Is Nigella Lawson's food empire crumbling?

Celebrity chef Nigella Lawson is allegedly opting to voluntarily liquidate her TV company Pabulum Productions.

According to a report in Britain's Daily Mail, Nigella is "the sole director" of her production company and will receive an estimated A$4.13 million ($4.7 million) if the liquidation of its assets are finalised and once taxes are settled.

Nigella, who embarked on a tour of New Zealand and Australia earlier this year, has not remarked on her current financial situation. A spokesperson for the star also wouldn't comment.

The 56-year-old has been an onscreen TV star since her debut show Nigella Bites came out in the UK in 1999, but has seen her market value wane with a slump in ratings in recent years.

Her US cookery competition show The Taste was axed by ABC last year after three seasons, and her latest BBC series Simply Nigella was ridiculed by fans for instructing them how best to make simple recipes such as avocado on toast.

Talking to the Toronto Sun about the avocado incident Nigella said: "To be charitable, I think I was being wilfully misunderstood. But it doesn't really matter to me."

It is speculated that Nigella, who is also known as the Domestic Goddess, is trying to get her finances in order after her bitter public divorce from art dealer Charles Saatchi in 2013.

The pair split up after Charles' behaviour was deemed "unreasonable" after he was pictured grasping his then wife's throat outside a London seafood restaurant.

Appearing in court at the time, Nigella remarked that creating tolerable conditions for herself and her children were her priority after freeing herself from "a brilliant but brutal man".

This isn't the first time financial matters have concerned the star - in 2013 she accused her personal assistants Elisabeth and Francesca Grillo of fraudulently going on a spending spree using Charles' credit cards. However, they were later acquitted in court.

-AAP