Nigella Lawson has said she “never” saw herself at 60 years old after a spate of deaths among those closest to her.
Speaking to Good Housekeeping, the British cook and author explained: “To be completely honest, I’ve never been able to take for granted that I’d be alive by this age. My mother died at 48 and my sister at 32.”
The TV star went on to reference her late husband, the journalist John Diamond, who died in 2001 after being diagnosed with throat cancer.
“And then John at 47,” Lawson said. “So, even if I were the sort of person who planned ahead, I don’t think I would have seen myself here.”
The 60-year-old author went on to discuss how she approaches the ageing process. “I kind of think you can’t do anything about it so why complain?” she said.
"I also know what the alternative is, so it feels wrong when you’ve been surrounded by people who have died young to say ‘My hair’s awful, I’ve got to get my roots done’ or ‘My hands look like lizards’. So I don’t dwell on it. As long as you’re healthy, that really is the most important thing.”
Elsewhere, Lawson, who is promoting her new book, Cook, Eat, Repeat, went on to discuss her work ethic and explained why she still enjoys working.
“There are days when I think ‘Oh my gosh, I could lie down all day’, but I enjoy it because I feel like myself when I’m cooking and writing.” she told the publication.
"And I feel very lucky for the connection it gives me to other people. That came to the fore during lockdown, when I started helping people with their evening meals on Twitter. It was odd because I was living remotely, but feeling much more connected.”
Lawson’s comments come after she expressed her anxiety over emerging from lockdown in June as restrictions were lifted, explaining that she felt she had no room for the “psychological clutter of other people”.
Writing in The Sunday Times, the celebrity chef said that after “weeks of being alone” she believed she was “entirely unfit for society”.
“Yes, a part of that is a fear of the health risk involved, but I know really it’s because I have become utterly content with my desocialisation. I have gone feral,” Lawson wrote at the time.
