Nigella Lawson is grateful for her health after the early deaths of family members from cancer.
The TV cook is choosing to focus on keeping fit rather than ‘dwell’ on turning 60.
She sadly lost her mother Vanessa Salmon, 48, in 1985 to liver cancer, her sister Thomasina to breast cancer in 1993 aged 32 and her husband John Diamond to throat cancer in 2001 aged 47.
Nigella says being healthy is far more important than how you look as you get older.
She told Good Housekeeping magazine: ‘I’m not a planner – apart from when it comes to food. But, to be completely honest, I’ve never been able to take for granted that I’d be alive by this age.
‘My mother died at 48 and my sister at 32. And then John at 47. So, even if I were the sort of person who planned ahead, I don’t think I would have seen myself here…I kind of think you can’t do anything about it so why complain?’
The food writer went on: ‘I also know what the alternative is, so it feels wrong when you’ve been surrounded by people who have died young to say “My hair’s awful, I’ve got to get my roots done” or “My hands look like lizards”.
‘So I don’t dwell on it. As long as you’re healthy, that really is the most important thing.’
The TV star is coming back to our screens just in time for Christmas with Cook, Eat, Repeat.
The new series will be Nigella’s first show to be broadcast on BBC Two in three years – following the successful Nigella: At My Table in 2017.
The cookery queen, who is mum to daughter Cosima, 25 and son Bruno, 23, also appeared on MasterChef Australia and the US version last year.
Read the full interview in the December issue of Good Housekeeping, on sale on October 28.
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