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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Nigel Slater makes me angry.

214 replies

CatMumsw · 03/08/2021 16:50

Just had to sit through one of his shows with my mum, who really likes him. There's something about his tone of voice, vocabulary choices and even the styling of the cooking programme that makes me want to tear my hair out.

I'm sure he's a nice enough man, but he comes across as a smarmy, self-satisfied twat. Please tell me I'm not the only one who thinks this!

OP posts:
DynamoKev · 03/08/2021 16:51

I really like him. Loved his autobiography. Sorry.

whippitwoowoo · 03/08/2021 16:52

He’s unbearable

AnneLovesGilbert · 03/08/2021 16:52

I love him.

MaudebeGonne · 03/08/2021 16:52

He's a bit of a fusspot but I quite like him and I love his recipes. I would imagine he is a excellent person to gossip away an afternoon with.

SummerHouse · 03/08/2021 16:52

Imagine having sex with him.

purplecorkheart · 03/08/2021 16:52

I like him and really enjoy his shows. I like the fact that he is big on using every scrape and find his recipes are easy to do and tasty.

DismantledKing · 03/08/2021 16:52

Yeah, I get that. He’s like nails down a blackboard for me.

Original poster
CatMumsw · 03/08/2021 16:54

@SummerHouse, OMFG. Envy (not envy)

@MaudebeGonne, I love 'fusspot' as a description of him. :)

@whippitwoowoo, yay! I'm not alone! @AnneLovesGilbert and @DynamoKev, you are not on my Christmas card list. :D

OP posts:
CuriousaboutSamphire · 03/08/2021 16:54

You mean he is a soft spoken, earnest sounding man with a penchant for using all the words in his vocabulary?

Meh!

IntermittentParps · 03/08/2021 16:56

He's a bit of an old hen but I'm fond of him. I like his no-nonsense approach to quantities and substitutions. He writes about food beautifully too.
I seriously covet his kitchen and his collection of what seems to be largely Japanese, exquisitely lovely bowls and plats.

LadyMonicaBaddingham · 03/08/2021 16:57

He does get a bit sanctimonious about the food shopping (couldn't we all if we lived in that London and worked from home so we could potter off to the deli/farmer's market/butcher every day)

But his recipes really work and the tone of his writing is lovely. Especially in Real Food and Appetite when he hasn't gone quite so mad yet...

SimonJT · 03/08/2021 16:57

I quite like him, but I always feel his skin is too baggy for his face, like the man in men in black who was skinned and worn by an alien.

thanksforyourcommentrandomman · 03/08/2021 16:58

I like him, I'd much rather listen to him than someone like Jamie Oliver or Gordon Ramsey

DynamoKev · 03/08/2021 16:58

@SummerHouse

Imagine having sex with him.
Isn’t he gay?
Funnylittlefloozie · 03/08/2021 16:58

Oh my god, I have found (some of) my tribe. I cannot STAND Nigel Slater, he is twee and precious. When he made the 'Sandwich ' episode of Real Food, he sat with some American woman and smirked that he had always wanted to try a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. You're a fecking professional foodie, Nigel, just make yourself one!!!

Ironically though, his cooking is excellent.

LaurieSchafferIsAllBitterNow · 03/08/2021 16:59

I feel so sad for him...he is an odd sort, but the bit in his book, where he wrote about talking on the phone to his Aunt (? not certain), after his Mother's death and the Aunt would stay on the line while he got himself ready for bed as he was alone in the house and scared :( just breaks me.

That's going to leave a really nasty mark on your psyche.

LaurieSchafferIsAllBitterNow · 03/08/2021 17:00

@SummerHouse

Imagine having sex with him.
I think he drives his car on the other side of the road as it were.
IntermittentParps · 03/08/2021 17:00

Isn’t he gay?
Yes, been with the food photographer Jonathan Lovekin for ages, I believe. I seem to remember at one point reading that they deliberately didn't live together though (I think Nige said he likes his own space and routines), although I wonder if that's changed; he often writes in his food columns about what 'we' ate etc.

Boarderingmadness · 03/08/2021 17:00

His cooking is great, often quite basic and easy to follow, i like his mannerisms too

Original poster
CatMumsw · 03/08/2021 17:01

I'll have to look at his recipes, as so many of you seem to rate them. Not having to listen to him will help.

I've just realised that he reminds me of a lad I lived with during my first year at Uni, who turned out to be the biggest dickhead, so that may be souring my feelings towards Nige.

OP posts:
ILoveShula · 03/08/2021 17:03

I think he looks like he needs a wash and not in a good way.
His cooking is ok though.

TyrantosaurusRex · 03/08/2021 17:04

I'm with you OP, I'm repulsed and irritated by him so much, his movements, his speech delivery...I have such a strong negative internal reaction to him, and I can't really pinpoint why!

Marguerite2000 · 03/08/2021 17:04

I like Nigel Slater. He seems like a gentleman to me and his food looks lovely.

GreenestValley · 03/08/2021 17:05

Some low key homophobia here...

fairyannie · 03/08/2021 17:05

He gives me the heebie geebies.

I can't stand how he caresses the food.

😵‍💫