Lorraine grew up in Oxfordshire with her adoptive mother and aged 11 she achieved a 100 per cent scholarship to go to a boarding school in Devon. Aged 16, she was spotted by a model scout while shopping in Covent Garden. She was whisked off to New York and held her own amongst the biggest names of the day for some of the world’s most successful designers including Chanel, Lagerfeld, John Galliano, Versace, Benetton and Donna Karan. She was also the first British black model on the cover of American Elle.

Although Lorraine had a fabulous time modeling, she gave it up as she wanted to find something she was really passionate about and something that would take her through her 30s and beyond. So in between modeling jobs, she enrolled on loads of courses to find out what would really make her tick including hypnotherapy and interior design. It was not until she enrolled on a year long cookery course at Leith’s that Lorraine finally knew what she wanted to do.

On completing the Leith’s Diploma of Food and Wine, Lorraine did a two year foundation degree in International Culinary Arts in Pastry and then worked in some of the most renowned kitchens of the world, including Petrus, The Mandarin Oriental, Gilgamesh and The Wolseley. But as a single parent with a young daughter, working 18-hour days for someone else wasn’t easy for Lorraine so she decided to start her own business creating celebration cakes.  At first these were sold in Selfridges but then in 2009 she opened her first retail operation, the Covent Garden based Ella’s Bakehouse, a specialist and popular cupcake shop.

Today Lorraine’s cookery career is nothing short of a phenomenon.  Within just a year she has had three successful prime time BBC 2 cookery series which were repeated on BBC 1 and attracted millions of viewers.  She is the author of two bestselling cookery books, BAKING MADE EASY and HOME COOKING MADE EASY.  With sales over half a million, she was the biggest debut author of 2011 and the biggest ever debut cookery author.  She was a Sunday Times No 1 hardback bestseller for 2 weeks, outselling Jamie Oliver on both occasions.

And as if all of that wasn’t enough, Lorraine still found time in 2011 to gain a First Class Honours Degree in Culinary Arts Management and to actively support three charities close to her heart, Dr Barnados, TACT and Rays of Sunshine.

Lorraine is now working on series three and book three and looking forward to taking up a role as an Ambassador for The Prince’s Trust.

‘The queen of TV cookery’  The Times

‘The new home-baking heroine whose doable and dazzling recipes bring a fresh, fuss-free take to stove and screen.’  MAIL ON SUNDAY

‘Finally, a chef who cooks real food.’  Daily Mail

‘Genuinely inspirational’  The Lady