We should all being eating cake like Nigella Lawson on Great British Bake Off

The Great British Bake Off viewers have taken to social media to share their thoughts on the way Nigella Lawson eats (Picture: Channel 4) Nigella Lawson is so effortlessly seductive that she can call a microwave a “micro-wavay” and start a new trend. She is, and always has been, one of the most naturally sexy people on television: articulate, scrumptious and outrageously camp. Earlier this month she was welcomed into the Great British Bake Off tent as a judge for the very first time, alongside fellow sex symbol Paul Hollywood. She has gone down like a chocolate soufflé with a perfect gooey middle: everything fans hoped she would be, and such a relief once you crack the pudding open. It’s already hard to imagine the tent without her, and a mystery why it’s taken so long for her to get there in the first place. But of course, in the age of cruel social media, the ‘Domestic Goddess’ has opened herself up to new levels of scrutiny. Nigella should be celebrated for unapologetically devouring a cake she’s enamoured with (Picture: Channel 4) It’s refreshing to see someone eat a cake as it should be eaten (Picture: Channel 4) While it’s almost universally agreed she has been the best thing to happen to Bake Off since it came to Channel 4 nearly a decade ago, her large, unsophisticated bites have rattled swathes of the Bake Off fandom. I’d argue it’s refreshing to see someone eat a cake as it should be eaten: with huge, gluttonous mouthfuls. At this point, more than anyone else, Nigella has earned the right not to give a single toss how she looks on television and, quite honestly, I don’t think there’s anything more attractive than someone getting stuck into food with carefree abandon, their sole goal to savour and enjoy every mouthful. I’ll admit I’m not the most gracious eater. It used to bother me; I think it still bothers my boyfriend. I have the decorum of a fox rummaging through a bin when a delicious plate of food is in front of me. If the food is good enough, I am completely transfixed: absolutely nothing else in the world matters to me, least of all how I look to others. Sign up to Switched On, Metro's new TV newsletter Hiya! I’m Sabrina Barr and I’m Metro’s TV editor. I have spent almost six years at Metro covering all corners of the TV world, and I’m now sharing all my expert insights in my brand new newsletter, Switched On. Join me for Metro's exclusive weekly guide of to what to watch From recommendations for your next binge-watch on Netflix to jaw-dropping exclusive interviews with the planet’s biggest stars, sign up to get plugged into the week’s biggest TV moments. Get the next edition below. Sign up now Perhaps if I was eating in front of 4 million people on television each week, I might be a tad more self-conscious, but thank God Nigella isn’t me. Nigella made her debut on the new series last week, taking over from Prue Leith (Picture: Patch Dolan) For one, I wouldn’t have the willpower to stop at one bite of each cake, and I’d be sick after every challenge. For another, she is able to completely forget about us and just be in the moment with the contestant, her fork, and the impressively large portion of cake she is being paid a hefty amount of money to scrutinise. She may not have the decorum of Mary Berry, Prue Leith or Paul, but in two episodes she has already brought so much more charisma, warmth and real fun to the tent than any of them. Women have always been policed over the way they eat more than men, expected to conform to standards of decorum that men are never held to. Thank god for Nigella, who has built one of the most successful careers in cooking through completely ignoring those standards and giving all of us – men and women – the hall pass to just hail food as a wonderful gift, to be enjoyed whenever and however we please. Nigella should be celebrated for unapologetically devouring a cake she’s enamoured with. If anything, it would be a far greater compliment to a baker than any Hollywood handshake. How is she possibly supposed to judge a baking competition with polite nibbles? Her entire career has been built on the pleasure and sensuality of food. She’s encouraged us to rummage through the fridge late at night to rustle up a naughty treat, to see food as one of life’s greatest pleasures and to throw every rulebook out the window. That’s partly what makes her the perfect judge for Bake Off. There is no one who has helped the nation enjoy calorific puddings more than Nigella, and instead of judging her for the way she eats, we should all be following suit. Asking her to eat any other way would be asking her to be someone else, especially when it’s everything about Nigella that is making her such a treat on Bake Off and, in my opinion, giving it the chance to run for years and years when it was becoming increasingly stale. Whoever decided a big bite was ugly in the first place never lived. Nigella knows how to live, and she certainly knows how to eat better than the rest of us. 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