Sandi Toksvig says books “saved her life” when she risked going off the rails as a teen.
The former Bake Off star, 62, was expelled from three US schools before her parents decided to try an English boarding school.
She said: “The first six weeks I lived in the UK nobody spoke to me. It was painful and difficult.
“I discovered a fantastic second-hand book shop which saved my life.
"They used to save books for me for almost no money. I still have many, it is where I discovered Jane Austen and all manner of writers.
“And then I suspect I started to be funny and cracked them through laughter. People did speak to me.”
Speaking to close the online Hay Festival, Sandi, who was born in Denmark, also said she could do a better job as PM.
The QI host said: “Britain is run by interchangeable schoolboys.
"I’d prefer a woman who knows what she’s doing in the kitchen, has brought up a family and done a job. I am volunteering.”
At the start of the year, Sandi shocked fans when she announced that she was leaving her role as presenter of the Great British Bake Off.
News of her departure was devastating for her co-star Noel Fielding as well as for viewers at home.
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