back to Awards & NomineesThe Inspiration Awards - Nigella Lawson

Considering she is neither a trained chef nor cook, Nigella Lawson has become a huge success in her field adopting a distinctly relaxed approach to her cooking. Nigella Lucy Lawson (born 6 January 1960) and is a food writer, journalist and broadcaster. Whilst being renowned for her flirtatious manner of presenting, she has captivated the public with her unique style of presentation.

Nigella is the daughter of Nigel Lawson, a former Chancellor of the Exchequer. After graduating from the University of Oxford, Lawson started to work as a book reviewer and restaurant critic, later becoming the deputy literary editor of The Sunday Times in 1986. She then embarked upon a career as a freelance journalist, writing for a number of newspapers and magazines. In 1998, Lawson brought out her first cookery book, How to Eat, which sold 300,000 copies and became a bestseller. She went on to write her second book in 2000, How to be a Domestic Goddess, winning her the British Book Award for Author of The Year.

Lawson's career underwent a significant change in 2000 when she began to host her own cookery series on Channel 4, Nigella Bites, which was accompanied with another bestselling cookery book. The Nigella Bites series proved to be successful, winning Lawson a Guild of Food Writers Award. Her 2005 ITV daytime chat show was met with a negative critical reaction and was cancelled after attracting low ratings. In the United States in 2006, Lawson hosted the Food Network's Nigella Feasts, followed by a three-part BBC Two series, Nigella's Christmas Kitchen, in Britain. This led to the commissioning of Nigella Express on BBC Two in 2007. Her own cookware range, Living Kitchen, has a value of £7 million, and she has sold more than 3 million cookery books worldwide.