Prue Leith’s Cotswold Kitchen: What the Show Is About, Cast and Where It’s Filmed

Prue Leith’s Cotswold Kitchen is the ITV1 cookery series that brought Dame Prue Leith and her husband, John Playfair, into viewers’ homes together. Here’s what the show covers, who appears on it, and where it’s filmed.

Quick Facts

What the Show Is About

Each episode follows Leith cooking a mix of recipes — some simple, some more ambitious — with a celebrity guest in her own Cotswolds kitchen. It’s a lower-key format than her Bake Off judging: relaxed, home-cooking focused, and built around Leith’s personal food heroes rather than competition.

Where It’s Filmed

The show is shot at Leith and Playfair’s own home near Moreton-in-Marsh in Gloucestershire, the same Cotswolds property the couple has lived in since settling together after their 2016 wedding.

John Playfair’s Role

Playfair isn’t a co-presenter, but he’s a recurring presence throughout the series — helping in the kitchen, going fishing for the evening’s dinner, or visiting an egg farm in one episode that became a fan favourite. Viewers have specifically pointed to the couple’s on-screen chemistry as one of the show’s draws, with Playfair’s low-key humour a consistent highlight.

Notable Guests

Across its run, the show has featured a wide range of celebrity guests, including Alison Hammond, Sandi Toksvig, Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen, Charlotte Church, Ruby Wax, Ellie Simmonds, YolanDa Brown and food campaigner Henry Dimbleby, among others. One PBS episode summary describes Playfair visiting an egg farm while Leith goes back to basics with the perfect omelette — a good example of the domestic, low-stakes format that separates this from her Bake Off judging.

What Reviewers Say

Fan and critic reaction has consistently pointed to the same thing: the dynamic between Leith and Playfair. One IMDb review specifically calls out their “warmth, humor, and easy chemistry” as what gives the show its charm, describing Playfair’s kitchen appearances as a personal favourite part of each episode.

FAQ

What channel is Prue Leith’s Cotswold Kitchen on?

ITV1 in the UK, also streaming on ITVX. In the US, it airs on PBS.

Is John Playfair a presenter on the show?

Not formally — he’s Leith’s husband and appears regularly throughout episodes, but Leith is the sole host.

Where is Prue Leith’s Cotswold Kitchen filmed?

At Leith and Playfair’s home near Moreton-in-Marsh, Gloucestershire.

When did the show start?

It first aired in 2024 and is now in its third series.

Sources: Prue Leith’s Cotswold Kitchen, IMDb; ITVX episode guide; PBS.