Nigella Lawson Facts: 31 Things You Didn’t Know

Nigella Lawson is a famous writer, chef, and cooking show host. She is known for her cookery books and for hosting various television shows. Many people consider her one of the sexiest celebrity chefs on television, and she is also famous for her no-nonsense approach to cooking. Although she is well-known for her work, there are many things that people do not know about this television personality. Here are 31 Nigella Lawson facts that you probably did not know.

31 Nigella Lawson Facts You Might Not Know

Nigella Lawson Facts: Her Childhood

1. Where Was Nigella Lawson Born?

Nigella Lawson was born in Wandsworth, London, on 6 January 1960. However, her family also had homes in the Chelsea and Kensington areas of London. Her father is Nigel Lawson, who was Chancellor of the Exchequer in Margaret Thatcher’s government, says Wikipedia. Her mother was Vanessa Salmon, who was heiress to the J. Lyons and Co. fortune. Lawson’s mother died of liver cancer at the age of 48.

2. Lawson Is Part of a Large Family

Lawson has a brother called Dominic and two sisters, Thomasina and Horatia. Sadly, Thomasina died from breast cancer in 1993 when she was in her early thirties. Nigella Lawson also has half-siblings, as both her parents remarried. She has a half-brother, Tom, and a half-sister, Emily, from her father’s second marriage.

3. She Was Almost Called Gondola

While Nigella Lawson is now a well-known name, the television chef was nearly given a very different name. Her mother had chosen the name ‘Gondola’. However, her maternal grandmother suggested Nigella instead. Her grandmother was a keen gardener and loved the Nigella flower. Lawson’s mother agreed, and the idea of calling her Gondola was dismissed.

4. She Moved Around a Lot as a Child

Lawson had a rather unsettled childhood. Between the ages of nine and 18, she and her family moved house five times, and she changed schools nine times during the same period. Some of the places she lived included London, Wales, Oxford, and Italy.

5. She Has a Degree

After completing her compulsory education, Nigella Lawson landed a place at Lady Margaret Hall at The University of Oxford. There, she studied for a second-level degree in medieval and modern languages.

Facts About Nigella Lawson: Her Personal Life

6. Is NIgella Lawson Married?

Nigella Lawson’s first husband was John Diamond, a journalist. The couple met in 1986 while working for ‘The Sunday Times’. In 1992, they married in Venice. Sadly, Diamond was diagnosed with throat cancer five years after their marriage. He died in March 2001 when he was aged just 47. Following his death, Lawson suffered from depression. Nigella Lawson married her second husband, Charles Saatchi, in September 2003. Saatchi is a businessman and art collector. Unfortunately, her second marriage was not as happy as her first. In 2013, photographs were published in a newspaper showing Saatchi grabbing Lawson by her neck. After the police cautioned Saatchi, Lawson left the family home. The couple divorced in the same year.

7. She Has Two Children

Lawson has two children from her first marriage. Her son is called Bruno, and her daughter is called Cosima. Her children are now adults.

8. Where Does Nigella Lawson Live?

Nigella Lawson lives in a £5 million property in Chelsea, London. The food Writer’s quirky home was once a stables. The cost of the property is just a snip of Nigella Lawson’s net worth, estimated at £15 million.

Facts About Nigella Lawson’s Books and Writing Career

9. Lawson Worked in Publishing Before Becoming a Cookbook Writer

Although Lawson is now famous for her cookbooks, she was worked in publishing long before she started writing her own books. Her career began as a book review writer for ‘Spectator’, and she was then a restaurant critic. She became the literary editor for ‘The Sunday Times’ when she was 26.

10. She Wrote Her First Cookbook in 1998

After leaving ‘The Sunday Times’, Lawson became a freelance writer in 1998. It was then that she wrote her first cookbook, called ‘How to Eat: Pleasures and Principles of Good Food’. This book sold more than three hundred thousand copies in the UK.

11. She Has Published 12 Books

Since publishing her first book in 1998, Nigella Lawson has gone on to publish a further 11 books. Her twelfth book ‘At My Table: A Celebration of Home Cooking’, was published in 2017.

12. Her Books Have Won Two Awards

Lawson has won two awards for her cookery books. Her first award was the British Book Award for Author of the Year in 2000 for ‘How to be a Domestic Goddess’. She then shortlisted for a WH Smith Book Award in 2001 but did not win. Her second award was the 2002 WH Smith Book Award for Lifestyle Book of the Year for ‘Nigella Bites.’

13. Her Mentor is Anna del Conte

In terms of cookery writing, Nigella Lawson says that her mentor and inspiration is Anna del Conte. Lawson described her as being the best writer on Italian food. She has cooked many recipes by Anne del Conte and reinvented them to include in her own books. Lawson says that del Conte is part of her personal cooking history.

Facts About Her Career in Television

14. She is Not a Trained Chef

Unlike many of the celebrity chefs on the television, Nigella Lawson is not a trained chef, says Spot. She had never even read a cookbook until she was around 15. Rather than taking classes, Nigella Lawson learned her cooking skills at home in the kitchen with her mother, who taught her the basics of making sauces, such as mayonnaise and bechamel. Despite her lack of training, Nigella Lawson is one of the most famous and popular celebrity chefs in the UK.

15. Nigella Lawson Has Won Three Awards for Her Work in Television

On three occasions, Nigella Lawson has won awards for her television series. She won the first two awards in 2001, and both for ‘Nigella Bites’. These were the World Food Media Award for Gold Ladle Best Television Food Show and the Guild of Food Writers Award for Television Broadcast of the Year. In 2007, Lawson won the World Food Media Award for Gold Ladle Best Food and/ or Drink Television Show for ‘Nigella’s Christmas Kitchen’.

16. Lawson Began Her Television Career in ‘Nigella Bites’

Lawson’s career in television began in 1999 when she became the host of the series ‘Nigella Bites.’ This series ran for two seasons consisting of 16 episodes, and there was also a Christmas special. The series ended in 2001.

17. She Is a Judge on Cooking Competitions

In 2013, Nigella Lawson became one of the judges on ‘The Taste’, which was an American cooking competition. Competitors made a dish and served one taste on a spoon. The judges would decide who would go through to the next round based on just one mouthful of the food. Lawson was a judge on this televised cooking competition for three seasons. She was also the judge on the UK version of the series, which lasted for just one season in 2014. In 2022, Lawson became a judge on My Kitchen Rules alongside long-term judge Manu Fieldel and returning judge Colin Fassnidge after Pete Evans, one of the original judges, was dropped from the series. Matt Preston also appeared as a judge for season 12 alongside Lawson and Fieldel.

18. She Has Been a Guest Judge on Several Other Cooking Competitions

Although most of Lawson’s television career has involved her hosting her shows, she has also acted as a guest judge on various television series. These have included ‘Top Chef’, ‘Super Chef Battle: An Iron Chef America Event’, ‘MasterChef Australia‘, and ‘MasterChef US.’

19. Nigella Lawson Has Hosted 10 Television Series

Nigella Lawson is probably best known for hosting various cookery series on television. Since first appearing on television in 1999, she has hosted ten series of cooking shows. She has also hosted a variety of one-off specials, including Christmas specials. As of August 2020, her most recent television series was ‘Nigella: At My Table’. This series was first broadcast in the UK in 2017, and it consisted of six episodes and a Christmas special.

Nigella Lawson Facts: Food

20. Her Favourite Meal is Roast Chicken

Despite cooking food from around the world and making delicious and unusual dishes, Nigella Lawson’s all-time favourite meal is a roast chicken dinner. She once said in an interview that it had become a family joke that if they ring to ask her what she is cooking, her answer is almost always roast chicken. Lawson also likes to have some cold chicken in her refrigerator.

21. Lawson Sometimes Eats in Bed

Although Nigella Lawson gives the impression that she is always immaculately presented, she has some surprising habits that suggest otherwise. One of her bad habits is she sits in bed eating food. When she does this, she often slops food down herself, and she says that her bedsheets have splotches of soy sauce.

22. Nigella Lawson Gives Her Children Microwavable Meals

Nigella Lawson says that she does not have many shameful kitchen secrets. However, she has admitted that she sometimes feeds her children microwavable meals. While this is one of the Nigella Lawson facts that may surprise people due to her talents in the kitchen, she is a busy working mum, and shortcuts are sometimes necessary.

23. She Loves Food Too Much to Diet

One thing for which Nigella Lawson is famous is her sexy curves. Over the years, her weight has gone up and down. However, she is happy with how she looks and says that she enjoys food too much to diet. She would rather eat delicious meals than worry about being slim.

24. She Posts Her Creations on Instagram

Lawson is passionate about the visual appeal of food, and she likes to present her dishes in an appealing way. She likes to photograph all her dishes, and she then shares her creations on her Instagram account. Her account has more than 2.2 million followers.

25. Nigella Lawson is a Trend-Setter

Food trends come and go, and there are many factors that can start a food trend. There is some evidence that Nigella Lawson started trends for using goose fat and prunes in dishes. When she spoke about these two ingredients on television and used them in her cooking, sales of both went up in several major supermarkets.

26. Nigella Lawson Once Ate 30 Pickled Eggs

Lawson’s friends once bet her that she could not eat 30 pickled eggs. She made them put their money on the table and took up the challenge. After successfully polishing off all 30 pickled eggs, she collected her prize money of £1,000.

27. She Takes Tea Bags and Mustard on Her Travels

Nigella Lawson travels a lot for her career. According to The Recipe, she will not go anywhere without mustard or Typhoo tea bags. Depending on the location, these are two items that she cannot always get hold of, and she considers them essential. A cup of tea is the quintessentially British solution to all problems, and mustard adds a burst of flavour into any dish.

Other Nigella Lawson Facts

28. She Fancies Hairy Men

According to Woman and Home, Nigella Lawson fancies hairy men. She has said that she cannot understand women dating men with no bodily hair and said that she might as well date a woman if she did not want bodily hair. Due to their passion for food and their hair appearance, perhaps one of the Hairy Bikers would be a good match!

29. She is a Big Fan of Nigel Slater

Like many celebrity chefs, Nigella Lawson admires the work of others in the industry and takes inspiration from their food. One person she admires is Nigel Slater, a British food writer and journalist. She is particularly fond of one of his books titled ‘Tender’. This book is about Slater’s passion for growing his own vegetables and then creating dishes using his own vegetables.

30. She Designs Kitchenware

One of the Nigella Lawson facts that many people do not know is that Nigella Lawson has diversified into designing kitchenware. In collaboration with Sebastian Conran, a designer, she launched ‘Nigella Lawson’s Living Kitchen’ in 2002. She has since continued to expand the range.

31. Lawson is a Dickens Fan

Something that Nigella Lawson enjoys in her free time is reading. One of her favourite authors is Charles Dickens, and she is particularly fond of his book ‘David Copperfield’. She has said that this is one of her desert island books.

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