us.”

Jasmine Mitchell, Bake Off’s winner in 2025, wrote, “Prue, you’re amazing and we will miss you so very much.”

Apple, the iPhone maker, is working on its own AI wearable, reportedly a pin that users can attach to their clothing, equipped with two cameras and three microphones.

The information about Apple’s upcoming AI gadget was brought to light in a report by The Information on Wednesday.

As the rumour is spreading in the vast AI wearable market, it is expected to intensify the competition in the sector.

The development was originally disclosed by OpenAI’s Chief Global Affairs Officer Chris Lehane, who stated at a Davos event that the company is going to announce its highly anticipated first AI hardware device in the second half of 2026.

It’s also being speculated that it may be a pair of earbuds, TechCrunch reported.

Apple’s upcoming AI device is described as a “thin, flat, circular disc with an aluminium-and-glass shell,” designed to be roughly the size of an AirTag, but slightly thicker.

The device is tipped to bring two cameras—one with a standard lens and another with a wide-angle lens—for capturing pictures and videos.

It might as well include a physical button, a speaker, and a Fitbit-like charging strip on its back.

There’s a fair degree of chance that the tech giant is expediting the development of this product, given that OpenAI, too, is working on its own AI gadget. The device is likely to debut in 2027, with an initial launch of 20 million units.

Despite all that’s been said, time will confirm how well this type of AI device will be received by consumers.

It reminds us of a similar AI pin, Humane AI, launched last year by two former Apple employees, but it struggled to gather acclaim and consumer interest and eventually shut down.

The Federal Communications Commission warned TV broadcasters Wednesday that daytime talk shows and late-night programs must give equal time to opposing political candidates.

The move addressed a genre of TV that President Trump has long argued is politically biased, leading to calls from the president to revoke broadcasters’ FCC licenses. 

The announcement hinges on a decades-old federal law requiring any FCC-licensed broadcaster that lets a political candidate appear on its airwaves to also offer “equal opportunities” to all other candidates running for the same office. The law exempts “bona fide newscasts” and news interviews from the equal time rule. 

In 2006, the FCC said the news exemption applied to an interview on “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno,” meaning the late-night comedy show could feature then-California gubernatorial candidate Arnold Schwarzenegger on-air without also inviting his Democratic opponent.

But in a four-page notice on Wednesday, the FCC said it is “not the case” that all late-night and daytime entertainment shows are exempt. The regulator said it decides whether the exemption applies on a case-by-case basis, and it “has not been presented with any evidence” that interviews on those shows qualify for the news exemption.

FCC Chair Brendan Carr, a Trump ally, wrote on X: “For years, legacy TV networks assumed that their late night & daytime talk shows qualify as ‘bona fide news’ programs – even when motivated by purely partisan political purposes. Today, the FCC reminded them of their obligation to provide all candidates with equal opportunities.”

The FCC did not call out any specific shows by name. But Mr. Trump reposted a news headline on Truth Social that said the FCC is taking “aim” at two ABC shows that have long drawn the president’s ire — “The View” and “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” Carr shared a screenshot of Mr. Trump’s post on X.

ABC did not respond to a request for comment from CBS News on the FCC’s notice. NBC and CBS, which also air late-night shows criticized by Mr. Trump, declined to comment.

Democratic FCC Commissioner Anna Gomez sharply criticized the FCC’s announcement, calling it “an escalation in this FCC’s ongoing campaign to censor and control speech.” She also argued the notice was “misleading” since the FCC hasn’t formally changed any of its rules, a process that typically involves a public comment period and a vote by the commissioners.

“Broadcasters should not feel pressured to water down, sanitize, or avoid critical coverage out of fear of regulatory retaliation,” Gomez said in a statement. “Broadcast stations have a constitutional right to carry newsworthy content, even when that content is critical of those in power. That does not change today, it will not change tomorrow, and it will not change simply because of this Administration’s desire to silence its critics.”

Mr. Trump has feuded with critical talk show hosts for years. He celebrated CBS parent company Paramount’s decision to end “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” last summer, and he hailed ABC’s decision in September to temporarily preempt “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” following comments Kimmel made about the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk. And he’s publicly called on NBC to fire late-night hosts Jimmy Fallon and Seth Meyers.

The president has also long argued that the FCC should revoke TV broadcast licenses for networks that consistently criticize him. The FCC has traditionally exerted limited influence over the content aired by TV networks, partly due to First Amendment constraints.

“They give me only bad publicity or press,” Mr. Trump told reporters in September. “I mean, they’re getting a license. I would think maybe their license should be taken away. It will be up to Brendan Carr.”

The issue has drawn the attention of Carr, who has regularly pointed to laws requiring broadcasters to operate in the “public interest.” 

Hours before ABC temporarily took Kimmel off the air, Carr publicly urged the Disney-owned TV network to “take action” in response to the comedian’s remarks on Kirk, saying in a podcast interview that “there are avenues here for the FCC.”

“We can do this the easy way or the hard way,” Carr said at the time.

Those comments drew bipartisan criticism, with Republican Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas arguing Carr overstepped and could set a bad precedent the next time there’s a Democratic president.

“I gotta say, that’s right out of ‘Goodfellas.’ That’s right out of a mafioso coming into a bar, going, ‘nice bar you have here, it’d be a shame if something happened to it,'” Cruz said of Carr’s remarks on Kimmel, mimicking a mob boss’s accent.