Nigella Lawson is pretty much everyone's dream wife, mother and best friend all rolled into one.
She's beautiful, she's funny and she's the only person in the world who can rival Jamie Oliver in our annual Christmas Googling of 'Christmas Dinner ideas'.
She's always got the fairy-lights switched on in the kitchen and she literally couldn't care less about sneaking downstairs in the middle of the night for a bowl of pasta smothered with cheese and, hey, why not have a slice of chocolate fudge cake out of the cupboard on the walk to the living room as well? Literally no one is going to stop her.
She's living all of our best lives. And she's also one of the very few celebrities (actually we can't think of any others) who actually replies kindly to most of her Tweet mentions even though she must receive hundreds a day. How she finds time to do that, and make a buttermilk fried chicken sandwich in a brioche bun that we would actually die for, we'll never know. But we love her for it.
But as well as the highs, she's certainly reached a few lows. Let's take a look at some of the things we all know - and some things we might not - about Nigella Lawson.
(And yes it is pronounced "Meecro-wavey," for the record).
Who are Nigella's parents?
Nigella Lucy Lawson was born in 1960 in London to dad, Nigel Lawson, who is a former Chancellor of the Exchequer, and mum Vanessa (née Salmon) whose family owned J.Lyons and Co, a successful food and catering business.
She went to Oxford University and worked as a journalist until she published her first cookery book (How to Eat) in 1998. She's not actually even a trained cook, but we believe that's one of the reasons we love her.
Her cooking comes straight from the heart and involves putting cheese, cream and chocolate on everything as well as sneaking down for midnight feasts late at night or making an individual chocolate cookies just for yourself. Blissful.
Marriage to the late John Diamond
Lawson married journalist John Diamond in 1986, who she met when they were both working at The Sunday Times. The pair married in Venice in 1992 and together they had two children, Cosima and Bruno.
Diamond died of throat cancer in March 2001, aged 47, and whilst Nigella was filming Nigella Bites. One of his last messages to his wife was was, "How proud I am of you and what you have become. The great thing about us is that we have made us who we are."
Assault by second husband Charles Saatchi
Nigella married wealthy art-collector and advertising agency founder, Charles Saatchi in 2003. But in 2013, he dramatically assaulted her in public at a London restaurant which led to the end of their 10-year marriage.
Photos emerged of the assault as the couple sat at their favourite table outside. During a row, Saatchi lunged for Nigella and put his hands around her throat. The Mirror reported the details saying: "Saatchi launched a tirade of angry words. Four times he grasped her around the neck with Nigella, 53, looking powerless and petrified."
He later voluntarily attended a police station in London and accepted a caution for the assault.
Cocaine use
And that was not the end of Nigella's public woes. In 2019, she appeared in court at the trial of two former assistants accused of embezzling money from her and Mr Saatchi.
The Mirror reported at the time that during the trial, Nigella admitted in court to taking cocaine and marijuana following accusations of drug abuse. The Mirror said that Nigella was speaking of being tabloid fodder and refusing interviews and said: "It was generally about feeling exposed and under attack. In a way, it would have been much better for me to be able to speak openly."
Referring to the incident at the restaurant, Nigella said: "He [Charles Saatchi] told everyone that he was taking cocaine out of my nose. But what actually happened was that somebody walked by with a very cute baby in a stroller and I said 'I am so looking forward to having grandchildren', and he grabbed me by the throat and said 'I am the only person you should be concerned with. I am the only person who should be giving you pleasure'. That is what happened."
Later in court she was asked for more information about the infamous incident, but said she had provided an explanation already and did not want to talk about it "ever again".
But the TV cook did admit to some drug use saying she taken cocaine with her ex-husband, John Diamond on six occasions, after he found out his cancer was terminal. The BBC reports that she said: "It gave him some escape."
She continued: "There was another time I took cocaine. In July 2010 I was having a very, very difficult time. I felt subjected to intimate terrorism by Mr Saatchi, a friend of mine offered me some cocaine, I took it."
Ms Lawson added it "completely spooked" her saying: "The idea that I am a drug addict, or habitual user of cocaine is absolutely ridiculous."
In court, Lawson described Saatchi as "a brilliant but brutal man" and maintained she was "totally cannabis, cocaine, any drug, free" after the divorce.
Pronunciation of 'microwave'
In 2020, Nigella blew our minds with her pronunciation of microwave, which made it sound far more exotic than anything we've ever heard before.
Take a look at the video to see how Nigella can turn even a humdrum word like 'microwave' into something delicious.
'Meecro-wavey' anyone?
What would be her last meal?
Nigella is a women who knows exactly what she wants when it comes to food and Women and Home magazine reported that Nigella once said if faced with choosing her last meal: "I don't think you have enough space for everything I'd eat for my last meal! I'd have spaghetti with clams – no tomatoes, just a white wine sauce with chilli and garlic; roasted chicken with a side of chips and roasted potatoes and mashed potatoes; blue cheese with French bread; blackberries with heavy cream and cookies. Finally, would have some great coffee with salted caramels."
The 'two stage' buttering approach
Another big contribution to our daily lives was in Nigella's most recent TV series, Eat Cook Repeat, in which she demonstrated her "two stage" buttering process. If you've been buttering your toast just the once all these years, then sadly you've been doing it wrong and have most probably wasted a lot of your life eating inferior toast.
The two-stage process involves basically buttering your toast when it comes out of the toaster, and then crucially buttering it a second time once it's cooled a little. Plus a little sprinkle of salt. *chefs kiss*
You can see Nigella on Cook, Eat, Repeat on BBC2 on Monday, March 7 at 7.30pm
