In the TV series Downton Abbey, Lesley Nicol plays grumpy but lovable cook Mrs. Patmore, but in real life, she's doing anything but cook in her new chalet-style villa in Hollywood.
"I'm having the best time of my life," Nicol told the Daily Mail. "I certainly wasn't cooking. I've not cooked Christmas dinner since 1982. People are always asking me for recipes. I tried to do a prawn pilaf the other day but added brown rice instead of white and ended up with prawn grit."
She moved to Los Angeles in August after filming the final episodes of Downton's fifth series and the Christmas special with her husband of seven years, Da'aboth, and their two dogs.
"I've been seeing friends and going for walks along the beach with my dogs and have a paddle in the ocean," shared Nicol. "Coming eyeball to eyeball with a hummingbird on my terrace is as exciting to me as any celebrity I've met as a result of Downton Abbey."