Comeback Queen Nigella returns smelling of roses

You’ve got to hand it to her Nigella Lawson has the recipe for success when it comes to making a comeback.

In The Taste, her new series which started last week, the woman who has just gone through a stormy divorce from her millionaire husband, Charles Saatchi, and a bruising court case where allegations of her drug use surfaced, Nigella appeared to be on top form.

The 54-year-old who has mastered the knack of looking and sounding sexy and sultry as she samples food is determined to fight her corner. She’s a heroine to women who have come through difficult divorces. And men are fixated by her breathless charm.

My husband, who is not remotely interested in culinary shows, watches Nigella. I wonder why? My son-in-law, who also has no interest in the subject, is a Nigella fan.

Last Tuesday as the The Taste began on Channel 4 my daughter texted me to say of her other half: “Yes, he’s drooling.”

And politicians from the Prime Minister downwards are proud to say they’re on Team Nigella.

Saatchi must be seething. No matter how much dirt is thrown at her, Nigella comes up smelling of roses and cupcakes. She’s become a modern heroine to every woman whose reputation has been sullied by a bitter, angry husband.

All she needs to do is appear in a figure-hugging dress with a plunging neckline and talk about food in a soft, seductive voice and men are enthralled.

Like thousands of others, I have a Nigella cookbook and sometimes I even use it. But it’s her performance that I enjoy most.

The way she lifts morsels of food to her mouth and then breathily purrs about how delicious they are. And how she bravely says she got through Christmas and the divorce “by eating a lot of chocolate.”

Yeah, right.

Still fitting into the little dress with no need of a comfy cardigan to hide the chocolate damage.

But let’s face it, she adds to the gaiety of the nation. She’s clever, witty, talented and charming. She’s come through tough times with the death of her first husband then what sounds like a very uncomfortable marriage with the controlling Mr Saatchi. She’s made her own fortune. She’s brought up her children and worked hard all her life.

Nigella is intelligent, sussed and has cornered the market in smouldering seductively while stirring a pot of pasta.

She makes Delia Smith look like the worthy Head Girl while she’s the naughty temptress that all the boys love.

She’s posh totty and nobody does it better.