Baffling Photo of the Day: Why is Nigella Lawson Wearing a Burkini?

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Celebrity chef Nigella Lawson has become well-known over the years for not only her comfort-food cooking, but for how she embraces her zaftig figure—never shying away from a camera, a skin-baring dress, a curve-hugging fabric. This is the woman who single-handedly reinvented the category of cooking show—and turned it into (and we mean this in the most adulatory, flattering, complementary way possible) gastroporn.

So why is Lawson wearing a head-to-toe burkini (that's burqa + bikini) on the beach? She's not in the Middle East or a conservative country—she's on Bondi Beach in Sydney, Australia. It's not, like, cold or anything. The Telegraph reports that it was about 70 degrees, which isn't exactly balmy, but doesn't really call for this sort of covering-up. The paper proposes two possible explanations:

Subsequent pondering on this rather odd scenario then leads to two explanations:

1: Ms Lawson is the proud purveyor of an English rose complexion, and will go to extreme lengths to ensure that this is not compromised. (Apparently, fellow pale-skinned beauty, burlesque star Dita Von Teese, will only take to the swimming pool on holiday at night, so loathe is she to catch a tan.)

2: We all know that finger-licking, bowl-scraping Nigella doesn't count calories, and while she won't beat herself up about her shape and size, she is making certain that no one else will through the art of disguise. Need I recall how TV presenter Fern Britton responded to pictures of her on the beach surfacing in the tabloids? (Answer: gastric band.)

Why do you think Nigella Lawson's donned a burkini for Bondi Beach?
· Nigella’s Burkini fails to get the fashion ‘seal’ of approval [Telegraph]