Prue Leith's very personal documentary Journey With My Daughter left viewers in tears

Prue Leith documentary
(Image credit: David M. Benett)

Prue Leith and her daughter Li-Da were the centre of a documentary which explored adoption.

Prue Leith adopted Cambodian born Li-Da when she was a baby, and the pair were hoping to lean more about her family in this documentary.

In emotional scenes, Li-Da discovered that her birth mother might still be alive, despite the fact she believed she was dead for most of her life.

Li-Da and Prue found her first blood relatives, including a cousin who now resides in the United States.

Upon making this documentary, Prue revealed that she "desperately hoped" Li-Da would be reconnecteed with her birth mother. However, she was also worried that she'd see much less of her daughter.

Li-Da is now in her 40s, and was originally born in Phom Penh in Cambodia. She left following her adoption before the Khmer Rouge committed genocide, which saw almost a quarter of the country's population killed between 1975 and 1979.

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Viewers were very emotional as they learned about Li-Da's story, and praised the documentary.

One wrote, 'Powerful as an adopted child watching @PrueLeith and her daughter in #PruesJourney having just more seriously started to journey myself to understanding my past!'

Another added, '#pruesjourney haven't stopped crying. Hope Li-Da finds her blood family ❤'.

A third said, 'I am properly gutted for her. It would have been closure, but also open for a new beginning for her and the whole family. So emotional. #pruesjourney'.

And a fourth added, 'Who has managed to watch tonight’s #adoption journey? So much to take in and so emotional. The realities of loss and separation. #PruesJourney'.

The documentary also saw Prue Leith opening up about her "selfishness" in her relationship with her daughter.

She admitted, "I think I never have talked to her enough. Maybe it’s a kind of selfishness on my part. I’m very busy and so I assume everything looks right and must be right.

"I don’t go scratching the surface looking for problems. I think there’s probably stuff about her Cambodian background that I’ve never asked her. And maybe I could have done that more."

Lucy Buglass
Digital Writer

Lucy Buglass is a Digital Writer for What's on TV, Goodto.com, and Woman&Home. After finishing her degree in Film Studies at Oxford Brookes University she moved to London to begin her career. She's passionate about entertainment and spends most of her free time watching Netflix series, BBC dramas, or going to the cinema to catch the latest film releases.