Finger Lickin' Good; Jay Leno Called Her the Sexiest Woman in the World, Howevernigella Lawson's Dark-Chocolate-and-Cream Looks, Ample Charmsand Effusive, Earthy Manneralarmed the Yanks, Who Dubbedher Programme 'Food Porn'. But Despite a Tragically Painful Past, This Savvy, Accomplished and Beautiful Woman Tells Vicky Allan That Life - Like Cooking - Is About Throwing Caution to the Wind

Summary

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Above: Lawson with her father Nigel; Right: with her brother Dominic at the launch party for John Diamond's book, Snake Oil, in 2001 The start isn't as planned. I think I was only meant to nibble on the cup cake, but instead I've taken a bite out of the three- layer gateau. I've entered Nigella Lawson's home via the wrong door, the one with the two fat daunting pillars either side and the long hallway stretching behind, and she is wandering down the stairs, dressed in a striped man's dressing gown. This is not what I was meant to see. She looks startled, gives a bewildered smile and shuffles me into a vast, cavernous room, a chamber of oddities.

In the centre is a ping-pong table, in the corner, a fridge and stacked against the walls, paintings, works from the Saatchi collection - Paula Rego's The General, two fleshy Jenny Saville bodies (a warning against that Nigella TV dinner), even what looks like a couple of American tourists slumped in the corner which turn out to be Duane Hanson hyper-real waxworks.

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Finger Lickin' Good; Jay Leno Called Her the Sexiest Woman in the World, Howevernigella Lawson's Dark-Chocolate-and-Cream Looks, Ample Charmsand Effusive, Earthy Manneralarmed the Yanks, Who Dubbedher Programme 'Food Porn'. But Despite a Tragically Painful Past, This Savvy, Accomplished and Beautiful Woman Tells Vicky Allan That Life - Like Cooking - Is About Throwing Caution to the Wind

They make disturbing company. But not for long because I'm whisked through the building, along the corridors, down the stairs, moving down through the tiers, past a glistening kitchen, two smiling cooks, through a haze of cooking apple, to a small room a little more domestic goddess-sized. Lawson appears sheathed in a black dress and pink fluffy cardigan, barefoot with shiny red toenails.

"So, this house seems very big," I say. "How big is it?"

"I'm not good on square footage," she says, vaguely irritable.

"But I mean, how many rooms? It must have a lot of rooms."

"Well, it goes across two floors," she sighs. "To be honest, you weren't meant to go that way. You were meant to come down here, because I like to keep that bit separate."

Lawson seems a little nervous. I am, too. It's strange, but to start...

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