Bake Off's Prue Leith admits she drowned kittens when she was a child

Cat lovers, look away now – Prue Leith might be the host of one of the most wholesome shows on telly, but she's admitted she once drowned a litter of kittens as a kid.

Thankfully this wasn't a Jeffrey Dahmer situation, it's not like she wanted to do it, although it doesn't make the anecdote any less tragic.

The Great British Bake Off star made the confession in her newly revised memoir I'll Try Anything Once, describing how the incident left her traumatised for weeks.

Dame Prue wrote: "My mother and I, then 11, had just drowned some kittens... and for weeks I imagined those poor dead creatures.

Channel 4

"Too many kittens was a frequent occurrence and there had come a day when my mother, unable to find homes for yet another litter, decided to drown the latest batch.

"My protests were met with a firm, 'Darling, it has to be done. They are only a few hours old. They will hardly know it’s happening'."

But despite the reassurance from her mum, the 82-year-old, who grew up in Cape Town, South Africa, before moving to London aged 20, said the animals 'fought like the devil for life'.

And if that weren't shocking enough, the iconic baker said that her mum had a change of heart, but by this point it was too late and Prue insisted they finish the job.

"I held the bag under water until the last kitten had stopped mewing," she said. I know she said 'I'll try anything once', but this was not what I was expecting.

Plenty of people have shared their thoughts on the horrific memory, and it's safe to say it's divided opinion.

One commenter who was unsurprisingly appalled wrote on Twitter: "@Channel4 anything to say? Bet Mary Berry never drowned kittens! Dreadful woman."

"For some strange reason that doesn’t surprise me," wrote another, while a third quipped, "Was it an entry test for the local Conservative Party?"

On the other side of the fence, a number of people spoke in defence of the star, including this person who said, "So this was over 70 years ago.

Channel 4

"Admittedly not something that is done now, but probably common practice back then, not forgetting this would have been in SA.

"And she was 11 under orders from mum... hardly a career ender."

And then there were those who were just shocked to see such a headline on their news feeds, with one writing: "File this under 'Tweets I didn’t expect to read this morning'."

Would definitely say we're in the latter boat. LADbible has contacted a rep for Prue for comment.