MasterChef judge John Torode may be straight talking on the show but when it comes to matters of the heart, he's a bit more bashful.
John, 59, is married to actress Lisa Faulkner, with the couple presenting John and Lisa's Weekend Kitchen on ITV.
Both of them have been married before, Lisa to Chris Coghill, who played Tony King in EastEnders. They share adopted daughter, Billie. John was previously married to a woman called Jessica and they have a son and daughter together.
John and Lisa, 52, met when she was a contestant on Celebrity MasterChef in 2010, first becoming firm friends before love blossomed. John and Jessica separated in 2011 but they didn't initially divorce until 2014, when their union was reportedly dissolved in a matter of seconds at the High Court.
While John and Lisa hit it off immediately, remaining friends after filming, Lisa insists there was nothing romantic between them at first. "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," she said. "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."
Revealing how they eventually got together, Lisa told the Daily Mail in 2013 that everything changed after John wrote her a letter and asked her out to dinner. "John and I were friends. Neither of us thought of it as anything else until..." she said. "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 has since confessed that his letter for Lisa was 'cowardly' but it meant that there would be no awkwardness for him if she didn't want to date him. 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."
Image:
BBC)But things worked out in his favour and they began dating. The couple tied the knot in October 2019 and previously shared the secret to a happy marriage, insisting that it is a properly made bed. Asked what makes their marriage work, John, 57, 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."
Although it probably helps that the pair have undeniable chemistry - as Lisa said in an interview: "We really like and fancy each other!" And Lisa has most recently shared how proud she is of her husband, who in February accepted his MBE from the Prince of Wales at Buckingham Palace, before celebrating with a fancy meal. "I was really proud of John," she told OK Magazine. "It's an amazing achievement and the fact he got to meet Prince William! Out of everybody in the royal family, that's who I'd have liked to have met!"
English (US) ·