Masterchef extraordinaire and TV personality Nigella Lawson and art collector Charles Saatchi have decided to divorce, say news reports.

The decision to end their nuptual agreement comes a few weeks after the couple were seen having a 'playful tiff',I where Nigella's 74-year-old husband grabbed her by the neck in a restaurant terrace in london, reports say.

Nigella and her husband. have decided to separate. after ten years of marriage.

Although Saatchi described holding Nigella by the throat was not serious, he was told by the police to use caution after pictures of the assault went public in the media.

He accepted the request. He told reporters that Nigella had acted in a similar fashion on another occassion. He explained that he was disappointed that his wife did not defend his action, and that he had never physically abused her. Saatchi added that he did not believe in any kind of aggression towards women.

The couple got married after Nigella's first husband died of cancer - she has two children from the marriage.

Both Lawson and Saatchi are millionnaires and there have been no claims made in the divorce proceedings.

Nigella is represented by Fiona Shackleton, who settled a break up for Sir Paul McCartney and Heather Mills. Shackleton will work on Nigella's behalf in order to complete the proceedings in a "swift and amicable" fashion, reports Sky News.

According to a statement filed for the couple, "A divorce will proceed on the undefended basis, the decree nisi is to be pronounced on 31 July, and neither party will be making any financial claims against the other," Agence France Presse reports.

Saatchi has represented himself in the case.

The statement also said, "Both parties would appreciate privacy for themselves and their children at this difficult time," reports the Mail.

Saatchi told the media that the move for a divorce was a "heartbreaking" decision. He added that Nigella and he had drifted apart recently and that "he had been a disappointment to his wife."

He continued to say, "I abhor violence of any kind against women, and have never abused her physically in any way."

Lawson' s earlier mariage was to journalist John Diamond.