Sophie Dahl, the model and writer, has morphed from a normal-sized woman to a rather skinnier version of herself during her years in front of the camera. Was the transformation down to a diet of black coffee and fresh air, or a punishing exercise regime?
Neither, as it happens. In her first food book, Miss Dahl's Voluptuous Delights, she credits her slimline physique to a stay at Ballymaloe House in Cork, where she learned to eat well.
“I checked into the wonderful Ballymaloe House in Ireland. It was interesting because, although I was there for under a week and eating substantially at every meal, I left thinner than when I arrived. This was because I was eating simply and well: three meals, freshly prepared, and every afternoon I would go for a long walk by the sea.”
So now you know.
Miss Dahl's Voluptuous Delights, part memoir, part recipe book, is published by HarperCollins, £18.99.