She can stand the heat in any kitchen but one sign of a spook in a house and Celebrity MasterChef champ Lisa Faulkner will run a mile.
The former EastEnders and, er Spooks, star had a ghostly encounter in her childhood. And she has even banned herself from watching horror movies to stop getting carried away.
Lisa says: “I’m obsessed with ghosts.
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“I was at a friend’s house when I was 17 and saw a shadow out of the corner of my eye – this person walked past me.
“I said to my friend, ‘Is that your dad?’ but there was no-one in the house, we looked around.
“And I wasn’t drinking! I never went to her house again.”
So in tune with the paranormal, Lisa, who is married to MasterChef judge John Torode, even vetted her current home for unusual activity before committing to buying it.
“I can walk into a house and tell if it has a funny feeling,” insists Lisa. “I said before we put an offer in I need to go in the day, evening and at night as I had to check I was fine with being left alone – and it was OK.”
Now better known now for whipping up family-friendly feasts and warm chat on ITV1’s John and Lisa’s Weekend Kitchen, the star – who has also appeared in Brookside and Holby City – is still passionate about acting.
But after turning 50 this year she feels more needs to be done in terms of equality for older women on screen.
Lisa says: “I love acting and have done a bit in the new series of Waterloo Road.
(Image: PA)
“There are very few parts for women of a certain age, yet a lot of women over 50 watch a lot of TV and want to be represented.
“It’s a very difficult, competitive market – I hope it will get better.”
Coming up through the industry Lisa has been supported by a strong group of female friends also in showbiz, including Angela Griffin and Nicola Stapleton.
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She says: “We’ve such an amazing group – Angela and Nicola are my best friends.
“We all have kids, relationships and everybody needs a support network.”
Lisa recently presented a National Lottery Award to Sal Chebbah who won the Environment category.
The National Lottery Awards are the annual search for the UK’s favourite National Lottery-funded projects and celebrate the inspirational people and projects who do extraordinary things with National Lottery funding. Thanks to National Lottery players, more than £30 million is raised for good causes every week.
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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
