How new judge Nigella Lawson will sex up The Great British Bake Off
Everyone’s favorite “domestic goddess” will give Paul Hollywood a run for its money in innuendo betting when she replaces Prue Leith in the GBBO tent.
Poppy Platt
A month into the year, TV bosses in the UK have managed to get the shot in the arm that prime time has been waiting for. Britain’s sexiest and smartest TV chef Nigella Lawson is officially replacing Prue Leith. Great British Bake.
This is a smart choice. No other TV chef has managed to penetrate the British public as much as Lawson. Unlike Jamie Oliver, who dabbles in cheeky slapstick jokes and delicately spiced, inventive dishes, or Delia Smith, whose school-vibe matches her traditional recipes, Lawson sells sensual fare – her dishes are designed to entertain and are meant to fit into a modern woman’s routine; Delivered with a wink and often in low-cut nightgowns, the recipes were aimed at titillating (who can forget her spin on an Eton mess filled with ‘puffed’ strawberries that delivered their ‘wonderful juices’).
So what better show could there be for him? BakingAlways masking the abundant insinuations with respectable Union Jack flags and patchwork bunting?
Announced that he was appointed as a judge on InstagramLawson wrote: “I’m unusually lost for words right now! Of course it’s daunting to follow in the footsteps of Prue Leith and Mary Berry before her, both wonderful ladies, but I’m also boiling with excitement.” Great British Bake He is more than a television show, he is a National Treasure and it is a great honor to be entrusted with this work. I’m so excited to be joining the team and all the new bakers coming along, I wish the amazing Prue all the best and I’m dizzyingly grateful for this opportunity!
Leith agreed in the comments below, saying: “I was so hoping it was black cumin! Great choice.”
Lawson is far more famous than Leith, who has stepped into the “ostentatious old lady’s nest” left open by Mary Berry’s departure in 2016. But unlike Leith, who learned to cook at the prestigious Cordon Bleu institute and went on to have a rich career as a restaurateur, he later proved his judging skills. Great British Menu, Lawson is not a classically trained pastry chef. Cakes and pastries are generally simple; sponge cakes, cakes, ready-made puff pastry taken out of the refrigerator.
One wonders if one can successfully complete even half of the challenges. Baking competitors undertake. And another small reservation: Lawson, so used to running his own shows, has yet to establish himself as a team player on British television. How might her star power translate to on-screen chemistry with veteran judge Paul Hollywood?
But overall a great date. There was a lasting feeling Baking The best days are behind us: the tasks have become too difficult, the hosts are tired. Since moving from the BBC to Channel 4 in 2017, viewing figures have fallen from around 14 million (for the 2016 finale) to four million in the final season. Nabbing Lawson will be a guaranteed ratings booster. (Baking The team was approached for comment on the news of Lawson’s signing but did not respond.)
Edd Kimber, 40, who won the first series Baking “Nigella is absolutely everyone’s dream judge on this show – she’s definitely one of mine… She has that magic ingredient that makes cooking and baking so approachable yet appealing,” he says in 2010.
One wonders whether Lawson can successfully complete even half of the challenges undertaken by Bake Off’s competitors.
Born in London to journalist-turned-politician Nigel Lawson, who served as Chancellor of the Exchequer in Margaret Thatcher’s Cabinet, and Vanessa Salmon, heiress of J Lyons and Co., Nigella was intelligent but feisty from a young age. He changed schools nine times between the ages of nine and 18, later describing himself as “difficult, disruptive, good at schoolwork, but rude and very nervous, I suppose.”
It’s hard not to imagine that this spark of rebellion is what draws viewers to television programs. Compared to other female TV chefs like Berry, Smith or Jennifer Paterson and Clarissa Dickson Wright (known as The Guardian) Two Fat Ladies), Lawson’s glass-cut accent and affluent background didn’t translate into dull on-screen mannerisms. Instead, it ditched the typical formula of female-fronted cooking shows (healthy cooking, innocent conversation, a dash of local tips) in favor of heightened sex appeal and quick recipes that appealed to younger viewers.
After graduating from Oxford with a degree in Medieval and Modern Languages, Lawson worked as a book reviewer and restaurant reviewer. Sunday Times In 1986 as assistant literary editor. How to eat Filled with easy and quick recipes like pea risotto and chocolate Guinness cake, this book was the start of a lucrative career as a cook.
Today, she has sold more than eight million cookbooks worldwide; since the first television show black cumin bites In 2000, he hosted 10 cooking shows in the UK. His net worth is estimated at £14 million ($27.7 million). For all his wealth, one wonders why he decided to participate in such a demanding and time-consuming show. Baking – though this will certainly boost his public profile again.
Lawson has always been quick to admit, in both her cookbooks and TV shows, that she prefers no-fuss, no-nonsense recipes (god forbid, often use pantry and freezer staples and lots of shortcuts (her famous Marmite spaghetti or Coca-Cola roast ham)) rather than slaving away in the oven for hours.
When it comes to pastry, it seems like he’ll leave technical analysis to Hollywood; Lawson is interested in cakes and puddings as rewards and honest pleasure rather than laborious tasks. He once described baking a cake as “one of the greatest tricks in the kitchen: it takes effort, it takes family skill; but believe me, it’s easy”—easy for him to say, since he’s not someone who’s been tasked with whipping up a croquembouche in just a few hours in a televised competition.
One publication source attributes Lawson’s success to its status as an “aspirational brand.” “Every woman in Britain wants to be Nigella, cook like her and look like her,” the executive, who has worked in food publishing for a decade, told me.
Seema Pankhania, 28, food influencer and cookbook author with almost two million followers worldwide instagram and TikTok agrees: “O [Lawson] has a very warm character; “He’s a British icon and everything people want in the kitchen,” he says. “He’s more about taste and feel than that. [the bakes] Being technically perfect. “I’m excited to see him on screen again.”
Lawson’s popularity with the British public is so high that even the double-edged sword of tragedy and scandal has failed to set back his career. She married her first husband, John Diamond, who was also a journalist. Sunday TimesThey had two children in 1986. Diamond died in 2001 at the age of 47, following a very public battle with throat cancer; After her death, he took only two weeks off work, saying he “didn’t really believe in breaks.” She later married multimillionaire art dealer and businessman Charles Saatchi in 2003. He said their relationship was unstable.
In June 2013, Sunday People He published photos of Saatchi putting his hands around Lawson’s neck during an argument at Scott’s restaurant in Mayfair. He described the altercation as a “playful brawl” and as a result he was cautioned for assault and Lawson left the family home in Chelsea. But following their separation, the row escalated when it was revealed in court that Lawson had used cocaine to offset the emotional toll of his marriage (which he described as “private terrorism”).
Her maids came under further scrutiny when they, along with co-defendants sisters Francesca and Elisabetta Gritto, were accused of fraudulently spending almost £700,000 ($1.38 million) on Saatchi’s credit cards, saying Lawson had authorized the amounts to prevent them from revealing the extent of her drug use to her husband. Lawson denied this; Both Francesca and Elisabetta were eventually cleared of fraud in court.
Lawson expressed regret over his drug use, saying, “I’m not proud of the fact that I use drugs, but that doesn’t make me a drug addict or a drug addict.” And even if his image of the perfect life was temporarily damaged, Lawson was too popular and too confident of his position as a true national treasure for his career to suffer major damage. Returned to Primetime TV Simply Black Cumin A little more than a year has passed since the scandal, and the first episode attracted more than two million viewers.
Lawson has fallen out of the public eye somewhat in recent years, choosing to focus her energy on becoming famous on social media (she has 3.1 million followers on Instagram, where she regularly recommends new cookbooks and shares recipes). Latest BBC show was the quarantine cream of 2020 Nigella: Cook, Eat, Repeat, It was released alongside the best-selling cookbook of the same name, and since then its UK screen presence has consisted mostly of reruns of festival specials. Here in Australia, Lawson appeared as a presenter and judge. My Kitchen Rules (2022-2023) and took part as a guest jury member. MasterChef Australia.
These appearances in Australia heralded a new chapter in his personal life: Although he owns a historic £5 million ($9.9 million) mews house in London’s Chelsea, Lawson spends considerable time in Sydney. Last year, he appeared in an advert for Tourism Australia alongside Robert Irwin, son of the late conservationist and “Crocodile Hunter” Steve, and said he felt “wonderfully at home” Down Under. She is currently single and both of her children (31-year-old Cosima and 28-year-old Bruno) have flown the nest, meaning she is free to travel the world as she pleases.
Fans of both Baking and Lawson (including me) will be thrilled with the news. Just imagine: everyone’s favorite “domestic goddess” gives Paul Hollywood a run for its money in innuendo betting.
Telegraph, London
