Nigella Lawson

Profession: Cookery Writer and TV Presenter
Place/Date of Birth: London, 06 January 1960

Nigella denies no will for children - Feb 4 2008
Nigella Lawson has denied that she plans to leave her children out of her will so they learn the value of money.

It was reported that the TV chef planned to leave nothing to her children after she told My Weekly magazine: "I am determined that my children should have no financial security. It ruins people not having to earn money.

"I argue with my husband Charles, because he believes that you should be able to leave money to your children. I think we'll have to agree to disagree," added Lawson, 48, who shares an estimated wealth of more than £110 million with her art collector husband Charles Saatchi.

But Lawson has now issued a statement on her website, saying she wanted to clarify the situation to save her children more embarrassment.

"Of course I have no intention of leaving my children destitute and starving - rather, this is a story that came from a comment I made about my belief that you have to work in order to learn the value of money," it reads.

"I have always said of my children that once they have finished university or training, whatever education they choose, they have to support themselves through work, as I did, but I have never discussed the details of my will with anyone."

The cookery writer has two children, daughter Cosima, 13, and son Bruno, 11, from her marriage to journalist John Diamond, who died of throat cancer in 2001.

Saatchi, 64, who made his name in advertising, has one daughter, Phoebe, from a previous marriage.

Celeb chefs in Christmas cookbook battle - Dec 21 2007
Nigella Lawson is beating Jamie Oliver in the battle for the best-selling cookbook this Christmas, a retailer has said.

Her book, Nigella Express, has so far out-sold its rival, Jamie At Home, by more than 100,000 copies at Waterstone’s. It is on track to hit the one million sales mark to be her best performing cookery book to date at the book chain.

Waterstone’s said Nigella’s previous best-selling cookbook was Nigella Bites, launched in 2002, which has sold nearly 300,000 copies. Jamie’s biggest selling title so far at Waterstone’s is Jamie’s Italy, which sold 735,000 copies over Christmas 2005.

Waterstone’s spokeswoman Sian Jones said: "Nigella Express has outsold Jamie at Home at Waterstone’s.

"That’s not to say Jamie hasn’t been a huge success, it has, but Nigella’s book has been helped by a later-airing TV show and some frankly irresistible recipes."

Nigella Express is currently No 1 in the best-sellers list on the Waterstone’s website while Jamie At Home is in eighth place.

A GfK NOP poll of 1,000 people carried out for Waterstone’s last month found that 40 per cent of respondents would prefer to have Christmas dinner cooked for them by their mothers rather than Nigella Lawson, Jamie Oliver, Gordon Ramsay or Nigel Slater.

Nigella’s body fears - Oct 31 2007
Nigella Lawson has reportedly lifted the lid on her insecurities about her body - admitting that she sometimes thinks she looks "like an elephant".

The curvy TV chef - who presents her own show Nigella’s Express - also revealed that whilst she feels happy in the comfort of her own home with husband Charles Saatchi - she hates shopping for clothes.

"When I’m at home, I feel happy about my body. When I go into a clothes shop, I get into a bit of a panic," she confessed to Red magazine.

"Fashion is for thin people. That’s why I have my ’uniform’. I go up and down, like everyone.

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Biography

The daughter of politician Nigel Lawson and Lyon’s Corner House heiress Vanessa Salmon Nigella Lawson has made her name as one of the leading proponents of real food.
However, cookery wasn’t the career Nigella started out on. She has a degree from Oxford University in Medieval and Modern Languages and was a television newspaper reviewer on Breakfast with Frost and also had a restaurant reviewing job with The Spectator and was Deputy Literary Editor for the Sunday Times during the latter half of the 80s.

However, Nigella couldn’t resist getting the world to ditch those diets and in 2001 she slinkily sashayed on to our screens for Nigella Bites and in 2002 Forever Summer With Nigella was aired. She briefly became one of the UK’s favourite celebrity chef and sold millions of her accompanying recipe books and also became the figure of affectionate fun for her rather sexy take on cooking.

A third series - this time a daytime show on ITV entitled Nigella! missed the mark and was soon taken off the air. She however continues to write and has published both cookery books and a biography since. A return to TV is also promised later in 2006.

While her public successes are many Nigella’s private life has been blighted by sadness - both her mother and sister, Thomasina, died of cancer within ten years of each other while in 2001 her husband, journalist John Diamond, was diagnosed with and died of the same. She was remarried, to art collector Charles Saatchi, just two years later and faced the wrath of the press when it was revealed that they had begun an affair before her husband’s death despite the fact he had reportedly given his consent. Nigella has two children, Cosima and Bruno, by Diamond.
February 2008

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