The celebrity chef allowed sisters Francesca and Elisabetta Grillo to steal $480,000 from her ex-husband, tycoon Charles Saatchi, as long as they did not disclose her rampant drug use, their attorney said at a pre-trial hearing in London on Wednesday. 
Splash News/Splash News
She's gone from sexy celebrity chef to "habitual criminal."
Luscious-lipped Nigella Lawson was branded that by a defense attorney Wednesday at a pre-trial hearing in London for two of her flunkies, who are accused of fleecing her ex-husband out of $480,000.
Italian sisters Francesca and Elisabetta Grillo say the buxom Brit gave them the green light to rip off her ex - as long as they didn't spill the beans about her raging drug habit. RELATED: NIGELLA LAWSON THANKS FANS FOR SUPPORT WITH DESSERT RECIPE
They contend the 53-year-old foodie has an insatiable appetite for cocaine, marijuana and prescription drugs and that she got stoned every day for more than a decade while she was married to tycoon Charles Saatchi.
Judge Robin Johnson said she would allow lawyers to grill Lawson about her alleged drug use.
That was a potentially career-ending blow to Lawson, who denies she is a junkie. RELATED: NIGELLA LAWSON ABUSED DRUGS FOR YEARS, FORMER ASSISTANTS CLAIM IN COURT
ABC is now considering whether to invite her back for a third season as a judge on "The Taste," a competitive reality TV cooking show, the Daily News reported earlier.
It was also a sweet revenge for 70-year-old Saatchi, who was branded a wife abuser in June after he was photographed with his hands around Lawson's neck at a London restaurant.
Ben Cawthra/ZUMAPRESS.com
The Grillo girls are accused of using credit cards from Saatchi's firm Conraco Partnership to take lavish vacations and fill their closets with designer clothes and other luxuries. RELATED: NIGELLA LAWSON, CHARLES SAATCHI GRANTED PRELIMINARY DIVORCE
Elisabetta, 41, and Francesca, 34, do not dispute living high on the hog on Saatchi's dime. But they contend there was a "tacit understanding" with Lawson.
"The defendants' case is that Nigella Lawson lied to her ex-husband about her drug use and the expenditure incurred by the defendants," their lawyer, Anthony Metzer, said.
Lawson "was fearful of Mr. Saatchi's reaction if he knew about the extent of the expenditure and drug use," Metzer added. "There was a culture of secrecy within Nigella Lawson's marriage." RELATED: CHARLES SAATCHI TO DIVORCE CHEF NIGELLA LAWSON
But if Saatchi's account is true, "Lawson is a habitual criminal," Metzer added.
Prosecutor Jane Carpenter, however, contends the Grillos were ripping off Saatchi long before the allegations about Lawson's drug use surfaced.
Earlier, an embarrassing email from Saatchi to Lawson was released in which he referred to his ex as "Highgella" and said she was "so off her head on drugs."
Team Lawson has called the drug allegations against the domestic diva "totally scurrilous" and untrue.
csiemaszko@nydailynews.com
Splash News/Splash News
She's gone from sexy celebrity chef to "habitual criminal."
Luscious-lipped Nigella Lawson was branded that by a defense attorney Wednesday at a pre-trial hearing in London for two of her flunkies, who are accused of fleecing her ex-husband out of $480,000.
Italian sisters Francesca and Elisabetta Grillo say the buxom Brit gave them the green light to rip off her ex - as long as they didn't spill the beans about her raging drug habit. RELATED: NIGELLA LAWSON THANKS FANS FOR SUPPORT WITH DESSERT RECIPE
They contend the 53-year-old foodie has an insatiable appetite for cocaine, marijuana and prescription drugs and that she got stoned every day for more than a decade while she was married to tycoon Charles Saatchi.
Judge Robin Johnson said she would allow lawyers to grill Lawson about her alleged drug use.
That was a potentially career-ending blow to Lawson, who denies she is a junkie. RELATED: NIGELLA LAWSON ABUSED DRUGS FOR YEARS, FORMER ASSISTANTS CLAIM IN COURT
ABC is now considering whether to invite her back for a third season as a judge on "The Taste," a competitive reality TV cooking show, the Daily News reported earlier.
It was also a sweet revenge for 70-year-old Saatchi, who was branded a wife abuser in June after he was photographed with his hands around Lawson's neck at a London restaurant.
Ben Cawthra/ZUMAPRESS.com
The Grillo girls are accused of using credit cards from Saatchi's firm Conraco Partnership to take lavish vacations and fill their closets with designer clothes and other luxuries. RELATED: NIGELLA LAWSON, CHARLES SAATCHI GRANTED PRELIMINARY DIVORCE
Elisabetta, 41, and Francesca, 34, do not dispute living high on the hog on Saatchi's dime. But they contend there was a "tacit understanding" with Lawson.
"The defendants' case is that Nigella Lawson lied to her ex-husband about her drug use and the expenditure incurred by the defendants," their lawyer, Anthony Metzer, said.
Lawson "was fearful of Mr. Saatchi's reaction if he knew about the extent of the expenditure and drug use," Metzer added. "There was a culture of secrecy within Nigella Lawson's marriage." RELATED: CHARLES SAATCHI TO DIVORCE CHEF NIGELLA LAWSON
But if Saatchi's account is true, "Lawson is a habitual criminal," Metzer added.
Prosecutor Jane Carpenter, however, contends the Grillos were ripping off Saatchi long before the allegations about Lawson's drug use surfaced.
Earlier, an embarrassing email from Saatchi to Lawson was released in which he referred to his ex as "Highgella" and said she was "so off her head on drugs."
Team Lawson has called the drug allegations against the domestic diva "totally scurrilous" and untrue.
csiemaszko@nydailynews.com
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