Charles Saatchi has claimed he was trying to wipe Nigella Lawson’s runny nose when he was pictured grabbing his wife’s face and neck in a very public row.
The 70-year-old said: ‘Even domestic goddesses have a bit of snot in their nose. I was trying to fish it out.’
Photos recently published in the Sunday People showed him apparently throttling her as they sat outside Scott’s restaurant in Mayfair.
Former advertising tycoon Saatchi earlier claimed the original images showed them having a ‘playful tiff’ but a day later he accepted a police caution for assault.
Meanwhile TV chef Lawson returned to her rented central London apartment yesterday afternoon amid rumours of a possible split from her husband.
The 53-year-old remained tight-lipped about the status of her relationship with Saatchi on returning to her £12,000-a-week pad in Mayfair.
She was picked up from the apartment and arrived back a couple of hours later carrying a small black bag.
She has been staying at the flat since walking out of her family home last weekend when the photos emerged.
