Is Nigella Lawson the Right fit for Bake Off?

On the 26^th of January, The Great British Bake Off took to Instagram to announce the new judge of their beloved baking show. It just so happens that the new judge is the national treasure and self-proclaimed domestic goddess Nigella Lawson. There has been mixed responses to the new appointment, with some people thinking her addition with bring a flourish to the show, others thinking she does not posses the warmth and approachability as her successors.

So, is she the right fit? Firstly, let’s dive into her illustrious career. She published her first book How to Eat in 1998 and instantly was a household name (Nigella.com). Since then, she has written a handful of successful books and has also had a prosperous television career, showcasing her humble and imperfect attitude to food and life with the world.

There is controversy surrounding her and her public image however. Since she first appeared on TV in 1999, she has been continuously praised for her looks and suggestive innuendos surrounding her eloquent approach to discussing food. In recent years, she has since expressed her exasperation with the title she has gained, explaining on the Salon Confidential podcast “I don’t get the whole sexy thing. Often I am not wearing makeup at all.”. In interviews she has become noticeably irritated at the suggestion of her using suggestive words and phrases in her TV shows, also saying she didn’t want to be on television as a young woman because “I didn’t want that thing where attention is paid to one’s physical being.”(Lydia Spencer-Elliot 2025). It seems to me at least that if Nigella’s career began in this day and age, the response to her would be far more empowering and far less objectifying.

Nevertheless, this reputation has affected people’s opinion and their response to her being the new appointed judge. The main reason people have an opinion on this is due to the vast difference between her and the previous judges. When looking to the previous judges, there has been Mary Berry and Prue Leith, both of whom were older than Nigella when they began judging the show, acting as a counterpart to Paul Hollywood, the ultra-masculine male judge who has procured a large female fanbase due to his charismatic nature on the show. Many people have pointed out how Nigella and Paul both have a reputation for using suggestive language during their respective TV appearances, therefore the loyal fans of the show are worried that Nigella’s addition will remove the amiability that came from Prue and Mary.

Having said that, there has also been a wave of positive opinions on Nigella’s new role, proving that what some people may think has not affected the overall consensus. At the end of the day, Nigella is going to be the new judge and in my opinion, a very good one, as discussed by Rebecca Shaw, who stated “The decision to hire her makes complete sense. She has the skills, the temperament, the fans. In my mind, she should already be spending her life where random people just prepare delicious things for her to have bites of.”(Rebecca Shaw, 2026). I believe that this is what most fans of the show believe; Nigella does have a huge amount of very loyal fans, who I’m sure will defend her if any of the show’s fans disagree with Nigella’s judgment. In fact, I think that her addition will lead to a wave of new fans on the show; people who have read her books, watched her TV shows for years yet may not be fans of the bake off. She may bring a new lease of life to the show, adding something to it that may not have been there with the previous judges.

It would be ignorant to ignore the fact that there may be an undertone of misogyny in the critique of her joining the show. This is evident by the lack of critique Paul Hollywood has faced during his time on the show. Hopefully, the fans of the show welcome Nigella with open arms as I truly believe that she will help modernise the programme and bring a style to judging that we have not seen yet.

Sources

Nigella.com (2018) How to Eat. Available at: https://www.nigella.com/books/how-to-eat (Accessed: 6 February 2026).

Shaw, R. (2026) ‘I loved Prue, but Nigella joining Bake Off feels like the good news I need’, The Guardian, 5 February. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/feb/05/nigella-lawson-joining-great-british-bake-off (Accessed: 6 February 2026).

Spencer-Elliott, L. (2025) ‘Nigella Lawson explains why she isn’t a sex symbol: “I don’t get the whole thing”’, The Independent. Available at: https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/nigella-lawson-sex-symbol-b2722514.html (Accessed: 6 February 2026).

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