Nigella Lawson makes her judging debut in first trailer for The Great British Bake Off amid claims she 'isn't getting on too well' with Paul Hollywood

Nigella Lawson has made her judging debut in the first trailer for The Great British Bake Off. 

Viewers were thrilled to see the British chef, 66, join hosts Alison Hammond, Noel Fielding and fellow judge Paul Hollywood in the clip to promote the upcoming series, which will air next month. 

Nigella was said to have been brought in to spice up the show after it lost 500,000 viewers during the last series. 

However, it emerged last month that Nigella and Paul haven't exactly hit it off and she is finding his helicopter rides to work a bit 'gauche'. Read the full Mail+ report here.

In the clip, filmed in the famous tent, Paul eyes-up the camera with a fork in hand. 

Before he goes to scoop up what he sees, Noel states: 'Not so fast, blue eyes.'

Alison then comes into view and says: 'Ladies first,' to which Nigella makes her presence known by clearing her throat. 

She then pushes the others out the way, whips out her fork and looks down the camera lens. 

Fans reacted to the scenes and wrote: 'What an entrance'; 'Come on Nigella, show them who's boss. Cannot wait'; 'Make way for the queen' and 'The only way to get over the summer blues is GBBO!'  

Despite rumours of a rift, Nigella and Paul initially appeared to be getting along famously as they left Bake Off fans in stitches with a smouldering selfie shared in April. The TV chef – who took on the role for series 17 – shared a hilarious April Fools' joke with her 3.1million followers.

Nigella posed next to Paul, 60, in a stunning selfie to joke her joining as a judge in the much-loved Channel 4 show was all a sham, and was in fact a cover for a secret project.

She looked amazing in a white blazer with smokey eyes and loose waves in her hair, while Paul rocked a white shirt and black jacket in the picture.  

'AN ANNOUNCEMENT: I know you were led to believe that I would be joining @paul.hollywood on The Great British Bake Off but, as you can clearly see, we are in fact a hard-bitten, seen-it-all detective (PH) and a lugubrious forensic pathologist (NL) solving crimes in the Ruhr Valley,' Nigella wrote in the caption. 'My hair and make up by @triciamakeupartist; Paul's his own!'

Many fans rushed to the comments section to share how much they loved the post. 'A bake-off-based detective show would be the cosy crime event of the century'; 'Fantastic!; 'April 1st? How I wish this was true.'; 'I would watch that!' Another simply added three laughing emojis. 

Baking competition show Bake Off hit our screens in 2010. Paul has been a judge on the show since it started 16 years ago, and he was originally joined by Mary Berry when the programme aired on BBC until 2016.

In 2017, Prue Leith joined the team when the show moved to Channel 4. But in January it was confirmed Nigella would be the next Great British Bake Off judge following Prue announcing she was stepping down after nine years.

Nigella admitted being daunted by the big shoes she had to fill, following two 'great dames' in Prue and original judge Dame Mary Berry. 

She said in a statement: 'I'm uncharacteristically rather lost for words right now. Of course it's daunting to be following in the footsteps of Prue Leith and Mary Berry before her, great dames both, but I'm also bubbling with excitement.

'The Great British Bake Off is more than a television programme, it's a National Treasure – and it's a huge honour to be entrusted with it.'

She added: 'I'm just thrilled to be joining the team and all the new bakers to come, I wish the marvellous Prue all the best, and am giddily grateful for the opportunity!'

• READ MORE: ‘Nigella thinks it’s all rather cringe’: How 'gauche' Paul Hollywood's £500,000 toy is curdling relations with his posh new Bake Off co-star as insiders tell KATIE HIND they ‘aren’t really getting on too well’