Bouncing back: Nigella Lawson appears in a provocative Channel 4 trailer for The Taste

Nigella, alongside fellow judges Anthony Bourdain and Ludo Lefebvre, can be seen in what appear to be the throes of ecstasy

It’s been a rocky few months for Nigella Lawson, but there’s some more positive news in the form of a recently released promotional trainer for the food writer’s new Channel 4 cooking competition, The Taste. (The Taste/ABC)

It’s been a rocky few months for Nigella Lawson, but there’s some more positive news in the form of a recently released promotional trainer for the food writer’s new Channel 4 cooking competition, The Taste.

Nigella, alongside fellow judges Anthony Bourdain and Ludo Lefebvre, can be seen in what appear to be the throes of ecstasy. The trio are shown from the shoulders up, with Nigella closing her eyes and gasping, as music blares in the background.

Nigella is an executive producer and judge on the US version of the show, which Channel 4 has acquired the rights to, as well as commissioning the new UK series, which will air next month.

There had been rumours that The Taste would be cancelled in light of allegations of drug abuse made against Nigella during the fraud trial of the Grillo sisters, the former assistants of the TV chef and her ex-husband Charles Saatchi.

But US network ABC said it had no plans to scrap the second season of The Taste, which is due to air on 2 January 2014. The UK version will debut on 7 January 2014.

The ten-part series will see contestants face rounds of cookery challenges, with the sole emphasis on taste: the panel will blind taste a single spoonful of the food before eliminating contenders.

Francesca and Elisabetta Grillo were cleared of fraud on Friday (20 December).

During the trial, a jury heard how the Italian sisters racked up a £685,000 bill on credit cards belonging to Nigella and Saatchi, claiming that they were allowed to spend what they liked, provided they kept quiet about Nigella's habitual cocaine use.

Police are to review evidence following TV chef Nigella Lawson's admission in court that she took cocaine.

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