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Nigella Lawson speaks on her father’s death for the first time

<p>Celebrity chef Nigella Lawson has shared an update with her social media followers, thanking them for their support following her father’s death. </p> <p>The news of his passing was covered by the BBC and <em>The Guardian </em>on April 4, naming the former conservative chancellor as “one of the most consequential of all post-war UK chancellors”. </p> <p>Nigel Lawson was 91 years old when he passed, with a political career of almost five decades to his name. He served under Margaret Thatcher during the 1980s, holding a number of different roles, before retiring to the backbench in 1992. He went on to sit in the House of Lords until his retirement, just three short months before his passing. </p> <p>Nigel is survived by six children, and it was the 63-year-old Nigella who took to Twitter to express her gratitude to her 2.7 million followers for the love and support being directed to their family in their time of grief, as well as assuring them that while she needed some time, she would return to them. </p> <p>“Thank you for all your kind messages,” she wrote. “And I’ll be back on here properly tomorrow.” </p> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> <p dir="ltr" lang="en">Thank you for all your kind messages. And I’ll be back on here properly tomorrow</p> <p>— Nigella Lawson (@Nigella_Lawson) <a href="https://twitter.com/Nigella_Lawson/status/1643303805151240209?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 4, 2023</a></p></blockquote> <p>“Thinking of you, dearest girl. Your father was always kind and a consummate gentleman whenever I came across him as a journalist,” journalist Pádraig Belton wrote in response, before sharing a brief insight into his experiences with the late Nigel. </p> <p>“Been thinking of you, and Dominic and your kids today. Your dad was an interesting man,” editor Fiammetta Rocco said. “Scary, but very smart.”</p> <p>“Be well. Know that you are loved. Holding you and your family in prayer during this time of loss,” a reverend offered. </p> <p>“Don't rush yourself - give yourself enough time to process it all. Wrap yourself in the good memories & cosset yourself however you choose about the not so good,” one kind supporter advised. “Take care of yourself first - we can all wait.”</p> <p>Nigella wasn’t the only notable figure to note Nigel’s death on social media, with British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak sharing his condolences with his own 1.9 million followers.</p> <p>"One of the first things I did as Chancellor was hang a picture of Nigel Lawson above my desk," he said.</p> <p>"He was a transformational Chancellor and an inspiration to me and many others. My thoughts are with his family and friends at this time."</p> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> <p dir="ltr" lang="en">One of the first things I did as Chancellor was hang a picture of Nigel Lawson above my desk.</p> <p>He was a transformational Chancellor and an inspiration to me and many others.</p> <p>My thoughts are with his family and friends at this time. <a href="https://t.co/SPwcnoUFnQ">pic.twitter.com/SPwcnoUFnQ</a></p> <p>— Rishi Sunak (@RishiSunak) <a href="https://twitter.com/RishiSunak/status/1642988449258160128?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 3, 2023</a></p></blockquote> <p>And Britain’s former prime minister Boris Johnson also had something to offer, writing that Nigel “was a fearless and original flame of free market Conservatism. He was a tax-cutter and simplifier who helped transform the economic landscape and helped millions of British people achieve their dreams … He was a prophet of Brexit and a lover of continental Europe. He was a giant. </p> <p>“My thoughts and prayers are with his family.”</p> <p><em>Images: Getty</em></p>

Caring

Nigella Lawson opens up on tragic family losses

<p dir="ltr">Nigella Lawson has spoken about how losing several family members far too soon has changed her perspective on ageing and death.</p> <p dir="ltr">The celebrity chef’s latest interview with <em>New Idea</em> magazine saw her open up about the death of her mother and sister within eight years of each other and the effect it’s had.</p> <p dir="ltr">“My mother died at 48 and my sister died at 32, so to mind about getting older would be slightly odd,” the 62-year-old told the magazine.</p> <p dir="ltr">Her mother, Vanessa Salmon, died of liver cancer in 1985 and her sister, Thomasina, died in 1993 of breast cancer.</p> <p dir="ltr">Their deaths had a huge impact on Lawson, who has led a healthy lifestyle and embraced life to the fullest as a result.</p> <p><span id="docs-internal-guid-856c761c-7fff-6ce0-2930-4233846e11f8"></span></p> <p dir="ltr">“I’m much more concerned with my health and keeping mobile,” she said.</p> <blockquote class="instagram-media" style="background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/CbgdkgKIBRM/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="14"> <div style="padding: 16px;"> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"> </div> </div> </div> <div style="padding: 19% 0;"> </div> <div style="display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;"> </div> <div style="padding-top: 8px;"> <div style="color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;">View this post on Instagram</div> </div> <div style="padding: 12.5% 0;"> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; margin-bottom: 14px; align-items: center;"> <div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(0px) translateY(7px);"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; height: 12.5px; transform: rotate(-45deg) translateX(3px) translateY(1px); width: 12.5px; flex-grow: 0; margin-right: 14px; margin-left: 2px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(9px) translateY(-18px);"> </div> </div> <div style="margin-left: 8px;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 20px; width: 20px;"> </div> <div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 2px solid transparent; border-left: 6px solid #f4f4f4; border-bottom: 2px solid transparent; transform: translateX(16px) translateY(-4px) rotate(30deg);"> </div> </div> <div style="margin-left: auto;"> <div style="width: 0px; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-right: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(16px);"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; flex-grow: 0; height: 12px; width: 16px; transform: translateY(-4px);"> </div> <div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-left: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(-4px) translateX(8px);"> </div> </div> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center; margin-bottom: 24px;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 224px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 144px;"> </div> </div> <p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><a style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none;" href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CbgdkgKIBRM/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank" rel="noopener">A post shared by Nigella (@nigellalawson)</a></p> </div> </blockquote> <p dir="ltr">“It might sound corny, but if you’re well, then that really is the most important thing.”</p> <p dir="ltr">Lawson added that ageing is “just life” for her, and that there’s “no point in focusing on it too much” since “it’s going to happen”.</p> <p dir="ltr">“Sometimes I look at my hands and think: ‘Oh my God!’ But what are you going to do? It’s just life,” she said.</p> <p dir="ltr">Lawson recently touched down in Australia for last month’s Melbourne Food & Wine Festival, as rumours that she will be staying in the country as a permanent judge on MasterChef or the upcoming revival of My Kitchen Rules continue to circulate. </p> <p dir="ltr">Despite the speculation, Lawson has said little about them yet.</p> <p dir="ltr">To read Nigella Lawson’s full interview with <em>New Idea</em>, click <a href="https://www.newidea.com.au/nigella-lawson-diet" target="_blank" rel="noopener">here</a>.</p> <p dir="ltr"><span id="docs-internal-guid-6b2ebcb5-7fff-7fe8-5d6e-9b8f83d5e8e2"></span></p> <p dir="ltr"><em>Image: @nigellalawson (Instagram)</em></p>

Family & Pets

Review: The Drover’s Wife: the Legend of Molly Johnson

<p><em>Review: The Drover’s Wife: the Legend of Molly Johnson, written and directed by Leah Purcell, Sydney Film Festival</em></p> <p>Leah Purcell’s The Drover’s Wife: the Legend of Molly Johnson is an inspired and compelling re-imagining of Henry Lawson’s <a rel="noopener" href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/9363188-the-drover-s-wife" target="_blank">The Drover’s Wife</a>, a short story originally published in The Bulletin in 1892.</p> <p>Purcell’s debut feature film as writer and director, filmed in late 2019, has emerged out of a lifelong connection with this story. Citing three generations of drovers in her own family, <a rel="noopener" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=82A3wzwKWOI" target="_blank">Purcell explained in a recent interview</a> how, as a five-year-old girl, she would implore her mother to read Lawson’s story to her. For Purcell, it was, “the first time I used my imagination and saw myself in a story”.</p> <p>As her mother recited, Purcell would imagine a “little film in my head”. In it, she was the little boy in the story and her mother the drover’s wife.</p> <p>Purcell has been repeatedly drawn to The Drover’s Wife as a way of placing her Indigenous family’s story before a broad Australian audience. The film expands on the acclaimed stage play she wrote and starred in, <a rel="noopener" href="https://belvoir.com.au/productions/the-drovers-wife/" target="_blank">which premiered at Belvoir Street Theatre in 2016</a> and won the Victorian prize for literature, two NSW premier’s literary awards and four Helpmann awards. She also adapted the play into a <a rel="noopener" href="https://www.penguin.com.au/books/the-drovers-wife-9780143791478" target="_blank">novel, released in 2019</a>.</p> <p><iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/TltTxxIqv4U?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></p> <p>In all three versions of the story, set in 1893 in the Snowy Mountains in NSW, Purcell gives voice to Indigenous experiences of the frontier that were maligned and marginalised in Lawson’s version.</p> <p>As in the play, the film is carried by its Indigenous co-stars. Purcell plays the drover’s wife, Molly Johnson, unearthing an Indigenous heritage for the character. Johnson is burdened by a dark secret and Purcell imbues the role with a determined strength, her posture and gaze expressing fortitude, grit and constant vigilance, whether she is carrying her broom or her rifle.</p> <p>Rob Collins plays Yadaka, a character inspired by Purcell’s great-grandfather, Tippo Charlie Chambers, a caring and gentle man who spent time as a travelling circus performer in the 1890s while yearning for his Country.</p> <p><a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/430929/original/file-20211108-19-11q4cdq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/430929/original/file-20211108-19-11q4cdq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" alt="" /></a> <em><span class="caption">Yadaka (Rob Collins), left, is central to this reworked story.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Bunya Productions, Oombarra Productions</span></span></em></p> <p>Yadaka is central to Purcell’s reworking of the original story, fleshed out from the brief mention of a “stray blackfellow” who chops some wood for the drover’s wife in Lawson’s version.</p> <p>In the film, the fugitive Yadaka arrives at the heavily pregnant Molly’s isolated property and ultimately saves her life when her labour goes wrong, helping her to bury her stillborn child. But Yadaka is a wanted man, blamed for the murder of a white family in town. This sets off an unfortunate chain of events.</p> <p>Yadaka also unlocks Molly’s understanding of her Indigenous family, paving the way for her children to escape from becoming wards of the state. The strong bond the drover’s wife has with her children in Lawson’s original story is deepened in Purcell’s film. Molly is driven to protect her children from the authorities and to overcome violence and hardship.</p> <p>Molly’s eldest son Danny – played by Malachi Dower-Roberts, who <a rel="noopener" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=82A3wzwKWOI" target="_blank">Purcell joyfully describes</a> as a “red-haired freckled Blackfella from Glebe” – functions as a figure of hope in the film.</p> <p>He forms a bond with Yadaka, taking responsibility for guiding his siblings to safety. The absence of the drover himself, Jo Johnson, meanwhile, is attributed to his being a violent drunk and an abuser, rather than the heroic, pioneering figure imagined by Lawson.</p> <p><a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/430931/original/file-20211108-17-wm8elz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/430931/original/file-20211108-17-wm8elz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" alt="" /></a> <em><span class="caption">Molly Johnson is driven to protect her children.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Bunya Productions, Oombarra Productions</span></span></em></p> <p>The film was shot in and around Adaminaby. Cinematographer Mark Wareham captures the beauty and harshness of the rolling hills and valleys of this vast, alpine landscape, from dusty clearings to lush greenery and stark, white snow.</p> <p>Foreboding, enveloping mists are rendered by the time-lapse photography of Murray Fredericks. The beauty and menace of this landscape frame the film’s harrowing violence. The final closeup shots are especially chilling.</p> <p><strong>Violent realities</strong></p> <p>Purcell’s is not, of course, the first re-imagining of Lawson’s story. In 2017, Frank Moorhouse brought together a collection of its numerous literary reworkings in <a rel="noopener" href="https://sydneyreviewofbooks.com/review/the-drovers-wife-wives-frank-moorhouse-ryan-oneill/" target="_blank">The Drover’s Wife: A Celebration of a Great Love Affair</a>, including the writer and director’s notes from Purcell’s original play.</p> <p>But Purcell’s cinematic version of the story exemplifies what Felicity Collins and Therese Davis describe in their book <a rel="noopener" href="https://www.cambridge.org/au/academic/subjects/arts-theatre-culture/media-mass-communication/australian-cinema-after-mabo?format=HB&isbn=9780521834803" target="_blank">Australian Cinema After Mabo</a> as a process of “cinematic backtracking”. Familiar figures and archetypes are revived and reworked, opening up new meanings and interpretations.</p> <p>In recent years, we have witnessed a surge of interest in the archetypes, themes and aesthetics of the Western in Australian cinema with films like The Proposition (John Hillcoat, 2005), Sweet Country (Warwick Thornton, 2017), The Nightingale (Jennifer Kent, 2018) and High Ground (Stephen Johnson, 2020). All suggest a growing reckoning with the violent realities of our frontier history.</p> <p>Purcell’s film is part of this turn.</p> <p>By bringing her personal history and identity as a Black woman to bear on the Australian Western, Purcell has enriched this burgeoning film cycle.</p> <p>The way that Purcell’s Molly Johnson endures in this film is both inspiring and heartbreaking. This is a subversive survival story that brings an unflinching new perspective to Australian cinema’s ongoing engagement with the frontier.</p> <p><em>The Drover’s Wife will be in cinemas May 2022.</em><img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important; text-shadow: none !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/170782/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /></p> <p><em><a rel="noopener" href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/megan-carrigy-1283895" target="_blank">Megan Carrigy</a>, Associate Director, Academic Programs, <a rel="noopener" href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/new-york-university-1016" target="_blank">New York University</a></em></p> <p><em>This article is republished from <a rel="noopener" href="https://theconversation.com" target="_blank">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a rel="noopener" href="https://theconversation.com/the-drovers-wife-the-legend-of-molly-johnson-brings-a-black-womans-perspective-to-australian-frontier-films-170782" target="_blank">original article</a>.</em></p> <p><em>Image: <span>Bunya Productions, Oombarra Productions</span></em></p>

Movies

Succession star’s secret backyard wedding

<p>Australian actress Sarah Snook has revealed she married comedian Dave Lawson in a secret ceremony last year.</p> <p>The 33-year-old <em>Succession</em> star told <a rel="noopener" href="https://www.vogue.com.au/culture/features/succession-sarah-snook/news-story/681fdf0ac48b0aad26af57b0f9becdd0" target="_blank">Vogue Australia</a> that the pair started living together as friends at the start of the coronavirus pandemic in 2020.</p> <p><span>"At the beginning of the pandemic last year, I got locked down in Melbourne with one of my best mates and we fell in love," she said.</span></p> <p><span>"We've been friends since 2014, lived together, travelled together, always excited to see each other, but totally platonic."</span></p> <p><span>Snook continued, "We've just never been single at the same time."</span></p> <blockquote style="background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);" class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/CVGwelchKms/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="14"> <div style="padding: 16px;"> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"></div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"></div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"></div> </div> </div> <div style="padding: 19% 0;"></div> <div style="display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;"></div> <div style="padding-top: 8px;"> <div style="color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;">View this post on Instagram</div> </div> <p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><a style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none;" rel="noopener" href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CVGwelchKms/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank">A post shared by Vogue Australia (@vogueaustralia)</a></p> </div> </blockquote> <p><span>Sarah admitted that she was the one who proposed to Dave, before they tied in the knot in her Brooklyn backyard surrounded by her housemates and <em>Succession</em> co-star Aussie Ash Zukerman — who also played witness.</span></p> <p><span>"It's been a ride," Sarah added. "There's so much heartache and sadness in the world, but on a micro personal level, I've been very fortunate.</span></p> <p><span>"There's a really lovely grace in that without the pandemic, we might not have ended up together so quickly."</span></p> <blockquote style="background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);" class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/CVHZguTvZ1l/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="14"> <div style="padding: 16px;"> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"></div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"></div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"></div> </div> </div> <div style="padding: 19% 0;"></div> <div style="display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;"></div> <div style="padding-top: 8px;"> <div style="color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;">View this post on Instagram</div> </div> <p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><a style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none;" rel="noopener" href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CVHZguTvZ1l/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank">A post shared by Vogue Australia (@vogueaustralia)</a></p> </div> </blockquote> <p><span>Sarah plays the character of Siobhan 'Shiv' Roy in HBO's hit drama <em>Succession</em>, with season three premiering on Binge on October 18th. </span></p> <p><span>Despite playing a tough character on screen, Sarah's personality reflects her Adelaide upbringing and trademark Aussie wit. </span></p> <p><span>Her career defining role in Succession has been one that brought many challenges, but Sarah also meticulously chooses her work. </span></p> <p><span>“I always feel like I’ve played by choice and good fortune, interesting, complex, strong and a good diversity of women, in terms of their characters." </span></p> <p><span>"They often have a strength and they’re not pushovers, but there’s usually been a redeeming softness that they’re protecting. And Shiv has that as well, but her defense of that softness is so different from who I am as a person.”</span></p> <p><em>Image credits: Getty Images / Instagram @sarah_snook</em></p>

Relationships

Nigella Lawson: "How my daughter taught me to be happy again"

<p>Nigella Lawson is known by many as being a domestic goddess in the kitchen, but she credits her daughter for helping her transform her life after her ex-husband grabbed her by the throat.</p> <p>Charles Saatchi, advertising millionaire, shocked the world as he grabbed his then wife by the throat in public in a busy restaurant. Just seven weeks after the incident back in 2013, their 10-year marriage was over.</p> <p><img style="width: 500px; height: 281.25px;" src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/7828843/nigella-lawson.jpg" alt="" data-udi="umb://media/8b57f00d49ae48ceab13b0a2e626367d" /></p> <p>However, Nigella’s confidence was shaken, and she developed a fear of being photographed or being seen in public.</p> <p>Her daughter, Cosima Diamond, 25, is credited with helping Nigella overcome her fear.</p> <p>“I have been forced to be guarded. I used to be more open and I’d like to think I will be again,” Nigella opened up to <a rel="noopener" href="https://www.mirror.co.uk/tv/tv-news/nigella-lawson-says-daughter-transformed-18457049" target="_blank"><em>The Mirror.</em></a></p> <p>"Cosima said to me, ‘Mum, would you rather be a real person like you or someone who has hair and make-up done to go to the supermarket? It is better to be a real person.’ She’s right.”</p> <p>Nigella also shared that her children are the biggest fans of her cooking, but they make fun of her presenting style.</p> <p>“When I am on TV, I cook the food that I cook at home but my children always tease me.</p> <p>“I do a running commentary at home of my life like I do on TV.</p> <p>“I always wanted to do the advanced driving test as when you do it you have to do a commentary like, ‘I am now moving into second gear.’ I do feel I ought to take it.”</p> <p>Nigella says that she gets a “bit nervous or a bit awkward” due to the camera being on her.</p> <p>“The thing about television is that it is both frightening and boring.</p> <p>"It is not an act, but I do think you get a bit nervous or a bit awkward when there is a camera on you,” she explained.</p> <blockquote style="background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);" class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/BxKJoVMlHCA/" data-instgrm-version="12"> <div style="padding: 16px;"> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"></div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"></div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"></div> </div> </div> <div style="padding: 19% 0;"></div> <div style="display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;"></div> <div style="padding-top: 8px;"> <div style="color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;">View this post on Instagram</div> </div> <p style="margin: 8px 0 0 0; padding: 0 4px;"><a style="color: #000; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none; word-wrap: break-word;" rel="noopener" href="https://www.instagram.com/p/BxKJoVMlHCA/" target="_blank">We're delighted to welcome goddess of the kitchen, Nigella Lawson, to the Masterchef kitchen next week! 👩🍳 🥘 🥗 ❤ #MasterChefAU</a></p> <p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;">A post shared by <a style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px;" rel="noopener" href="https://www.instagram.com/masterchefau/" target="_blank"> MasterChef Australia</a> (@masterchefau) on May 7, 2019 at 3:51am PDT</p> </div> </blockquote> <p>Nigella went into detail about her success in Australia, following her appearances on the Australian version of <em>MasterChef</em>.</p> <p>“I do like it as I like the people there. The programme has been going for 11 years,” she said.</p> <p>“They are very funny, Australians. I don’t go to America a great deal. I did for book tours, but America is a very greedy monster.</p> <p>“All they ever want to know is, ‘What are you going to do next?’ and ‘How much more are you going to do?’</p> <p>Nigella says that the pressure isn’t something that she wants for her life.</p> <p>“It is not what I want to do. If I wanted to go and work non-stop and do that I would go there.</p> <p>"I like lying about and reading books and drinking tea as well, so I don’t want a life which just becomes about making television programmes.”</p>

Mind

The choc chip cookies you need to try

<p>Have you ever craved a lighter, fluffier, more aesthetically pleasing version of chocolate chip cookies for a snack? Nigel Slater, an English food writer, journalist, broadcaster and chef, says these gorgeous looking treats will get you through those meals where you crave a sweet dessert afterwards.</p> <p>“The best moment to eat these soft cookies is when they are still warm, when the butterscotch notes of the brown sugar is still evident and the chocolate chips haven’t quite set,” he wrote in <em>The Guardian</em>. Have a peak below and see if you would like to try these out for yourselves.</p> <p><img style="width: 500px; height: 281.25px;" src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/7823982/gettyimages-958512822.jpg" alt="" data-udi="umb://media/1c55f900fcf74f2e9cf09712a3c09dde" /></p> <p><strong>Ingredients </strong></p> <ul> <li>125g butter</li> <li>75g light muscovado sugar</li> <li>75g caster sugar</li> <li>1 egg</li> <li>250g plain flour</li> <li>½ tsp bicarbonate of soda</li> <li>20g crystallised rose petals</li> <li>200g marzipan</li> <li>150g dark chocolate</li> <li>Vanilla extract</li> </ul> <p><strong>Method </strong></p> <p>1. Set oven to 200 degrees celsius.</p> <p>2. Cream butter and sugars together until the texture is light and the colour resembles a light brown.</p> <p>3. Break egg into bowl and mix the yolk and egg white together with a fork, then combine with butter and sugar mixture.</p> <p>4. Mix flour and bicarbonate soda and fold into creamed butter and sugar mix.</p> <p>5. Finely chop rose petals. Cut marzipan into small bits and pieces then add to mixture.</p> <p>6. Cut chocolate into small pieces then fold cookie dough with vanilla extract (your desired amount).</p> <p>7. Roll mixture into small balls and set on baking paper.</p> <p>8. Bake for 10-12 minutes, or until pale and risen.</p> <p>9. Allow 5 minutes to cool.</p> <p>10. Makes 18 cookies.</p> <p>Will you try this classy take on chocolate chip cookies? Let us know in the comments below.</p>

Food & Wine

The strange $4 ingredient Nigella Lawson swears by for perfect spaghetti

<p>Nigella Lawson is famous for her mouth-watering meals and jaw-dropping desserts. Although, she brought fans to a halt after she presented a plate of pasta containing a strange and unexpected ingredient to the hosts of <em>Today Extra</em> in Australia, David Campbell and Sonia Kruger.</p> <p>Nigella insisted that everyone should use one iconic ingredient when cooking pasta – Vegemite.</p> <p>That’s right, the 58-year-old celebrity chef praised the $4 ingredient revealing on <em>Today Extra</em>, “You know, an Italian introduced me to this [recipe]. What would the Italians say? Well it was an Italian food writer who brought her children up making Marmite pasta.”</p> <p>Nigella shared the simplicity of the recipe, requiring only four ingredients. Salt the water as it boils over the stove, add spaghetti to the pot. Then prepare the mixture of butter, vegemite and parmesan cheese.</p> <p>“Melted butter, tiny bit of the pasta cooking water, get some Vegemite or Marmite melted and some parmesan,” she said.</p> <p>Once the pasta is al dente, stir the mixture through and serve.</p> <p>“You’re welcome,” Nigella added as the hosts forked the pasta into their mouths.</p> <p>“It’s delicious. That flavour that you can’t quite define, it’s amazing,” Kruger gushed.</p> <p>Will you try Nigella Lawson’s Vegemite pasta? Let us know in the comments.</p>

Nigella Lawson: "How I healed after heartbreak"

<p>Nigella Lawson has forged out a career as one of the world’s most popular celebrity chefs, but most people don’t realise that she’s encountered more than her fair share of heartbreak.</p> <p>In an <a href="https://www.nowtolove.com.au/" target="_blank"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><em><strong>interview with Now to Love</strong></em></span></a>, the celebrity chef explained how her culinary pursuits had helped her deal with the passing of her sister Thomasina, who died tragically young at 31 from breast cancer in 1993.</p> <p>"I like cooking with people who know me well and know my kitchen well," she explains.</p> <p>"I used to love cooking with my sister, Thomasina. I loved cooking for her and with her and just talking to her while I cooked."</p> <p>"I have a very good friend and we sometimes cook together. It's a lovely thing to do," she says.</p> <p>"I also think it's a wonderful way of talking with people generally. A lot of people are more comfortable talking when your attention is a bit elsewhere.</p> <p>"It's rather like the way people sometimes feel they have important conversations while they're driving. People are more relaxed when you haven't got full-beam on them. So I quite like chatting while I cook. The other person doesn't need to be cooking with me. Sometimes they can just be there, having a glass of wine while I'm chopping and stirring and unwinding. I like that."</p> <p>Nigella’s first husband, journalist John Diamond, was also taken by cancer before his time.</p> <p>"I don't want to waste life," she says.</p> <p>"It feels so ungrateful not to take pleasure. You have to take pleasure in life while you can because people have that ripped away from them."</p> <p>"One of the reasons I like cooking is that it forces me into the moment, and that's good," she adds.</p> <p>What are your thoughts?</p>

Body

Nigella Lawson angers Italians with her controversial recipe

<p>Beloved British chef Nigella Lawson has come under fire for her new recipe for carbonara.</p> <p>After she shared her carbonara recipe on her Facebook page, Italians flocked to her page to express their disgust at the recipe.</p> <p>She’s been told that her cookery is a "disgrace" and she may as well "make it with turkey twizzlers" after posting the “controversial” recipe which contains nutmeg, wine and cream.</p> <p><iframe src="https://www.facebook.com/plugins/post.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2FNigellaLawson%2Fposts%2F10155401156762480%3A0&width=500" width="500" height="696" style="border: none; overflow: hidden;" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowtransparency="true"></iframe></p> <p>Ms Lawson wrote: "I think spaghetti carbonara is what Meryl Streep cooks for Jack Nicholson in the film version of one of my favourite books, ‘Heartburn’, and it is so right, for that chin-dripping, love-soaked primal feast, the first time someone actually stays through the night."</p> <p>But people were not impressed with one Italian fuming: “Nigella you are a wonderful woman but your recipes are the DEATH of Italian recipes, literally! NO CREAM IN CARBONARA NEVER, only eggs.”</p> <p>Another Italian commented: "This is a recipe of yours, it's not Carbonara. No wine, no cream and egg yolks only in Italian real Carbonara.”</p> <p>Someone else said while the recipe was delicious, it was not carbonara: "It is dee-licious, really. Heavy but heavenly tasting. But it is not Carbonara. Using a name of a well-known recipe, adjusting the original ingredients to one's own taste and even adding others just creates confusion and wrong taste expectations. Yes, we take food very seriously."<strong><br /></strong></p> <p><strong><a href="https://www.nigella.com/recipes/spaghetti-alla-carbonara" target="_blank"><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Nigella's Carbonara recipe</span></a></strong></p> <p><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Ingredients:</span></p> <ul> <li class="listBackground">500 grams spaghetti</li> <li class="listBackground">275 grams cubed pancetta (or lardons)</li> <li class="listBackground">2 teaspoons olive oil</li> <li class="listBackground">60 millilitres dry white wine (or vermouth)</li> <li class="listBackground">4 large eggs</li> <li class="listBackground">50 grams parmesan cheese (freshly grated)</li> <li class="listBackground">black pepper</li> <li class="listBackground">60 millilitres double cream</li> <li class="listBackground">freshly grated nutmeg</li> </ul> <p><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Method:</span></p> <p>1. Put a large pan of salted water on to boil for the pasta. Cut the pancetta into 1 x 1.5cm / ½ x ¼ inch cubes. If the pancetta has its rind on, cut it off - and use a bigger piece of pancetta, as the amount I've specified is for the prepared cubes - and put the rind in a pan with a film of oil and cook it gently to render down.</p> <p>2. Then in a large pan that will fit the pasta later, cook the pancetta cubes in the oil until crispy but not crunchy. Chuck over them the white wine or vermouth and let it bubble away so that, after a few minutes, you have a small amount of salty winey syrup left. Take the pan off the heat.</p> <p>3. In a bowl, beat together the eggs, Parmesan, cream and some pepper. Cook the pasta more or less according to the packet instructions, but since you want it kept al dente start checking it 2 minutes before the wrapper says it's done. Lower in a cup and remove approximately 125ml / ½ cup of the pasta water before draining. Put the other pan, the one with the bacon cubes, on the heat and add the drained pasta, tossing well to coat with the syrupy pancetta. Add a little of the reserved pasta water to lubricate if necessary.</p> <p>4. Take the pan off the heat again and add the eggs and cheese mixture, swiftly tossing everything to mix. Grind over some more pepper and grate over the nutmeg, carry proudly aloft, and dive in.</p> <p>What do you think of the controversy? Share your opinion with us in the comments below.</p> <p> </p>

Food & Wine

Nigella Lawson debuts new look

<p><span>Nigella Lawson has shocked fans with a noticeably slimmer frame as she uploaded a photo promoting her new series.</span></p> <p><span>The 57-year-old celebrity chef is seen filming her new BBC series in the photo she uploaded to Instagram but her new figure caught the attention of her fans.</span></p> <p style="text-align: center;"><span><img width="499" height="500" src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/38738/nigela-in-text_499x500.jpg" alt="Nigela In Text"/></span></p> <p><span>The culinary master looks radiant in the photo which captured her in action, cooking another recipe for her TV show.</span></p> <p><span>Nigella looked casual in all black which flattered her trim figure wand waist.</span></p> <p><span>One fan commented on her photo, “'Wow. You have lost so much weight” and others added “Looking great!! Very slim” and “You are soooo slim now.”</span></p> <p><span>Other fans described her as “fit and fabulous” and “looking beautiful as always”.</span></p> <p><span>In 2015, Nigella revealed that she had slimmed from a size 16 to a 12 but insisted that she never dieted and had no intention to in the future. </span></p>

Body

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