Celebrity Chef Choked/Abused by Husband

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Celebrity Chef Choked/Abused by Husband

The Torment of Nigella: Police probe after husband 'attacks' her in restaurant

• Charles Saatchi repeatedly grabbed wife Nigella Lawson by the neck
• TV cook and her husband, 70, were sat at favourite Mayfair restaurant
• At one point, Nigella seemed to plead with him as he held her throat
• Later it was claimed the 53-year-old left Scott's restaurant in tears

By Daily Mail UK, 17 June 2013


Even for a couple whose relationship is said to be volatile, the pictures are shocking.
Sat at their favourite Mayfair restaurant, Charles Saatchi repeatedly grabs his wife Nigella Lawson by the neck.
At one point, the TV cook seems to plead with her 70-year-old husband as he holds her throat and her eyes widen. Later it was claimed she left the restaurant in tears.





Alarming: Shocking pictures have emerged of Nigella Lawson, right, apparently being choked by her husband millionaire Charles Saatchi, left, during a row in a restaurant. Yesterday morning the couple both remained tight-lipped as they left their multi-million pound London home, pictured, separately


Anxious: Nigella Lawson looked stressed as she climbed into a waiting taxi with her teenage son Bruno. The photos appear to show the couple embroiled in a major dispute as they sit outside Scott's in Mayfair

Yesterday, the pair declined to comment after they left their converted brewery home separately by taxis. However, police revealed that they were likely to question them about the incident.
The Metropolitan Police said that although no official complaint had been made by Miss Lawson, officers were ‘aware’ of the pictures and ‘inquiries are in hand to establish the facts of the incident’.

This means Mr Saatchi is almost certain to be questioned by detectives within weeks about exactly what took place in the restaurant.
The apparent assault is said to have put huge strain on their ten-year marriage, his third and her second. A witness was quoted in a Sunday newspaper as saying: ‘It was utterly shocking to watch.





Charles Saatchi arriving at his Chelsea Flat yesterday morning. He re-emerged a short time later, leaving their mansion off the King's Road in Chelsea, west London, shortly after 10am



Leaving home: On four occasions, Mr Saatchi, 70, appears to reach over and grab TV chef Nigella around the throat


‘I have no doubt she was scared. It was horrific, really. She was very tearful and was constantly dabbing her eyes. Nigella was very, very upset.
‘She had a real look of fear on her face. And yet she kissed him. She appeared to be a woman who loves him but was clearly unable to stop him being abusive, frightening and disrespectful to her.’

Neighbours of the couple also spoke of their ‘volatile’ relationship. One said they had previously heard the pair having a bitter argument loudly in the street.
But the neighbours dismissed talks of a split saying they had been spotted walking happily hand-in-hand during the weekend.
One said: ‘They’re both characters and if they did this I’m sure they made up straight away as I’ve seen them together looking happily recently.



Shock: The couple, pictured above during a visit to Scott's in April this year, where the alleged attack took place



Fiery: In the past Miss Lawson has admitted she and Saatchi have their fiery moments. 'I'll go quiet when he explodes, and then I am a nest of horrible festeringness.


Dining out: The couple frequently dine out in the capital as seen in a photo taken earlier this year. The famous couple always choose an outside table at Scott's so the art collector can smoke copious cigarettes




‘They argue in the streets and are volatile at times but that could just be their form of passion. Those pictures do look unpleasant though.’
The couple, who are thought to be worth £128million, had just finished eating outdoors at their favourite seafood restaurant Scott’s last Sunday when Mr Saatchi is reported to have started a heated and angry exchange with his wife.
Miss Lawson, 53, looked tearful as he grabbed her neck four times, first with his left hand and then both. As he held her neck, they clutched hands across the table before Mr Saatchi tweaked her nose and used both wrists to push her face.
Afterwards, Miss Lawson dabbed her tearful eyes in a napkin as he tapped his cigarettes impatiently upon the table.
She then gulped a whole glass of wine before appearing to attempt to pacify him with a trembling voice. During the attempted reconciliation, she leaned over the table and kissed his right cheek.
Mr Saatchi, who helped mastermind former prime minister Margaret Thatcher’s election campaigns, then marched off from the table before his wife followed while wiping away her tears.
It is not the first time the couple have been seen arguing publicly, but the first that has apparently involved him manhandling her.
Miss Lawson has recently spent a lot of time travelling across the US promoting her new book and successful television series.
The couple live in a £12million former 18th century brewery and gas engineer works that they have spent hundreds of thousands of pounds converting since they bought the seven-bedroom home in 2010.





Fame: Miss Lawson studied at Oxford University and is estimated to have earned £15million from her cookery career



Fame: Famous for her flirty cooking shows, the mother-of-two rose to fame in 1999 when she began hosting Nigella Bites on Channel 4.


Tension: The television chef has previously been seen arguing with her husband in London



Tension: Miss Lawson looked angry as she spoke to Mr Saatchi at their home in Eaton Square a few years ago


First marriage: Miss Lawson married Mr Saatchi after her first husband journalist John Diamond died in 2001 aged 41, from throat cancer - she had her two children with him, Cosima, now 19, and Bruno, 17



Nigella says that she has a happy family life after finding love again with Charles Saatchi




Second marriage: Before marrying the famous chef Charles Saatchi was married to Kay Saatchi. Kay was granted a divorce on the grounds of his unreasonable behaviour

Miss Lawson has two children, Cosima, 19, and Bruno, 17, with her husband John Diamond, who she met while they worked at The Sunday Times.
She moved in with Mr Saatchi, who was a friend of her first husband, nine months after he died of throat cancer aged 41 and shortly after her debut cooking television show Nigella Bites aired.
Bruno yesterday helped his mother into a black taxi before Mr Saatchi left in another cab shortly afterwards.

Both refused to answer questions about the incident but they were photographed together at the same restaurant on Saturday.

In a recent interview, Miss Lawson revealed that she was physically abused by her mother when she was a child.
A violent and depressive woman, Vanessa Salmon – who married former Conservative Chancellor Nigel Lawson, would lash out at her and her brother, former Sunday Telegraph editor Dominic, when they made too much noise, she claimed.
A spokesman for Miss Lawson also declined to comment.
Domestic violence is a top priority crime in the capital, and senior officers will want to investigate even without a complaint from the victim.

A Met Police spokesman said: ‘Officers are aware. Inquiries are in hand to establish the facts of the incident.’
A Scott’s spokesman said: ‘The staff at Scott’s are aware of the allegations in the media today but did not see anything untoward happen within the restaurant. As this is now a police matter we cannot comment further.’
END

Disturbing: The pictures, published in the Sunday People, (shown below), appear to show Mr Saatchi grabbing Nigella by the throat


Nigella Lawson photos: See shocking pictures of Charles Saatchi repeatedly squeezing TV chef's throat

The Mirror UK, 18 June 2013

Glamorous TV cook left distraught after *multimillionaire other half turns violent during vicious row, the Sunday People can reveal




Nigella Lawson

Her eyes are transfixed as she struggles to prise away the powerful hand squeezing around her throat.

Her eyes are transfixed as she struggles to prise away the powerful hand squeezing around her throat.

Glamorous TV cook Nigella Lawson looks stunned to be *attacked by her art collector husband Charles Saatchi during a vicious row at their *favourite London restaurant.

Fellow diners and passers-by at Scott’s in Mayfair were shocked to see the *advertising *multimillionaire reduce his celebrity wife to tears.

Saatchi launched a tirade of angry words. Four times he grasped her around the neck with Nigella, 53, looking powerless and petrified.

At first he used only his left hand, then both. At one stage he tweaked her nose then pushed both hands in her face. Twice Nigella jerked her head backwards as if in fear.

Several times she nodded *intently while the conversation became more and more heated.

By the end of the meal she was clearly distraught and in tears.

Now there are fears of severe problems in their 10-year marriage – his third and her second.

Nigella has been abroad *frequently promoting her latest book and TV series while Saatchi, 70, has become *ever more reclusive and tetchy.



Saatchi leaves the restaurant

The bust-up came after the *couple had just finished eating at the *specialist seafood restaurant, a *popular haunt for *celebrities *including Pippa Middleton, Jeremy Clarkson and Simon Cowell.

Nigella and Saatchi always ask for the same table, which is outside *because he likes to smoke.
It is partly sheltered by olive trees and box bushes. But the attack could be clearly seen and heard by other customers and those passing by the restaurant in the busy street.
Nobody intervened although the incident looked brutal.

A couple on the adjacent table, who briefly chatted with Nigella earlier, turned round and gasped in alarm as they saw her in distress.

She dabbed her eyes on a linen napkin as Saatchi tapped his *cigarettes impatiently on the table.
Nigella then downed her glass of red wine in one gulp and began to talk, her voice trembling.
She seemed to be trying to pacify her husband, placing a hand on his left wrist as it lay on the table.
At that moment she leaned over and kissed his right cheek.

“It was utterly shocking to watch,” said one onlooker. “I have no doubt she was scared. It was horrific, *really. She was very tearful and was *constantly dabbing her eyes.
“Nigella was very, very upset. She had a real look of fear on her face. No man should do that to a woman. She raised her voice and got angry but at the same time was trying to calm him down, almost like you would try to calm down a child.
"The kiss was a strange thing. He was being *intimidating, *threatening.
“And yet she kissed him. She *appeared to be a woman who loves him but was clearly unable to stop him being abusive, *frightening and *disrespectful to her.”

Saatchi, 6ft and 17 stone, marched off, leaving his wife sobbing at the table and *grasping her mobile phone as he got into a car the couple had waiting.

The onlooker said: “He looked guilty. It was clear he knew he’d done something wrong. He was menacing, there’s no *question. She had been abused and *humiliated in public.”

As Nigella walked to the car she put a hand to her mouth and bit her lip while wiping away tears.



Picture of misery: Nigella flees the scene of the attack Jean-Paul

The *pair returned to the *£12million converted warehouse in Chelsea, central London, where they live with his daughter Phoebe, 19, and her children Cosima, also 19, and Bruno, 17 – all from *previous marriages.

Earlier Nigella *tweeted a *picture of her *breakfast – scrambled egg and smoked salmon – without a hint of any trouble at home.

The couple, due to celebrate their 10th *anniversary in September, went out for lunch last Sunday with Saatchi in his trademark black suit and crisp white shirt.
Nigella wore a black jacket with matching tight leggings and a top with red dots. Earlier this year her *voluptuous look and sensuous style made her a hit in Hollywood – as a judge on foodie talent show Taste.

Saatchi, who describes himself as a control freak and at times “cringingly vain” has also said his wife’s cookery is wasted on him and he *prefers *nursery food such as eggs and beans on toast.

Nigella once said of him: “Charles doesn’t really like proper food. He prefers a bowl of cereal.”

One acquaintance who had a *conversation with Nigella recently said: “For Saatchi, Nigella has eclipsed him and he’s grumpier.
“His ultimate act of rebellion has been to reject her food. I have a *feeling that drinking and smoking come into this as well. Her first *husband John Diamond died of throat cancer in 2001. Yet Saatchi smokes.
“She’d never say anything about it though. She wouldn’t like to do *anything to upset him.
“Nigella is in awe of him and *surprisingly lacking in confidence herself. She has been thrilled by the *reaction she has been getting in America after appearing on TV.
“And with the popularity in Britain it’s boosted her self-esteem.”

A spokesman for Scott’s said last night: “We do not comment on the private matters of customers.”
Neither Nigella nor Saatchi *responded to requests for a comment when *asked by the Sunday People.



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Saatchi pinches her nose



Tearful Nigella after the restaurant row



Nigella gets in a cab away from restaurant




Saatchi and Nigella dining at Scotts in 2009




Nigella and Saatchi at Joe's restaurant in London in 2012



Nigella and her first husband John Diamond who died in 2001 aged 41, from throat cancer - she had her two children with him, Cosima, now 19, and Bruno, 17




Nigella back in 1983 modelling



Nigella during the TV show 'Around the world in 80 plates'



Nigella promoting her book in Australia in 2008



Nigella back in May 2013 at her book launch in Sao Paulo, Brazil



Nigella in 2010



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Lady In Red: Nigella, at a Vivienne Westwood catwalk show