Prue Leith has acknowledged that she drowned a litter of kittens as a young child at her mother's orders.
In her memoir I'll Try Anything Once, the Great British Bake Off judge described the startling incident and said that it had troubled her for weeks following.
Just hours after the kittens were born, Prue, who was 11 at the time, said her mother had instructed her to murder the bag of newborn cats.
"At the age of 11, my mother and I had just drowned some kittens... I thought about those sad deceased critters for weeks," she wrote.
There were often too many kittens, and one day my mother decided to drown the most recent batch after failing to find homes for yet another litter.
Prue claimed that despite her best efforts to convince her mother otherwise, her objections "were answered with a strong, 'Darling, it has to be done. They've just been here a few hours. They won't even notice it's occurring.
The TV celebrity claimed that despite her mother's assurances, the kittens "fought like the devil for life."
She replied, "I kept the bag in the water until the final kitten ceased mewing.
Prue acknowledged earlier this year that she and Paul Hollywood feel very differently about their celebrity status as Bake Off judges.
Since 2017, when Prue replaced Mary Berry as a judge for the baking competition following the show's transfer to Channel 4, the two have served as judges together.
Paul has gained notoriety for speaking out against the drawbacks of fame, alleging that his celebrity status has made him a "hermit," and admitting that he would think twice before competing in Bake Off given everything that goes with with it.
Prue explained to the PA news agency how she felt about her fellow judge's emotions, saying: "He's always extremely good-tempered; if we're someplace and someone comes up and wants us to take a photo, he'll say 'well all right then,' but he doesn't enjoy it. He would much rather be at a place where no one can see him.
Although I feel pretty appreciative of it, these are the folks who pay my salary.
