Nigella Lawson: Court Case Was 'Mortifying'

Nigella Lawson has said that having her private life put on display in court was "mortifying".

Speaking for the first time since her former assistants were found not guilty of fraud, the TV cook said her only desire when she gave evidence in December was to protect her children.

Ms Lawson was asked about a difficult 2013, which saw her split from husband Charles Saatchi before details of the couple's private life were laid bare during the trial of sisters Elisabetta and Francesca Grillo.

She told ABC's Good Morning America: "I have to be honest, to have not only your private life but distortions of your private life put on display is mortifying, but there are people going through an awful lot worse and to dwell on it would be self-pity, and I don't want to do that."

Asked about her memories of testifying in court, she said: "I can't really remember exactly because you're so focused on answering the questions to the best of your ability that actually you don't have enormous awareness of yourself ... maybe that's a good thing.

"My only desire really was to protect my children as much as possible, which alas I couldn't do, but that's what I wanted to do."

Joking, she added: "And actually since then I've eaten a lot of chocolate, had a very good Christmas and I'm into the New Year."

The 53-year-old said she had felt like she was on trial at Isleworth Crown Court, where she admitted using cocaine in the past but said the idea that she was a drug addict was "absolutely ridiculous".

She repeated her criticism of the court system and the experience of witnesses, which she described as "deeply disturbing" after the trial.

She said: "It's one of the niceties of the English legal system that you're not allowed any counsel if you're a witness, but maybe it'll change, maybe that's good."

Ms Lawson was appearing on the US morning show to promote her TV show The Taste with fellow judges Anthony Bourdain, Ludo Lefebvre and Marcus Samuelsson.

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