Kim Bagley: from social media to bestseller

FOOD content creator and author Kim Bagley was overcome with emotion when she learned her debut publication, Cooking with Kim Bagley: A South African Fusion of Flavours, had become the country’s top-selling cookbook — just three weeks after its release.

- TARA ISAACS

Bagley received the news moments before her first Cape Town - based book launch, hosted by Exclusive Books at Canal Walk.

Expecting her book to still be ranked at number 67, as it had been two weeks prior, she was stunned when her team revealed it had climbed to the number one spot.

She jumped and squealed with joy as Bagley proudly held up a rose-gold balloon shaped like the number one.

Applause and cheers filled the bookstore, echoing down the mall's corridors as she made her entrance.

Well-known chef, food stylist and presenter Clement Pedro conducted an onstage Q&A with Bagley, discussing her journey, inspiration, and the creation of her much-anticipated cookbook.

Bagley describes herself as “a Cape Town-born girl,” who married a man from Durban, and raised her children in Johannesburg — experiences that inspired the fusion theme of her book.