Nadia Lim: Biography, Age, Ethnicity, Parents, Husband, Books

June 13, 2024 Off By Chloe Lee

Nadia Lim (born 21 December 1985) is a New Zealand chef, entrepreneur, food writer, and TV personality.

Lim has done food writing with a weekly column for The Sunday Star Times and NZ Herald. She has appeared on television as a judge of two food shows – My Kitchen Rules and MasterChef New Zealand.

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Nadia Lim
Nadia Lim trained as a dietician and nutritionist at the University of Otago.
Quick Facts
Name:	Nadia Rui-chi Lim
Born:	21 December 1985 (age 38 years old)
Place of birth:	Auckland, New Zealand
Nationality:	New Zealander
Parents:	Julie Ken Lim (mother), Ken Lim (father)
Siblings:	Jason (brother), Jasmin (sister)
Education:	Nutrition and dietetics
Alma mater:	Otago University
Occupation:	Dietician, Chef
Spouse:	Carlos Bagrie (m. 2012)
Children:	3
Website:	www.nadialim.com

Early life

Nadia Rui-chi Lim was born on 21 December 1985 in Auckland, North Island, New Zealand. She is of New Zealander and Malaysian heritage. At six, she moved to the Capital of Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur, until she was 12.

Lim fell in love with cooking during her school years. She loved to hold dinner parties for friends and began to pen her recipes in a notebook. She has a brother, Jason, and a sister, Jasmin.

Education

Nadia Lim studied nutrition and dietetics for five years at Otago University.

Career

Nadia Lim farm — *MasterChef NZ winner-turned-judge Nadia Lim has a farm. Within a year of acquiring, they began to diversify the operation.*

After graduating, Lim worked as a diabetes dietitian for a few years. She was a clinical dietitian specializing in diabetes at the Auckland District Health Board (2008-2011).

Lim entered and cooked her way to the top of the show MasterChef New Zealand in 2011.

Her show, New Zealand with Nadia Lim, was commissioned by the Asian Food Channel in 2014. The eight-part show was to create awareness of the food and culture of New Zealand to Asian viewers.

Lim launched the NADIA magazine to share her inspirations on family, food, and life in 2016. She was a guest judge on My Kitchen Rules New Zealand, aired on TV ONE in 2014 and on TV TWO in 2015. She appeared in the reboot series in 2017 and 2018.

Nadia entered Dancing with the Stars NZ in 2019, reached the semi-finals, and appeared in her series Nadia’s Comfort Kitchen in 2020. She was a judge in series seven of MasterChef New Zealand in 2022.

Lim and her husband, Carlos, participated in the series Nadia’s Farm in 2022. She is a co-founder and ambassador of the New Zealand home delivery service My Food Bag. The company made a profit of $20 million (after tax) in the year to May 2022.

Nadia has worked with many New Zealand charities and organizations. She partnered with Diabetes New Zealand, the Cancer Society, the Heart Foundation, the Blind Foundation, and others.

It has an organic market garden, pasture-raised, free-range eggs, and honey operations. They also grow spray-free crops such as sunflowers, legumes, and cereals.

Nadia’s Kitchen has written 11 cookbooks and two children’s books. Random House released her first cookbook, Nadia’s Kitchen, in 2012.

In 2013, she released Nadia Lim’s Good Food Cookbook. The book is her second best-selling and was the runner-up at the 2014 International Gourmand Cookbook of the Year awards.

In 2019, Lim released another cookbook, Vegful, which was the runner-up for the best Vegetarian cookbook in the world. She released a children’s book, Marvellous Marvin, in 2020. She won the Supreme Women Award at the 2024 Women in Food & Drink Awards.

Nadia Lim is the author of many cookbooks. Here are some of her work.

Nadia’s Kitchen (2012)
Nadia Lim’s Good Food Cookbook (2013)
Easy Week Night Meals (2014)
Fresh Start Cookbook (2015)
What’s for Dinner? (2016)
Dinner Time Goodness (2017)
Let’s Eat! (2017)
Family Favourites (2018)
Fresh Start, Feel Good (2018)
Vegful (2019)
Nadia’s Comfort Kitchen (2020)
Marvellous Marvin (2020)

Personal life

Nadia Lim and Carlos Bagrie married on the Karikari peninsula in Northland in 2012. They met while studying at Otago University and have been together ever since. They have three children – Bodhi, River, and Arlo.

Lim welcomed her third child, Arlo Fox Bagrie, in February 2023. She earlier suffered a miscarriage at 13 weeks pregnant in October 2021. She later found out that the embryo had died at nine weeks’ gestation.

After one year, Lim announced her pregnancy, posting an ultrasound picture and her growing baby bump on Instagram. She had a terrifying ski accident that left her with a fractured vertebra.

Nadia lost her father, Ken Lim, to cancer in 2014.