Saucy: Sophie Dahl in the kitchen
Poor Sophie Dahl. Her first cooking show, The Delicious Miss Dahl, which finished this week, got a terrible drubbing.
'She looked ill at ease in her kitchen,' wrote Paul Connolly. 'A souffle of twice-baked Nigella with sauce on the side,' said Jan Moir.
Perhaps the most vicious comments came from Giles Coren. 'This Sophie Dahl show - what a crock of mendacious s***e,' he said. I found it hard to read all this as Sophie is my former flatmate.
She may be 6ft and married to a jazz star, but she will have been deeply wounded by these comments - even though the show was a ratings success.
I first met Sophie in November 1996 when I was helping Vanity Fair put together its 'Cool Britannia' issue.
She was 16, but with her up-for-anything personality and Coca-Cola-bottle figure, she embodied the spirit of Swinging London Mark II.
I put her in a fashion shoot and we became friends. I had no idea that I'd be launching the career of one of Britain's top supermodels.
Sophie became a little sister to me and in 1999, when she moved to New York to pursue her acting career, I offered her the spare room in my Manhattan apartment.
I liked the idea of my flat becoming a giant changing room for the world's most sought-after models.
It did, too - but, unfortunately, they were all men.
Sophie attracts men like bees to a honeypot. At one point, she was even pursued by my old boss, Graydon Carter, the editor of Vanity Fair. But she told him he'd be better off with her mother.
She became as famous in the U.S. as she had been in Britain, but her head was never turned by success.
Indeed, she's so kind-hearted it became impossible to walk through New York's West Village with her.
The homeless men would ask to 'borrow' a few dollars. They knew she was an easy mark. I would plead with her not to give them any money - 'they're just going to spend it on crack' - but I don't remember her ever turning them down.
The peak of Sophie's fame was in 2000 when she replaced Gisele Bundchen as the Versace Jeans girl, landed a job advertising Alexander McQueen's new line of designer sunglasses and signed a two-year deal to become the face of Opium.
It was that last job that catapulted her into the super league, with Sophie appearing naked on billboardsall over the world. She told me she couldn't look at the poster, as all she saw were her huge feet.
Since marrying, I no longer see Sophie as often, so I've been a big fan of her show. It is a reminder of what a sweet, good-natured girl she is.
I hope she continues to flourish.
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