Actress Lisa Faulkner said she never reads any stories about her marriage with husband John Torode, who has been sacked from MasterChef after being accused of using a racist term
Lisa Faulkner has opened up about her marriage with axed MasterChef host John Torode.
The 59-year-old chef has been fired from the BBC cooking show after being accused of using an “extremely offensive racist term” – which he has denied. The BBC has said Torode’s contract would “not be renewed” after the complaint against him was upheld.
The TV chef has been married to actress Lisa Faulkner since 2019. The pair also co-host their ITV cooking show, John and Lisa’s Weekend Kitchen – which ITV has decided to keep on screens despite the MasterChef scandal.
Lisa has revealed she never reads anything about her and John’s six-year marriage. Before he was axed by the BBC, she told the Mirror: “I don’t read anything about us, I certainly don’t have Google alerts set up or anything.
“We have a bit of banter but it’s never sniping at each other. We’re just kind to each other, we get on and we look out for each other.”
John and Lisa first met on Celebrity MasterChef in 2010 – but it started off as a friendship. At the time, John was married to Jessica Thomas, who he split from in 2011.
Lisa admitted he was scared of John at first given his expertise in the kitchen. She said: “He was a judge on a show I loved and I was petrified of him. He was brilliant and gave us all tips so you didn’t want to let him down,” adding: “All I could think was, ‘That sauce hasn’t worked’. I didn’t see anything but food for three months.
“After I won, we did The Good Food Show and stuff. John and I always got on, but I never thought about me and him.” Lisa shared with the Daily Mail in 2013 how their friendship turned into romance after John sent her a letter and invited her out.
She explained: “John and I were friends. Neither of us thought of it as anything else until… I don’t know how things change, but something does. He asked me on a date. We went out for dinner.
“Then it was slightly different. I’m really, really happy. John and I are having such a nice time but we’re taking things slowly. There are lots of other people to consider.”
John revealed he wrote Lisa a letter – and believes it was a “cowardly” way to ask her out on a date. He told the Daily Mail: “I’d separated from my wife [Jessica] which was awful, and I was reluctant to approach Lisa face to face as I didn’t fancy the prospect of her saying no, so I wrote her a letter.
“If I’d got no response, it wouldn’t matter. Cowardly? S***, yeah. I’m as cowardly as they get.”
Revealing how their marriage works so well, John said: “A really well-made bed. You spend lots of time in it! Honestly, the bedroom – having that sanctuary of a place to go to, I think that’s really important. And nice towels… Looking after yourself is as important as looking after each other.”
The love between the couple is undeniable, with Lisa confessing in a chat: “We really like and fancy each other!” Lisa shared her pride for her spouse when he received his MBE from the Prince of Wales at Buckingham Palace.
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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
