Nigella Lawson has hit out at her “mean” TV rivals, branding some cookery shows “a theatre of cruelty and humiliation”.
The TV chef, who is known for her soothing presenting style and sumptuous recipes, said she couldn’t be on a show that was cruel to its participants.
In an interview with Australia’s Women’s Weekly, she said: “I don’t like that at all. I think it’s counterproductive.
“It makes people at home feel inhibited about cooking too, because they have this persecutory voice in their heads. I couldn’t be part of a programme like that.
“It doesn’t mean to say you’re not honest, but there’s never a need to be mean.”
Nigella got everyone talking in 2020, when she debuted her unusual pronunciation of the kitchen gadget on her BBC cookery show Cook Eat Repeat, with the moment even landing a TV Bafta nomination.
In an Australian TV interview earlier year, Nigella said she “wasn’t even aware I’d said that out loud’ and explained: “I would say that at home, when I did it, it’s just a joke, mispronouncing words.”
Asked if she had any other unexpected nicknames for things at home, Nigella said: “I have other words I use, you know how all families have those words.
“If I get some new appliance I have to read the destructions… if I’m going to meet someone, I have to text them to say I’m en-croute.”