So funny. so true. And so damn necessary. Chrissy

Chrissy Teigen has lost her voice. “I’m so sorry,” she rasps as we sit in a tiny restaurant in the city. Since giving birth to Miles, her second child with husband John Legend, in May, the 33-year-old model turned TV host turned everyone’s favourite social media spirit animal has been readjusting to her jet-setting schedule. “Everything is totally hitting me, and I’m very overwhelmed – it’s like my body can’t take it,” she says, picking up the menu. Fortunately there’s a temporary balm for this condition. “Do you want a glass of wine?” she asks, her eyes glinting. As the waiter deposits two large glasses of Sauvignon blanc on the table, she has three words: “Yes, please, God.”

It’s a little after 12 noon on Wednesday, but for Chrissy it has already been a week. Three days prior to our meeting she accompanied John to the 2018 Creative Arts Emmys, where he became the first black man to achieve a full EGOT (Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, Tony). Then she flew to New York, US, to promote her second book of maximalist recipes, Cravings: Hungry for More (Penguin; R373). But it was after filming an episode of Lip Sync Battle, the celebrity ‘singing’ competition on which she appears as host LL Cool J’s hype woman, that did her voice in. Producers arranged an on-air celebration for her mom, Vilailuck, a Thai immigrant who recently became an American citizen. “She was so happy,” Chrissy says, choking up a little as ➻