‘It wasn’t on my bingo card’ – Dame Prue Leith surprises Edinburgh hairdresser

An Edinburgh hairdresser has described her “surprise” after Dame Prue Leith stopped by to get her hair done ahead of a charity event in the city.

The Great British Bake Off judge and her husband John Playfair made the unexpected visit to the Craig Davidson Hair salon in Bruntsfield on Tuesday morning.

The couple live in Gloucestershire but were in Edinburgh to attend the Women of Achievement lunch at Archer’s Hall.

They had been staying with a friend who recommended the salon to them.

Salon manager Ashley Wilson said when she took a call on Monday afternoon to book in Prue Leith, she had no idea it would be the culinary star.

“I took a phone call yesterday afternoon from somebody local who uses the salon, asking to book Prue Leith in,” she explained.

“Obviously, we’re not expecting it to be ‘the’ Prue Leith, so we just didn’t think too much about.

“Then the more we thought about, I thought no, it’s got to be, and definitely right enough, she came in with her husband.”

She added: “It was a surprise for me”.

Dame Prue arrived wearing one of her signature colourful dresses with matching glasses and earrings, and she and her husband sat side-by-side while salon staff worked on their hair.

Ms Wilson, who was tasked with blow-drying Dame Prue’s hair to her “exact spec”, described the Bake Off star as “an absolute delight”.

She said: “She was super-friendly, witty, just really warm, really nice.

“A really nice woman, nice to chat to her.”

Asked whether Dame Prue had let slip anything about who would win the Bake Off final, which airs on Tuesday night, Ms Wilson said: “She was saying nothing, absolutely nothing.

“Obviously that’s super-secret, so (there was) minimal, minimal chat on Bake Off.”

She said it had been a been a “privilege” to work on Dame Prue’s hair.

“It was really exciting. She was a really nice woman and I was really privileged to have met her and actually got to work on her hair,” she said.

“It was a big deal for me, I’m delighted.

“That wasn’t on my bingo card for today.”

Salon owner Craig Davidson, who set up the business on Bruntsfield Place 30 years ago, cut Mr Playfair’s hair during the surprise visit.

He said it was “really nice” to see the couple come to his salon, and that it is “great publicity” for a small local business.

Asked whether Mr Playfair had divulged anything about the Bake Off final, he replied: “There were no spoilers.

“As I was cutting her husband’s hair, he said he would be divorced if he said who won it, so he was keeping tight-lipped.

“But I did joke that John had told me, so we had a good laugh.”

At the end of the visit Dame Prue posed for photos with salon staff, before the pair headed off for their charity engagement.

In a social media post following the visit, the salon shared a picture of Dame Prue posing alongside staff and a stand of cupcakes.

The caption read: “Proof that great hair is the secret ingredient. Loved having Prue Leith with us today.”

The Great British Bake Off final airs at 8pm on Tuesday on Channel 4.