The news that the habitually mononymic food guru is to replace Prue Leith on The Great British Bake Off sent male and female journos equally crackers. Nigella Lawson chose the title How to be a Domestic Goddess for her second book. [ Patrick Freyne: Nigella Lawson is not a chef, she's a food playwrightOpens in new window ]The Great British Bake Off, though still a charmer, commands nothing like the attention it once did. “The Great British Bake Off is more than a television programme, it’s a national treasure.”I think she means it. For all the diminished ratings, The Great British Bake Off remains as fundamentally British a televisual institution as Blue Peter, Dad’s Army and Doctor Who.

Source: The Times January 29, 2026 13:31 UTC