Nigella Lawson made her debut on The Great British Bake Off's 17th season opener, and despite initial scepticism, columnist Emma Brockes found herself won over by the food writer's pensive style.
Nigella's quiet confidence
Brockes admitted she went into the episode "crankily resenting the departure of Prue Leith", whom she loves. In the first half, Nigella seemed to struggle – quiet, watchful, and unsure of herself amid the show's array of personality types. But halfway through, something clicked.
Brockes confessed she was never a big Nigella person, having bought her first cookery book "a million years ago" and loved the excess of butter and cheese. Over the years, she assumed Nigella was part of a cohort committing to "tradwife burlesque". However, watching her on Bake Off, Brockes crumbled "like a flapjack in biscuit week", noting how rare it is to watch someone of Nigella's star power behave so pensively on television.
Prince Harry's Marmite update
Prince Harry, at the WellChild awards, shared that his children, since moving from the US to the UK last month, were enjoying Marmite for the first time. "Is that a British thing?" he said to Hello! magazine. "Because it's always been in my life, and now the kids are eating Marmite on crumpets, which is big for me."
He added: "They used to diss me for having Marmite in the house, and now they're in the UK it's like that's kind of like water under the bridge, so it's good." His attempt to introduce beans on toast, however, "hadn't gone down very well".
Dolly Parton's nephew's unusual claims
Bryan Seaver, Dolly Parton's nephew and former head of security for over two decades, is alleged to have sent Danny Nozell, Parton's manager, communications including, "I'm a killer" and, "I'm literally an international arms dealer and mercenary. All I do is warfare. Everyone needs to be worried about what I might do."
In explaining himself to TMZ, Seaver said: "I am a career soldier and military contractor and do conduct arms deals for foreign governments. I am a security professional and I am a killer. However, nothing in this lawsuit were threats and most of the comments I stand by."
Elephant calf rescue and phone frustrations
In West Bengal, two heroic fishers rescued a baby elephant calf separated from its mother and drowning in flood water. After spotting its trunk waving like a periscope, they followed it for 3 miles into shallow water, managed to fish it out, and reunited it with its herd at the Teesta River. The mother, in a frenzy, wrapped her trunk around its body, splashed its head with water, and flapped her ears with abandon.
Brockes also detailed her second week of trying to change mobile phone providers without success, learning that phrases like "I know it's not your fault" and inserting "literally" into sentences don't achieve the desired outcome. She concluded it was time for "a lie down and a rethink".
