Nigella Lawson has posed with her Great British Bake Off co-stars for the first time after replacing Dame Prue Leith on the popular Channel 4 programme.
The 66-year-old is one of the UK’s most popular TV chefs, rising to fame through her cooking books, including her debut book How to Eat and her 2000 bestseller How to Be a Domestic Goddess, which have sold over eight million books worldwide to date.
Nigella is no stranger to the world of television, with her own cooking TV shows such as Channel 4’s Nigella Bites, her self-titled ITV talk show and her BBC series Nigella’s Christmas Kitchen airing over the years.
Replacing Dame Prue Leith
Bake Off fans were left stunned earlier when it was confirmed that not only was Dame Prue leaving Bake Off, but Nigella would be replacing her.
Prue joined the series in 2017 after she replaced Mary Berry following the show’s move from the BBC to Channel 4. Questions were raised about Prue’s future last year when she was missing from last year's Stand Up to Cancer special, where her friend Caroline Waldegrave filled in.
First Look with Co-Stars
With Bake Off just around the corner, Nigella has been seen alongside fellow judge Paul Hollywood for the first time. Joining them in the Bake Off Tent was presenters Noel Fielding and Alison Hammond.
Filming is complete on the series, with the line-up of contestants to be shared in the coming weeks. According to Channel 4, Bake Off fans can ‘expect to see Nigella bringing her trademark warmth, wit and passion for flavour to the tent’.
Nigella's Take on the Role
Appearing on This Morning back when she was first announced, Nigella assured fans that while she's ‘excited’, she is taking her Bake Off duties ‘very seriously’.
“The thing about Bake Off is that it’s about the programme – which is an institution of national treasure status – and it’s about the bakers, and I just want to be there and be a part of it,” she said.
She added: “I am a tiny bit frightened, I’d be lying if I didn’t say that. I am very excited, but I take it very seriously. The thing about Bake Off is it’s about the programme, which is an institution of national treasure status.
“It’s about the bakers and I just want to be there and be part of it. I think Bake Off is enduringly popular because it feels like it’s about community, people need that,” she said.
Asked by Cat Deeley about how she feels about joining Paul in the tent, Nigella continued: “I am the clumsiest person in the world, as long as I don’t knock any of their cakes off the table and the stand. I’m not someone who looks at fault, I look for pleasure. That is my basic attitude in life.
“Paul Hollywood is Mr Technical, I’m all about the eating. If I see my job as eating, it’s not too daunting, I can eat.”
