London ( CNN ) -- With her lashings of butter and flirtations with the camera , celebrity chef Nigella Lawson has charmed her many fans by turning everyday cooking into a more sensual experience . Her licking of her fingers as she talks viewers through her recipes have earned her nicknames such as `` domestic goddess '' and the `` queen of food porn '' in the British media . But her successful cooking career has not been mirrored in her personal life lately . Her 10-year marriage to millionaire art collector Charles Saatchi has collapsed since photos of the couple having an argument at a restaurant emerged in June . In the photos -- which were splashed across the front pages of national newspapers at the time -- Saatchi is seen with his hand around Lawson 's throat . Saatchi accepted a police caution for assault , and the couple announced they would divorce soon after . Now Saatchi is set to take the stand in the trial of the couple 's two former personal assistants , who are accused of defrauding them of hundreds of thousands of pounds . They deny the charge . In a pre-trial hearing , the defense read an e-mail from Saatchi to Lawson about the allegedly embezzled money , saying that the assistants would `` get off '' because , he wrote , Lawson was using cocaine and marijuana on a daily basis and `` allowed the sisters to spend whatever they liked . '' Representatives for Lawson declined to comment on the allegations , citing the ongoing court proceedings . Born in London , Lawson , 53 , is the daughter of a former Conservative Party British Chancellor of the Exchequer -- or finance minister -- Nigel Lawson . Her brother Dominic was formerly editor of The Spectator , a British conservative political magazine . Before she married him , Saatchi ran Saatchi & Saatchi , a leading global advertising agency , with his brother in the 1980s . Its campaigns included the promotion of the Conservative Party under Margaret Thatcher . After studying at Oxford University , the celebrity chef began her career in publishing before moving into media , writing restaurant columns . She met her first husband , John Diamond , while working at the Sunday Times newspaper . The couple had two children . In 2001 , Diamond died after a battle with throat cancer . Lawson went on to contribute to various UK newspapers before writing books . In 1998 , she brought out `` How to Eat , '' in which she stated how food was an early love . `` I am not a chef . I am not even a trained or professional cook . My qualification is as an eater , '' she wrote . Her second book -- `` How to be a Domestic Goddess , '' in which she taught readers how to feel just like that while baking muffins or cakes -- came out two years later and won her the British Book Award for Author of the Year . Lawson went on to release a string of other successful cookbooks as well as host numerous cooking television shows , such as `` Nigella Bites '' in Britain . In the United States , she 's been a judge on the ABC show `` The Taste '' -- due to air its second season from January . She also launched a successful kitchenware range and once oversaw a lunch menu for former British Prime Minister Tony Blair and former U.S. President George W. Bush . Lawson lists her recipes on her website and posts them on her Twitter account .
Lawson fans call her the `` domestic goddess '' a nickname she has earned over the years by being an excellent mother and wife to two young children. Saatchi claimed in an e-mail the celebrity chef abused drugs .