The millionaire husband of British chef Nigella Lawson has admitted to police he assaulted his wife during an argument at a restaurant last week, after initially dismissing the incident as "a playful tiff." Over the weekend, photographs surfaced of Charles Saatchi, 70, grabbing his wife's throat with one hand a total of four times and also pinching her nose. Lawson left the restaurant in tears. A hilarious brunch!

The Evening Standard reports that Saatchi was interviewed by police for four hours yesterday, and ultimately accepted a police caution for assault. The art collector told the Standard that "although Nigella made no complaint," he went to the police station voluntarily to accept the formal warning, "because I thought it was better than the alternative of this hanging over all of us for months." In England and Wales, a caution serves as an alternative to prosecution. The caution will remain on Saatchi's record, but the police will not pursue further action.

Lawson's spokesman confirmed Monday that the chef had left the couple's shared residence with their children. Saatchi says he "told Nigella to take the kids off till the dust settled." He's got a ton of great ideas.

[Evening Standard // Image via Getty]

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