OH Nigella, will you please stop it!

Your simple recipes might be just the thing for busy families to enjoy some wholesome fare without having to spend says in the kitchen but would you please just show us how to make the damn things and desist from pouting at the camera every two minutes.

Let's face it, the sex-bomb routine is wearing a bit thin. You made your point but now it's verging on the embarrassing.

The producers of Nigella Express, which began last night on BBC2, are equally guilty.

Lingering close-ups of NIgella licking a spoon are followed by arty-angled, soft focus affairs which are almost reminiscent of the early days of Channel Five's late night output.

I'm sure Ms Lawson's voluptuous curves cause one or two male hearts to flutter uncontrollably but this is supposed to be a cookery programme not a TV spin off from Nuts magazine.

Then again, it seems as though most modern TV chefs are deliberately setting out to annoy us. If it's not Nigella's constant flirting, it's Jamie's steadfast refusal to look at the camera and instead talk to some imaginary friend standing 45 degrees to the left.

But perhaps it's all a deliberate ploy. Perhaps the aim is to make the TV series unwatchable so that we'll all rush out and buy the books which accompany the series immediately.