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 . As she 's licked her fingers while talking viewers through her recipes , she has earned 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 recent personal life . Her 10-year marriage to millionaire art collector Charles Saatchi collapsed after 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 has his hand around Lawson 's throat . Saatchi accepted a police caution for assault , and the couple announced they would divorce soon after . Since then , the trial of the couple 's two former personal assistants -- who were cleared Friday of defrauding Lawson and Saatchi of hundreds of thousands of pounds -- has gripped the media . This has mainly been thanks to revelations of drug use by Lawson and insights into her troubled marriage to Saatchi . During the trial , the two former assistants , Italian sisters Francesca and Elisabetta Grillo told the court they believed the celebrity chef repeatedly used drugs . Saatchi had said in an e-mail that Lawson had used drugs regularly , but in his testimony before the court last month , he backed off that claim . The court heard that none of the witnesses had seen her take drugs . In her own testimony , Lawson , 53 , confirmed she had taken cocaine half a dozen times , during two periods of her life , and used cannabis in the past . But she denied being a habitual user , saying , `` I did not have a drug problem , I had a life problem . '' ' I am not a chef ' Her admission of limited drug use may cause some surprise because of Lawson 's connections with the British political establishment . Born in London , she is the daughter of Nigel Lawson , a former Conservative Party British chancellor of the exchequer , or finance minister . Her brother Dominic was formerly editor of The Spectator , a British conservative political magazine . In the 1980s , before Lawson married him , Saatchi ran Saatchi & Saatchi , a leading global advertising agency , with his brother . Its campaigns included the promotion of the Conservative Party under then-Prime Minister 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 and 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 , '' which is due to air its second season starting in January . She also launched a successful kitchenware line 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 .
They call Nigella Lawson the ` ` domestic goddess '' and ` ` queen of food , '' and of personal - assistants gripped media , thanks to disclosure of her drug use and marriage woes . ` ` I did not have a drug problem , I had a life problem , '' Lawson told the press . Her marriage to millionaire Nigel Lawson ended this year .