Nigella Lawson's home life from grown-up children to tragic family loss

Nigella Lawson attends the fourth annual Fortnum & Mason Food and Drink Awards. Hosted by Claudia Winkleman,the awards celebrate the best in writing and broadcasting on food and drink on
Nigella Lawson attends the fourth annual Fortnum & Mason Food and Drink Awards. Hosted by Claudia Winkleman,the awards celebrate the best in writing and broadcasting on food and drink on (David M. Benett,Getty)

Nigella Lawson has been a familiar face on our screens for as long as we can remember, but at Christmas time the chef and broadcaster pops up on TV even more to provide us with fantastic recipes in time for the holiday season.

The 64-year-old has an army of fans who love her simple, comforting recipes which always have that wow factor. This week, she's been fronting At My Table on the BBC which she filmed from the comfort of her own home.

Although she allows a camera crew into her home, Nigella is mostly quite private when it comes to her personal life and children and we rarely see photos of her family. Find out more about the star's home life below...

Nigella Lawson attends preview screening of Conclave
Nigella Lawson (Shutterstock)

Nigella Lawson's cosy home in Chelsea

Nigella lives in a £5 million pink-painted mews house in London. She moved into her home in 2013 after splitting from her second husband, Charles Saatchi.

nigella lawson home kitchen pic
Nigella's kitchen at home (Photo: Instagram)

It is believed that the property boasts a cinema, a wine cellar and a modern kitchen. An Instagram photo of her garden showed a pretty pagoda surrounded by trees.

In her kitchen, Nigella has peppermint green kitchen cupboards and a matching AGA oven.

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She has metallic silver splashback panels and a matching hanging rod where she stores a combination of silver, copper and blue utensils.

MORE: Nigella Lawson's £5m Chelsea converted stables with ethereal garden - photos

Nigella Lawson signs copies of her new book "Simply Nigella" at Indigo Manulife Centre on November 3, 2015 in Toronto, Canada
Nigella Lawson in 2015 (George Pimentel, Getty)

Nigella Lawson's former husbands

Nigella wed renowned art collector Charles Saatchi in September 2003 and the couple were married for 10 years.

The end of their 'tumultuous' marriage was featured heavily in the press, and in 2013 they were granted a decree nisi.

Nigella Lawson in a black dress with her ex-husband Charles Saatchi
Nigella Lawson was married to Charles for 10 years (Getty)

The cook's first husband was journalist John Diamond, who she met in 1986 when they worked on The Sunday Times together.

They married in Venice, Italy, in 1992, but tragically, John died of throat cancer in March 2001 when he was just 47.

Nigella's two grown-up children

Nigella is mum to two children, Cosima Thomasina, 30, and Bruno Paul, 28, with her late husband John Diamond.

Although the 64-year-old is photographed regularly when she attends glamorous events, her children live a more low-key life.

In an interview with the Sunday Mirror, Nigella revealed: "When I am on TV I cook the food that I cook at home but my children always tease me. I do a running commentary at home of my life like I do on TV."

Cosima Lawson
Nigella's daughter, Cosima, is the image of her mum (Shutterstock)

Nigella's sad family history

The TV star is one of four children: sisters Thomasina and Horatia and her journalist brother Dominic. Sadly, Thomasina passed away when she was 31 from breast cancer, and we can see Nigella's tribute to her sister in her daughter Cosima's middle name. Nigella was pregnant with Cosima when her sister died.

Nigella's parents are Nigel Lawson, a former politician, and Vanessa Salmon, who was heiress to the J. Lyons and Co. fortune.

Nigella Lawson with her dad Nigel Lawson
Nigella pictured with her father Nigel in 2008 (Mike Marsland)

Her mother tragically died aged 48 from liver cancer in 1985, while her father Nigel sadly passed away aged 91 in April 2023.

The chef confessed that following her mother's death, she refused to let herself feel guilty about enjoying food after watching her mum deny herself anything sweet until just two weeks before her death.

Writing in her book Cook, Eat, Repeat, Nigella explained: "I was brought up by a mother - the cook I have learned most from - whose grimly exuberant output in the kitchen was set in painfully sharp relief, and indeed fostered, by an expanding pattern of self-denial and self-punishment; not an uncommon syndrome, incidentally.

"Diagnosed with terminal cancer two weeks before her death, she started eating - for the first time, she said giddily - without worry or guilt."