NIGELLA: I NEVER THOUGHT I’D MAKE IT TO 60
TV cook doesn’t take life for granted after 3 family deaths
WATCHING her passionate performances in the kitchen, it’s clear that Nigella Lawson has a fondness for the good things in life.
So it may surprise some to learn that the TV cook never expected to make it to 60 – because she has faced so much family tragedy.
The domestic goddess said she didn’t take hitting the milestone for granted after losing her mother, sister and first husband before they had turned 50.
Her mother, Vanessa Salmon, died of liver cancer aged 48 in 1985, while her sister Thomasina died of breast cancer eight years later aged 32.
Miss Lawson’s first husband, John Diamond, lost his battle with throat cancer in 2001 when he was 47.
‘I’m not a planner – apart from when it comes to food! But to be completely honest, I’ve never been able to take for granted that I’d be alive by this age,’ she revealed.
‘My mother died at 48 and my sister at 32. And then John at 47. So even if I were the sort of person who planned ahead, I don’t think I would have seen myself here. I kind of think you can’t do anything about it [ageing] so why complain?’ She added: ‘I also know what the alternative is, so it feels wrong when you’ve been surrounded by people who have died young to say “My hair’s awful, I’ve got to get my roots done”. As long as you’re healthy, that is the most important thing.’
The cook previously said that turning 49 was the hardest age for her, as it meant that she was older than her mother ever was.
Miss Lawson, who had her 60th birthday in January, ditched her black attire for a pair of giant red flares for Good Housekeeping’s festive issue.
She also told the magazine she still enjoys working despite being in her 60s. She said: ‘There are days when I think “Oh my gosh, I could lie down all day” but I enjoy it because I feel like myself when I’m cooking and writing.
‘And I feel very lucky for the connection it gives me to other people.
‘That came to the fore during lockdown, when I started helping people with their meals on Twitter. It was odd because I was living remotely but feeling much more connected.’
Miss Lawson split from her second husband, Charles Saatchi, in 2013. She is mother to Cosima, 26, and Bruno, 24, from her first marriage.
Read her full interview in the December issue of Good Housekeeping, on sale today.
‘I feel like myself when I’m cooking’