A quick glance at Lorraine Pascale’s Instagram account shows a shift, albeit a subtle one, in her priorities.
Best known as a former model turned domestic goddess thanks to her breakthrough BBC Two show, Baking Made Easy, her culinary creations have been taking a backseat of late.
While she still posts photos of mouthwatering chocolate meringue mousse tart and chocolate and espresso Battenberg squares, they are interspersed with motivational quotes and self authored videos about managing anxiety and stress and the importance of being kind to yourself.
It quickly becomes apparent that the quotes she posts, such as “from now until the end of the day, try only saying nice things to yourself, then see how you start to feel” are as much a reminder to herself as to her 200,000 followers.
Standing over 5ft 10in and with a successful catwalk career, hit TV shows and award-winning cookbooks on her CV, one would think that Lorraine would not need reminding to be kind to herself.
However, she admits that she has been her biggest critic, picking on herself physically and mentally. So how has she silenced those voices? “It is not so much about silencing voices,” says Lorraine.
“It is about giving them a chance to air and be heard. It is accepting oneself, warts and all. I do talk positively to myself, only have positive people around me, listen to positive podcasts and follow positive people on social media.”
Lorraine had a turbulent start in life.
After being taken into foster care as a baby, she was adopted by a middle-class couple from Oxfordshire but, aged eight, was placed on the at-risk register after her adoptive mother developed an alcohol problem and tried to harm her.
In 2014 she delved into that time for BBC Two documentary, Fostering & Me. Her adoptive mother had attempted to strangle and suffocate Lorraine, who was returned to foster care for her own protection.
She finally found some stability after winning a scholarship to a boarding school in Devon aged 11.
WHILE she has previously spoken openly about the revelations, saying she refused to wallow in self pity, today she talks more generally about learning to accept herself and her past.
“One of my biggest challenges has been learning acceptance,” says Lorraine, 45, who lives in west London.
“We’ve all had struggles in our life, people who may have not been the nicest. These may have been family or people that we trusted.
“When I was much younger, I struggled to come to terms with my past, but with time, patience and many insightful and intelligent people along the way, I have mastered acceptance.”
Before Lorraine found fame on Baking Made Easy, she had her first success after being scouted, aged 16, by the same model agent who spotted Naomi Campbell.
A successful international modelling career followed, working with Kate Moss and Naomi, becoming the first black model on the cover of American Elle and flying Concorde to New York to work on the coveted Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue.
From her six-year marriage to Polish jazz musician, Kaz Balinski Jundzill, came Lorraine’s only child, Ella, now 21.
So in her mid-twenties she stepped off the catwalk to offer her daughter a stable start in life.
What followed was a number of careers from secretarial work and hypnotherapy to training as a car mechanic.
But it wasn’t until she enrolled on a year-long cookery course at Leiths School of Food and Wine, founded by The Great British Bake-Off’s Prue Leith, that she found her calling.
Lorraine jumped straight into the kitchen, working in restaurants before supplying cakes to high-end department store Selfridges and opening her own cupcake shop in Covent Garden.
But when the BBC came calling in 2011 with Baking Made Easy, Lorraine’s infectious gap-toothed smile and passion for patisserie quickly made her a household hit.
Home Cooking Made Easy followed on TV, as did best-selling recipe books. Of late, Lorraine has amassed a huge following over the pond thanks to shows such as Worst Bakers In America and The Holiday Baking Championship.
“I lived in the US when I was younger. At the moment, I travel there a lot – especially New Orleans where I fi lm the baking championships, which is great fun.”
However, in spite of all those baked goods to sample, Lorraine is able to stay in shape.
“The key in tasting when filming is only have a little bit,” she insists.
While Lorraine is queen of the small screen, her daughter Ella is about to make her debut on the big screen. THE aspiring actress has just landed a starring part in the reboot of Charlie’s Angels alongside Kristen Stewart and Naomi Scott.
Lorraine will be on hand to offer advice from her own years in the spotlight.
“The biggest lesson I’ve learnt is to be yourself, be authentic and stand up for yourself if you feel uncomfortable.
“Setting healthy boundaries is key. At the end of the day it is incredible how little people are actually bothered by what we do. Just do you.”
And will she prepare Ella to deal with possible negative comments from online trolls? “If anyone lashes out at someone and the person on the receiving end has done nothing wrong, I feel the ‘troll’ must be going through some kind of challenges in their own life to be negative to someone else. Kindness, wherever possible, is key.”
Lorraine is involved in baby and motherhood advice site Aptaclub’s new Eating for 2 campaign, which aims to educate pregnant women to give their bodies the nutrients they need.
“My life changed when I had Ella, I was so in awe of this little thing I created and the love you feel is just incredible.
“During pregnancy, I became far more aware of what I was eating and more in tune with my body.
“For this campaign I have created seven simple, tasty and nutritious recipes, which are quick enough to make and perfect for pregnancy, so mums-to-be can feel confident they are supporting themselves and their growing bump.”
Lorraine’s overall message seems to be the importance of supporting yourself – and if you too need reminding to do that, you only need look at her Instagram feed.
Lorraine has partnered with Aptaclub nutritionists for Aptaclub’s Eating For 2 online nutritional resource for mums to-be.
To find out more visit aptaclub.co.uk/eatingfor2
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