Charles Saatchi has filed for divorce from his wife Nigella Lawson, describing her as a ‘wonderful woman’ as he further refutes claims he assaulted her at a London restaurant last month.

The art collector cited Nigella’s refusal to stand up for him and save his reputation in the press after he was pictured with his hand around her neck at Scott’s restaurant in Mayfair.

‘I am sorry to announce that Nigella Lawson and I are getting divorced,’ the 70-year-old said in a statement.

‘This is heartbreaking for both of us as our love was very deep, but in the last year we have become estranged and drifted apart.

‘I feel that I have clearly been a disappointment to Nigella during the last year or so, and I am disappointed that she was advised to make no public comment to explain that I abhor violence of any kind against women, and have never abused her physically in any way.’

The couple were pictured on June 9 during a lunch trip to Scott’s in Mayfair, where the couple were known to frequently dine.

Pictures emerged showing Saatchi appearing to grab Nigella by her throat and tweak her nose, while she looked tearful before leaving in a taxi.

Saatchi later described the apparent argument as a ‘playful tiff’ and accepted a police caution for assault.

In the meantime, Nigella left their marital home with her two children from her previous marriage, Cosima, 19, and Bruno, 17, and she has since been spotted house-hunting.

Saatchi’s statement continues: ‘The row photographed at Scott’s restaurant could equally have been Nigella grasping my neck to hold my attention – as indeed she has done in the past, although not in front of Scott’s with a photographer snapping away.

‘I must stress again my actions were not violent,’ he added to the Mail On Sunday. ‘We are instinctively tactile people. Yes, my hands were around her neck, and they had been touching her arm. Difficult as it may be to believe, for those who have seen the pictures, there was no pressure applied to her.

‘In fact it was merely a gesture – one to which a still photograph gives a wholly different and incorrect implication. Nigella has given a statement to the police to support this view.

‘I am sorry that we had a row,. I am sorry she was upset. I am even more sorry that this is the end of our marriage. I wish Nigella only the best for her future, and for her continuing global success.’

He then added: ‘She remains the most wonderful woman in the world. I feel very fortunate to have had such a lovely wife for many years.’

Nigella Lawson and Charles Saatchi have managed to secure a ‘quickie’ divorce – and the TV chef won’t be going after a penny of his fortune.

The pair will be divorced at the end of the month but will not be making a financial claim against each other, it has been reported.

While Nigella is worth £15million, the art collector is worth a staggering £135million.

They have also confirmed lawyer Fiona Shackleton, who acted for Sir Paul McCartney in his split with Heather Mills, will represent Lawson ‘to ensure a swift and amicable resolution’.

The divorce will proceed uncontested on July 31 but ‘neither party will be making any financial claims against the other’.

They separated last month after photos emerged showing Saatchi appearing to grab TV chef Nigella, 53, by her throat and tweak her nose, while she looked tearful before leaving Scott’s restaurant in Mayfair in a taxi on June 6.

The art collector filed for divorce last week, citing Nigella’s refusal to stand up for him and save his reputation in the press.

‘I am sorry to announce that Nigella Lawson and I are getting divorced,’ the 70-year-old said in a statement.

‘This is heartbreaking for both of us as our love was very deep, but in the last year we have become estranged and drifted apart.

‘I feel that I have clearly been a disappointment to Nigella during the last year or so, and I am disappointed that she was advised to make no public comment to explain that I abhor violence of any kind against women, and have never abused her physically in any way.’

‘I am sorry that we had a row. I am sorry she was upset. I am even more sorry that this is the end of our marriage. I wish Nigella only the best for her future, and for her continuing global success.’

He then added: ‘She remains the most wonderful woman in the world. I feel very fortunate to have had such a lovely wife for many years

Saatchi described the apparent argument as a ‘playful tiff’ and accepted a police caution for assault.

Nigella soon moved out of their marital home with her two children from her previous marriage, Cosima, 19, and Bruno, 17, and she has since been spotted house-hunting.

The couple married in 2003.

Nigella Lawson and Charles Saatchi have been granted a decree nisi at London’s High Court in a hearing which lasted less than one minute.

Their ‘quickie’ divorce on Wednesday comes seven weeks after the millionaire art collector was photographed with his hand around her throat.

District judge Anne Aitken granted the estranged couple a decree nisi which is the first legal step to ending their 10-year marriage.

They now have to wait six weeks and one day until they can be granted a decree absolute which will legally finalise their divorce.

The domestic goddess, 53, had employed Fiona Shackleton, who represented Prince Charles in his divorce with Princess Diana, for a ‘swift and amicable resolution’.

Nigella filed the papers for the case – which took place at 10.30am today – citing her husband’s ‘unreasonable behaviour’.

Neither of the parties appeared in court to see the end of their 10-year marriage.

Their marriage came to a bitter end after art collector Saatchi, 70, was pictured with his hand around the TV chef’s neck at Scott’s restaurant in Mayfair, where the couple were known to frequently dine, on June 9.

Pictures emerged showing Saatchi appearing to grab Nigella by her throat and tweak her nose, while she looked tearful before leaving in a taxi.

Saatchi later described the apparent argument as a ‘playful tiff’ and accepted a police caution for assault.

He then announced his plans to divorce Nigella as he felt let down that she hadn’t defended him in public.

His statement read: ‘I am sorry to announce that Nigella Lawson and I are getting divorced,’ the 70-year-old said in a statement.

‘This is heartbreaking for both of us as our love was very deep, but in the last year we have become estranged and drifted apart.

‘I feel that I have clearly been a disappointment to Nigella during the last year or so, and I am disappointed that she was advised to make no public comment to explain that I abhor violence of any kind against women, and have never abused her physically in any way.’

But it turns out it was Nigella who filed the papers.

While their joint fortune is estimated at £150million, they have agreed to never reveal the terms of their divorce, according to the Daily Mail.

It is believed they signed a pre-nuptial agreement when they married in 2003.

Nigella is reportedly planning a love to Los Angles where she is filming the new series of her ABC show The Taste.

Their case is the 12th of 20 undefended petitions which will be heard by district judge Anne Aitken at the Principal Registry of the High Court in London.

Feminist attitudes stop women from feeling confident in the kitchen, Nigella Lawson has claimed.

The TV chef has previously faced controversy for her book, How To Be A Domestic Goddess. Some critics believed she was saying that a woman’s place is in the kitchen.

But in an interview with Observer Food Monthly, the 53-year-old insisted she was a feminist.

Lawson added: ‘Feeling comfortable in the kitchen is essential for everyone, male or female. Women of my generation were keen – and rightly – not to be tied to the stove, but the ramifications of this were that they felt a sense of dread in the kitchen.’

She then asked: ‘How can this be good for anyone? I feel that to denigrate any activity because it has traditionally been associated with the female sphere is in itself anti-feminist.’

The former journalist also stressed the importance of showing she was not a trained cook or chef. In contrast, the divorcee believes she whips up meals in a similar way to her readers and viewers.

She told Elizabeth Day: ‘I do think the fact that I am a bit of a kitchen klutz, and fit cooking into an already busy life, means I cook in much the same way as everyone else.

‘Real cooking, the sort that goes on in homes, does not have to be tricksy or difficult, and I felt it was important to demonstrate that. It’s vital to show people how easy it is to get something good on the table.’

Lawson is currently filming a British version of her hit US TV show, The Taste.

Nigella Lawson has been described in court as a ‘habitual criminal’ as lawyers complained two Italian women accused of fraud were being used as pawns in the star’s messy divorce from Charles Saatchi.

Barristers representing Francesca and Elisabetta Grillo argued the case should not go ahead because of a ‘manipulation of the court process’ by the TV cook and millionaire art dealer.

The sisters are due to face trial accused of using a company credit card to buy themselves designer handbags and flights while working as personal assistants to the couple, who had a high-profile divorce earlier this year.

Anthony Metzer QC, defending Elisabetta Grillo, 41, and Karina Arden, defending Francesca, 35, claimed the sisters would not receive a fair trial because the two main prosecution witnesses were at ‘loggerheads’ and accusations of drug use damaged Ms Lawson’s ‘credibility as an honest witness’.

Earlier, Mr Metzer told Isleworth Crown Court: ‘The defendants’ case is that Nigella Lawson lied to her ex-husband about her drug use and about the expenditure that was incurred by the defendants, both expressly and implicitly, because she was fearful of Mr Saatchi’s reaction if he knew about the extent of the expenditure and drug use.

‘There was a culture of secrecy within Nigella Lawson’s marriage.’

Saatchi alleges that Miss Lawson was so high on drugs that she was unaware of what she had or had not permitted the sisters to spend money on.

After hearing submissions from both lawyers, Judge Robin Johnson ruled that the trial should go ahead.

He said: ‘I consider, with the right rulings and the ability to monitor the process of the court during the process of the trial, a fair trial can be achieved and therefore I have refused this application.’

He added that if it did go ahead, ‘it’s a convenient forum for Mr Saatchi and Miss Lawson to rehearse disputed issues between them… in the criminal courts where, of course, the possibility of libel is not possible’.

‘If Mr Saatchi is telling the truth, then Miss Lawson is a habitual criminal.’

The Grillos, both of Bayswater, west London, deny the charge against them.

It is alleged that, between January 1 2008 and December 31 2012, they committed fraud by abusing their positions as PAs by using a company credit card for personal gain.

My wife loves Home and Away. As spousal allegations go that’s not quite Charles Saatchi and Nigella Lawson, but there you go.

We all have our vices and Mrs Final Third’s is a fascination with a small fictitious place in Australia – Summer Bay that is, not David Warner’s brain.

Occasionally I get home in time to learn that a character has just found out they are pregnant.

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If I don’t watch for two weeks they’ve had the baby. Miss a month and the kid’s about to move to ‘the city’.

It’s a show where the pace of change is high and plot twists appear increasingly implausible if you take your eye off the ball for a couple of weeks. It’s a lot like modern-day football.

Anyone who last tuned into our own real-life (well, sort of) soap opera in early September will be familiar with a story which finds Tottenham lauded for their transfer window acumen, Arsenal purring over the steal of the century that is Mesut Ozil, and Real Madrid fans slapping themselves on the forehead at the stupidity of selling such a key asset for £40million, and compounding the error by spending double that on a half-fit Gareth Bale.

Football’s  casual observers will be as confused as a former Summer Bay resident visiting The Diner for the first time since 1997

Yet flick on again this week and the casual observer would be as confused as a former resident of Summer Bay pitching up in The Diner for the first time since 1997.

It’s a world where Spurs’ folly in the transfer window could cost Andre Villas-Boas his job, some Arsenal fans are wondering where the real Ozil has gone and Madrid are back-slapping furiously at the form of Bale and a host of other young summer imports.

And at the centre of it all stands Old Father Time himself, an ever-present for more than 20 years, a little thinner on top and lacking some zest but still able to steal the scene and influence events, whether with his own actions or some sage advice to a young colleague.

Without Ryan Giggs, like Summer Bay without Alf Stewart, we really would be lost.

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Charles Saatchi has told a court he is ‘utterly bereft’ over the entire text of an email he sent to Nigella Lawson becoming public, in which he claimed she took class A drugs.

The 70-year-old also said he was ‘utterly heartbroken that I have lost Nigella’ and ‘wished this past year had never happened’ in the case against former aides Francesca and Elisabetta Grillo at Isleworth Crown Court.

Mr Saatchi’s email, which was read out in full, suggested Ms Lawson had a cocaine habit which had been a contributory factor in the Grillos being permitted to spend on credit cards given to them by their employers.

He told the court: ‘I’m utterly bereft that this private email to Nigella has come back to haunt us both. That’s all I have to say.

‘The stories that the Grillos were parading was that Nigella had a severe cocaine habit that stretched back a very long time for the entirety of our marriage.

‘What I was speculating here was that the Grillos would use this as a defence.’

MORE: ‘Nigella Lawson treats us worse than slaves’, sisters claimed

The court also heard further details about their marriage – including that the divorce came about, in part, at her feeling restricted and needing a ‘pass’ in order to do what she liked.

The full email said: ‘Nigella, I was sent this by a newspaper and could only laugh at your sorry depravity.

‘Of course now the Grillo sisters will get off on the basis that you and Mimi [Ms Lawson’s daughter Cosima] were so off your heads on drugs you allowed the sisters to spend whatever they liked.

‘And yes, I believe every word the Grillos have said, after all, they only stole money.

‘You, Higella, on the other hand, poisoned your child with drugs and trashed her life but I’m sure it was all good fun and now everything is perfect today.

‘Bravo, you have become a celebrity hostess on a global TV game show and you got the Pass you desired, free to heartily enjoy all the drugs you want forever. Classy!’

And he added: ‘I’m utterly heartbroken that I have lost Nigella and I wish this past year had never happened.

MORE: Nigella Lawson ‘drug lies let sisters take £700,000’

‘If you think this process is giving me any pleasure, you’re mistaken. I hate it.

‘I adore Nigella now, I absolutely adore Nigella and I’m broken-hearted to have lost her.’

Mr Saatchi’s former personal assistants deny a charge of fraud. The case continues.

At times, it seems like our fame-hungry celebrities will do anything to get into Guilty Pleasures – but occasionally life takes an unexpected twist.

Simon Cowell, Justin Bieber and Nigella Lawson were among those who learned that the hard way when their lives derailed in 2013.

Cowell led the baby bombshell stakes in July when it emerged that the 54-year-old was having a child with his friend’s then wife, Lauren Silverman.

Si and his 36-year-old lover are now looking forward to welcoming the arrival of a son in February.

The X Factor boss wasn’t the only one sneaking around the bedroom as Liam Gallagher’s marriage to All Saints singer Nicole Appleton came crashing down in July. The swaggering Oasis star was named in a £2million baby battle lawsuit when it finally emerged the 41-year-old was the father of journalist Liza Ghorbani’s daughter.

The unapologetic Beady Eye frontman left his family home and quickly shacked up with another lover, Debbie Gwyther.

Robert Pattinson, 27, called time on his romance with 23-year-old Kristen Stewart but the pair are rumoured to be making Christmas plans together.

When it wasn’t bed-hopping sinking the stars, it was drug scandals. Model Cara Delevingne had a guilty-looking face in May when the 21-year-old embarrassingly dropped a wrap of white powder on her doorstep in front of the cameras.

But the biggest bombshell of them all came when domestic goddess Nigella Lawson was dubbed ‘Higella’ by ex-hubby Charles Saatchi, as the 53-year-old celebrity chef admitted to a courtroom that she had taken cocaine.

Justin Bieber landed himself in the sin bin at the start of the year when he was pictured at a party in a hotel suite holding a dodgy-looking cigarette.

It kicked off the unravelling of his squeaky clean image as scuffles with the paparazzi, spitting on fans and a charming episode when he peed in a club cleaner’s mop bucket all followed throughout his world tour.

Former X Factor judge Tulisa Contostavlos was arrested in June and went into hiding before the 25-year-old was finally charged for allegedly helping with the supply of drugs to an undercover reporter.

But it was wholesome Reese Witherspoon who stunned the world in April when the 37-year-old’s mugshot was taken for disorderly conduct.

There was further embarrassment when it emerged she tried to sweet talk her way out her arrest with the ‘Don’t you know who I am?’ card.

Away from the prison walls, plenty of our famous couples were at home nursing broken hearts.

Orlando Bloom and Miranda Kerr took everyone by surprise when they called time on their marriage in October after just three years.

And unlucky-in-love Kylie Minogue is back on the shelf at 45 after she and Andrés Velencoso called it quits after five years together in October.

Joining them on the on-off merry-go-round was X Factor judge Nicole Scherzinger, who left Lewis Hamilton pinning like an abandoned puppy after ending their five-year romance (yet again) in the summer.

On a more serious note, the hardest moment for the showbiz world came with some sad goodbyes. Glee star Cory Monteith was found dead in a Vancouver hotel room at the age of 31 following a drugs and booze overdose in July. And Fast & Furious pin-up Paul Walker died aged 40 in a sports car inferno after the Porsche he was in crashed in Los Angeles at a charity event last month.

Nigella Lawson will not face an investigation into allegations she took drugs, police have confirmed.

Scotland Yard said officers will not look into the claims at this stage, but will review the decision should new evidence come to light.

A spokesman said: ‘Allegations that one of the (alleged) victims was involved in taking Class A drugs have been made during the course of this trial. At this stage the Metropolitan Police will not be investigating these allegations.

‘Should any evidence, and that includes material from the trial, that could be investigated come to light this decision will be reviewed.’

Scotland Yard’s statement came soon after a jury found two sisters not guilty of defrauding former employers Nigella Lawson and Charles Saatchi.

The couple’s former assistants were today acquitted following a three-week trial at Isleworth Crown Court.

Italian sisters Francesca Grillo, 35, and her 41-year-old sister Elisabetta, were accused of using company credit cards to spend £685,000 on themselves including designer shoes and clothes.

The Grillos were employed by the TV cook and her multimillionaire art dealer ex-husband, who were divorced earlier this year.

The jury of seven men and five women was sent out on Thursday morning after a three-week trial.

Mr Saatchi has been accused of using the trial against the Grillos to ‘attack’ his former wife.

The sisters’ defence teams claimed they had been caught in the ‘crossfire’ between the former couple.

The jury heard details of an email sent by Mr Saatchi in which he accused Ms Lawson of being on drugs and branding her ‘Higella’.

However, 53-year-old Ms Lawson, who admitted occasional cocaine and cannabis use to deal with her ‘intolerable’ marriage to Saatchi, told the court the idea that she was a ‘drug addict or habitual user of cocaine is absolutely ridiculous’.

The Grillos, of Bayswater, west London, denied a single count of committing fraud by using a company credit card for personal gain.

Police have said they are reviewing Nigella Lawson’s admission in court that she took drugs.

The TV cook revealed during the fraud trial of her two former assistants that she had taken cocaine – a class A drug.

Lawson said she had taken the drug with her late husband John Diamond when he found out he had terminal cancer, and again in July 2012 when she claimed to have been ‘subjected to intimate terrorism’ by her former husband Charles Saatchi.

Scotland Yard said on Friday they would not look into the issue at this stage, but would review the case if new evidence came to light.

However, a statement released by the force last night said a ‘specialist team from the Metropolitan Police Service will examine the evidence emerging as part of a review into this matter’.

The statement also said the admission made by the 53-year-old cook ‘did not by themselves provide sufficient evidence to bring charges’.

It added: ‘On that basis therefore, and in absence of any other corroboration, there is no imminent prospect of a prosecution being mounted.’

During the trial, it emerged Mr Saatchi had suggested in an email that Ms Lawson’s drug use meant she allowed their former assistants to spend as much money as they liked.

The pair, Elisabetta and Francesca Grillo were found not guilty of defrauding their former employees on Friday.

Nigella Lawson has joked that she ate ‘a lot of chocolate’ over Christmas to cope with the aftermath of her appearance at witness in the trial of her two former PAs.

It was a difficult few months at the end of 2013 for Nigella, who during the trial admitted to having taken cocaine, but denied she was an addict.

Today the TV cook took to US show Good Morning America to promote her new series The Taste and spoke publicly about the trial, admitting that it was a ‘mortifying’ experience.

‘I was so focused on answering questions that you don’t have much awareness of yourself…It’s a good thing. I was trying to protect my children as much as possible,’ she told GMA.

‘To have not only your private life but distortions of your private life put on display is mortifying, but there are people going through an awful lot worse and to dwell on any of it would be self pity and I don’t like to do that,’ she added.

‘Actually since then I’ve eaten a lot of chocolate, had a very good Christmas and am into the New Year.’

The Taste – which sees Nigella judge amateur cooks’ food whilst blindfolded – also stars Anthony Bourdain, Marcus Samuelsson and Ludo Lefebvre.

It airs in the US from tonight and on Channel 4 on January 7.

Nigella Lawson is still well-loved by the public, despite admitting to drug use, say the sisters whose trial the TV cook appeared as a witness at.

Francesca and Elisabetta (Lisa) Grillo’s trial in December last year saw Nigella admit to having taken cocaine on a few occasions after the sisters accused her of being a habitual user of the drug.

However, public sympathy remains with the 53-year-old Domestic Goddess say the sisters, who were acquitted of fraud charges made against them by Nigella and ex-husband Charles Saatchi.

Speaking to This Morning in a pre-recorded interview to be broadcast tomorrow, Francesca said: ‘I think maybe we won the case but definitely she had the most support from the public.

‘She is well loved and she will always be loved. I’m sure she will be fine. She’s great at what she’s doing and I wish her all the best.’

When the sisters were asked if they felt guilty that Nigella had to admit her drug use, Lisa replied: ‘I feel sorry that we ended up in that situation, that she did admit to that. But no, not guilty, because it was nothing to do with me, it’s her life.

Francesca added: It was our freedom. We were in court not because of her drug use or because we wanted her to be punished.

‘In admitting it I think she was very brave to do so, good for her for doing so. But I didn’t feel guilty.’

This Morning’s editor Adam Vandermark said of the interview: ‘It’s their first television interview so it will be fascinating to hear what they both have to say.’

The full interview will broadcast at 10.50am tomorrow on ITV1.

Angelina Jolie is reportedly being lined up to play Nigella Lawson in a new biopic about the TV chef’s life.

The actress is the top choice for the role of Lawson in the movie, which would chart her turbulent life.

A source told The Sun: ‘Angie had planned to take a lot of time off next year but this role is very tempting.

‘She has been gripped like everyone else by all the drama surrounding Nigella these past few months and thinks she is a remarkable woman.

‘The story has got it all – and she’s as intrigued as anyone else by it.’

Nigella recently divorced from husband Charles Saatchi and admitted taking cocaine during a fraud trial against two former assistants.

The film would center on the court case against Elisabetta and Francesca Grillo along with the drug allegations.

Nigella’s second husband John Diamond died of throat cancer in 2001.

The Taste may star Nigella Lawson as one of three judges trying to find Britain’s next foodie superstar but the first episode was a tad bland.

For the uninitiated it’s like The Voice – three mentors, including Lawson, American food writer Anthony Bourdain and chef Ludo Lefebvre, coach their own teams of four contestants, handpicked from a group of 25. But where The Voice has spinning chairs The Taste’s USP is spoons.

You know, the ones that hor d’oeurves are sometimes served up on and are really tricky to eat from.

What’s wrong with a cocktail stick? (Now, The Stick would have been a brilliant idea.)

The judges can choose their team members based on just one mouthful of their food (thankfully, when it comes to the spoons, no one does a Gregg Wallace).

Again, like The Voice, the candidates come from all backgrounds – some are trained, some food bloggers and others home cooks.

So inevitably a chef with celebrity clients chokes under pressure and is duly sent packing – a junior sous chef, however, glides through.

The most interesting factor in The Taste so far is Nigella and the opportunity to see what she’s like outside her fairly tongue in cheek cooking programmes.

This is a culinary superstar, remember, whose kitchen is bedecked with fairy lights, who slips down to the kitchen for midnight feasts in a silk dressing gown and who puts up a Christmas tree with a Lychini in one hand (good for her).

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This is also the cook who created the Girdlebuster Pie. Try having any more than a spoonful of that!

She’s rather a fantastic judge. Comforting a crying teenager who fails to make the cut: ‘Food is a very emotional thing,’ she soothes, beautifully.

She puts Anthony Bourdain in his place when he uses the word ‘shrimp’. ‘We call them prawns in this country,’ she corrects crisply. And stands up for home cooks against the ‘very, very French’ chef Ludo Lefebvre.

She also uses wonderful phrases such as: ‘I found it instantly seductive.’

The problem with episode one of The Taste is precisely what’s supposed to make it unique. The spoons of food.

It’s really difficult to get excited by an endless parade of little white cutlery piled with unidentifiable ingredients. You have to concentrate really hard in order to know what’s on them as things move very fast – there’s a lot of figs in this first episode.

Where the Great British Bake Off screams individuality and eccentricity with its showstopper tasks that produce Dalek biscuit towers and loaves in the shape on an octopus this doesn’t happen in the Taste’s opener. It lacks the Bake Off charm, is more serious and as a result less fun.

And it’s difficult to get to know the contestants too: 25 are whittled down to 12 in under an hour, so no one really stands out after the first hour. Who wasn’t supporting Howard on last year’s Bake Off after the first episode aired?

But, stick with it. Once the contestants are chosen and we move into the second episode the judges, still tasting blind, run the risk of eliminating their own proteges and that’s where the egos burst and the drama really starts.

This is also where you get to see who the maverick geniuses are and whose talents should never, ever ever be judged on just one spoonful.

The Taste is like MasterChef meets The Voice with professional and novice cooks pitted against each other in a blind competition to decide who can create the best single spoonful of food.

Gone are any pretensions of serving dishes up on slate or the back of a hedgehog, or cooking with dry ice or the power of your mind. None of that matters now, it’s all about as the title suggests; the taste.

And a bit about Nigella Lawson.

The taste test

First up is an audition round in which 25 competitors, home cooks and professional chefs present one spoonful of a winning dish to wow the judges; Nigella Lawson, Anthony Bourdain and Ludo Lefebvre.

Each wannabe Oliver/Ramsay/Roux Jr is competing to reach the final 12 when judges will pick four finalists each to mentor, with one being kicked out each week. If two mentors like a contestant, again like The Voice, the contestant can choose one whose kitchen to inhabit.

The contestants

Ranging from 18 to middle-aged they were cooking up everything from duck to roasted figs.

In fact there was a lot of duck and figs. The unifying factor seemed to be though that all of their spoonfuls were MASSIVE. Obviously this was a desperate attempt to impress, but they were unlikely to make it through if a judge was choking on a 12oz steak.

Dixie is a professional chef who prepared a combination of lamb and tahini puree. It may have felt like baby food in their mouths but both Anthony and Ludo wanted her.

James is a novice that fooled the judges with his chestnutty pasta portion. It was enough to get him onto Ludo’s team, ironic given Ludo doesn’t believe in home cooks.

There were of course the slightly odd ones, the same ones that stalk the X Factor, one apparently a professional with celeb clients, served up a spoonful that looked like it nearly broke one of Nigella’s teeth. Off with his head!

Judges’ comments

The judges were trapped in some kind of cage with no windows save for an interior window, making it feel like we’d been allowed into Channel 4′s Sex Box and it turns out it contains a working kitchen.

Ludo is a caricature Frenchman, he says things like ‘meestake’, ‘way too much shut-ney’ and ‘I don’t speak English good’.

It’s brilliant.

Anthony is New York-mean saying an eighteen year old hopeful should ‘tough the f*** up’ when he didn’t get through. MEAN.

Nigella doesn’t even need to make any comments, she seems to have been shot so that her eyes are permanently sparkling and her hair perfectly curled. Despite that though, after saying yes to the first spoonful to touch her lips she became a nay-sayer, relentlessly veto-ing every chef almost instantly.

The finalists

Each chef has four finalists at this point, though as of yet they form one anomalous glob, as the competition continues we’ll get to see who can make tastebuds tingle and who’s not too tempting.

Next time

12 becomes 11 as one unlucky chef is kicked out of the kitchen, surely not from #TeamNigella.

A friend close to John Diamond, the first husband of Nigella Lawson, has said claims she cheated on him as he died of cancer are untrue.

Charles Saatchi alleged he began dating the TV chef ‘in the last six months of John’s life’.

But an unnamed source who knew Mr Diamond told the Sunday People: ‘When he knew he didn’t have long left, he gave his tacit approval to Saatchi.

‘John himself sanctioned the relationship when he knew he was going to die.

‘He was very keen on his young children having a father figure so actively encouraged Nigella to date Saatchi.’

Supporters of Nigella called the claims ‘hurtful and untrue’.

Now we’ve whittled down the original 25, each celeb chef has four protégées to simmer until soft. Under the studio lights and gaze of mean Anthony Bourdain the mixture of home-cooks and professionals were definitely sweating. Especially with a new celeb chef added to the mix . . .

For one, it will be the wooden spoon and the end of the competition.

The Taste Test

Spicing up the show was the addition of Michelin Star chef Richard Corrigan, for who the 12 must create a classic prawn cocktail (mayonnaise and ketchup, you’re welcome) to fit on the most important spoon on TV.

‘Take some risks’ Ludo told his bunch, ‘use flavours you like’ Nigella told hers. But aren’t they all making the same thing?

The judges will each choose a spoon from their contestants to present to Richard, ensuring the lucky chef will go through to the immunity challenge.

Three spoons were chosen; Guan’s Malaysian inspiration for Anthony, Kalpna’s coconut sauced prawns for Nigella and seafood intolerant Kirsty dished up some seafood jelly and samphire for Ludo.

Richard found Kirsty’s too fussy and Kalpna’s not fussy enough, winning Guan immunity.

The Immunity Challenge

Each contestant had one hour to cook their own favourite classic dish. Like the initial taste test, all spoons were tasted blind, with the worst being booted out of the kitchen box.

Four of the 12 opted for fish and chips in various ways and there were lots of ‘concepts’ and combinations such as Sticky Toffee Pudding Pie.

Barry, the Irish contingent, didn’t make it onto the table with his prawn spoon but was hoping for more with his strawberry tiramisu. Sous chef Justin – who was sous-prised he’d got this far ‘wow, I’m in a competition’ – brought his own smoking gun to perfect a smoked salmon spoon.

At this point the word spoon is starting to lose all meaning.

Claire, on Nigella’s team, took a risk with a twist on steak tartare and Ludo didn’t like it. Non, non, non. Then round after round of fish and chips came out until you could see all three chefs thinking about booking a flight back to the States.

Fish pie-Scotch egg was one of the ‘concepts’ that failed in front of the judges. A bit of lemon cake went down well though, even though it looked dull. Sadly for Barry his tiramisu didn’t have any takers for a second taste, Debbie’s Sticky Toffee Pudding Pie did though. And was awarded best spoon! Hurrah for carbocide!

The finalists

Three of the cooks were short-listed as tasting most terrible, although to normal folk, probably still pretty bloody delicious. Kalpna, Claire and Barry had to hang around like baked beans in the bottom of a saucepan while the judges told them where they’d gone wrong. It quickly came out that Barry had brought everything to his dessert spoon. One had to say goodbye and hang up their apron and by rights it had to be Barry. A blow for team Anthony.

Judges’ comments

‘Ah la la, LA LA!’ – Guess who? Ludo had a bitter taste in his mouth after the first round though, ‘You don’t like my spoon, you don’t like French people!’

‘You’ve won immunity, you can f**k off for the night’ – Anthony, ever the didact.

Next time . . .

The humble spoon cements its place in history as the most important piece of cutlery since man first spiked a fish with a stick.

Nigella Lawson will not face criminal charges despite admitting in court that she took both cocaine and cannabis, Scotland Yard has confirmed.

The celebrity chef, 53, revealed during the trial of her former aides Elisabetta and Francesca Grillo that she had turned to the class A drug after discovering her late husband, John Diamond, had been diagnosed with terminal cancer. She also admitted using the drug again in 2010.

However, after the Met Police investigated her revelations, they decided she should not face further action as ‘serious public interest concerns’ existed, which could prevent witnesses from being entirely truthful in court.

The Scotland Yard statement said: ‘The decision has been taken based on a number of factors, including the need for police action to be proportionate, whether further action would be in the public interest, and after consultation with the Crown Prosecution Service.

‘There are serious public interest concerns about the message any prosecution would send out to potential witnesses and victims in the future.

‘Whilst witnesses clearly cannot simply admit to any offence under oath without consequences, this has to be balanced with the requirement for victims and witnesses to tell the truth.

‘Further police activity may deter victims from being candid with police and in court for fear of future investigation.’

Ms Lawson, 53, said her second period of cocaine use began after she was ‘subjected to intimate terrorism’ by her then husband, Charles Saatchi.

She also admitted smoking cannabis during the final year of their doomed marriage.

Last year wasn’t Nigella Lawson’s best, and it seems this year isn’t turning out to be much better.

In the latest of a long line of public humiliations, the 54-year-old Domestic Goddess was turned away from boarding a flight to LA on Sunday.

It is thought that she had checked in and passed security before being stopped.

An onlooker said: ‘She didn’t seem to say much, but she did not look happy.’

Packing for my holiday! #essentials http://t.co/ijhONMs5MY—
Nigella Lawson (@Nigella_Lawson) March 30, 2014

Despite Scotland Yard taking no further action over her courtroom drugs confessions, it seems that authorities in the US are taking a harsher line.

Although Nigella has never been convicted of any drug offences, the US still has the right to ban her.

This latest incident must have been a big blow to Nigella, as her career in the US has just recently taken off. No pun intended.

Charles Saatchi gained notoriety after being photographed with his hands around the neck of his then wife, celebrity chef Nigella Lawson outside a restaurant.

The art collector and gallery owner seems to be revelling rather than hiding from his new reputation by advertising art depicting the incident.

Saatchi’s art website hosts an open online gallery where artists can upload their work in exchange for Saatchi claiming 30% of the asking price.

It is on this website that artists have decided to use their host’s personal life as inspiration for their entries not wholly to his displeasure.

Saatchi has replied to criticism regarding said pieces telling the Mail on Sunday that: ‘Would it have been a better story if I had censored artists whose work might be personally disobliging?’

He continued to stress that of the 40,000 active artists who publicise on his website, only a few have decided to refer to his relationship with Ms Lawson.

Darren Udaiyan who painted a Van Gogh and Simpsons inspired piece wittily entitled ‘Saatchi & Saatchi’ spoke of the painting: ‘It’s not really controversial, Saatchi is strangling Nigella but it’s also about him squeezing the art market.

‘It works on many levels, it’s a comment on the art market and how people control it.’

The pieces have been slammed by charity Women’s Aid, who said the inclusion of the paintings was ‘extremely insensitive’ to victims of domestic violence.

The Chief Curator of  SaatchiArt.com, Rebecca Wilson, defended the website’s policy towards the art it hosts saying: ‘Saatchi Art does not believe in censorship unless the material is pornographic or incites racial hatred’.