5 female celebrity chefs and their inspiring journeys: From Mary Berry to Lisa Faulkner & Nadiya Hussain

It's International Women's Day on Sunday 8 March, when women across the world collectively celebrate women's rights. The 2020 campaign theme comes from the notion of 'Collective Individualism' and one area that women come together is in our shared love of cuisine. Once the domain of male chefs, women are now equally popular when it comes to fine dining restaurants, cookbooks, food channels and recipe blogs. From the iconic Mary Berry and Delia Smith to Bake Off's Nadiya Hussain and actress Lisa Faulkner, read about some of our favourite female chefs' career journeys…

Nigella Lawson

TV cook Nigella is known for her delicious recipes and warm presenting style – and we're thrilled that the star is releasing a new cookbook entitled Cook, Eat, Repeat, this October. Nigella is the daughter of former Conservative Chancellor of the Exchequer, Nigel Lawson, and developed a love of cooking from time spent in the kitchen with her mother as a child.

Nigella started her career as a journalist for newspapers and magazines. Her first book How to Eat was a bestseller and the award-winning How to Be a Domestic Goddess soon followed. It wasn't long before the cook landed her own TV shows, Nigella Bites and Nigella Express. She also has her own cookware range. She is still one of our favourite home cooks and can always rely on the star for a devilish dessert.

Lisa Faulkner

TV star Lisa Faulkner has gone from one of the nation's favourite actresses to celebrity chef – and we're loving her new role. When Lisa was 16, she was model scouted in London, but, sadly, it was also the year she lost her mother, Julie, to cancer.

Lisa began acting and starred in series such as The Lover, Dangerfield, the soap Brookside, Holby City and Spooks. Then, in 2010, Lisa took part in Celebrity MasterChef and won the competition; it is also where she met her now-husband, MasterChef host John Torode. Lisa has since presented several cookery shows and now appears on ITV's John and Lisa's Weekend Kitchen with her chef husband. The mum-of-one has also written three cookbooks.

Mary Berry

Celebrity baker and food writer Mary Berry is somewhat of a national treasure in Britain, shooting to even further fame as a judge on The Great British Bake Off.

We admire Mary's journey from wannabe cook to famous baker – and she didn't have the easiest start in life. At age 13, Mary spent three months in isolation in hospital. She told The Telegraph: "Alone and feeling terrible, the one thing I wanted was my mother,” she writes. “But my parents had to stay on the other side of the glass, only able to smile and mouth words of reassurance."

Despite this tough experience, Mary recovered and pursued her dreams. The star had a passion for cooking from an early age, studying catering at college and moving to France aged 21 to study at Le Cordon Bleu school. She wrote her first cookbook, The Hamlyn All Colour Cookbook, in 1970, and has she has since published over 75 more. Then, in 2010, she became a regular fixture on our telly screens in GBBO alongside Paul Hollywood. She left the show in 2016 to host her own series, Mary Berry Everyday.

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Nadiya Hussain

Bake Off winner Nadiya shot to fame after being crowned champion of the hit cooking show in 2015. At the time she was a full-time mum living in Leeds but the show catapulted her to stardom, resulting in her own TV cookery series Nadiya's British Food Adventure - and she often appears on The One Show, too. She's a columnist for The Times, has signed publishing deals and even baked a cake for the Queen's 90th birthday!

Nadiya is truly inspirational – from being a normal mum-of-three to finding herself on the Debrett's 500 most influential people in the UK list in 2017. She has spoken openly about living with panic disorder. Talking about the condition on In Conversation with John Bishop she has said: "I've spent my whole life trying to find a cure. You'll go to the doctors and they will give you pills and then you just won't feel anything. What's the point in not feeling anything? It's never going to go away, I have to learn to live with my monster, he's always going to be there."

Delia Smith

Think of home cooking, and you immediately think Delia Smith. The cook, who has an OBE and CBE, is known for her comprehensive cookbooks and easy-to-follow recipes. Delia's culinary career started when she joined the Daily Mirror magazine as a cookery writer, later writing for the Evening Standard and Radio Times.

Delia's first TV role was in the 1970s on a show called Look East and she was subsequently offered her own show Family Fare. She went on to write numerous cookbooks - her book Delia Smith's The Winter Collection sold 2 million copies in hardback and her book How to Cheat at Cooking was also a bestseller. Delia retired from presenting cookery shows in 2013.

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