STRAIGHT-TALKING TV chef John Torode stood by his wife when she made an allegation against his shamed co-star Gregg Wallace – and now it's her turn to support him.
Last December actress Lisa Faulkner, 53, claimed that axed judge Wallace made "rude joke after rude joke" during her stint on Celebrity Masterchef in 2010.
At the time insiders claimed Wallace was devastated that his on-screen partner did not publicly speak out to support him – and he un-followed the couple on Instagram as the rift deepened.
Today it's emerged John, 59, has also been AXED from the hugely popular BBC cooking show after he was accused of making a racist remark.
The news came after a report upheld 45 allegations of inappropriate behaviour against Wallace, who was fired last week following a seven month investigation.
The pair have worked side by side for almost 20 years, but now it's rumoured Wallace will be replaced by food critic Grace Dent.
It has been a tough time on and off screen for Australian-born John, whose colourful love life has not always been smooth sailing either.
He has been married three times, and has four children.
John shares sons Casper and Marselle with his first wife Angela, but they very much shy away from the spotlight.
He is also dad to Lou and Jonah from his second marriage to Jessica Thomas, with whom he tied the knot in 2000.
When Lisa appeared as a contestant on Celebrity Masterchef they were both married to other people, and initially their relationship was purely platonic.
Lisa was still married to actor Chris Coghill, 50, who played Tony King in EastEnders, and the couple had adopted a daughter, Billie, in 2006, when she was 17 months old.
But in 2011, a year after she was crowned Masterchef champion, Lisa and Chris decided to separate – the same year that John and Jessica also split.
Last year Lisa opened up about the "very dark time" in her life when she and Chris, who divorced in 2014, went through three rounds of failed IVF and suffered an ectopic pregnancy.
Both Torode and Lisa have repeatedly denied there was any initial attraction between them, insisting they were just good friends at first.
Lisa 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. All I could think was, 'That sauce hasn't worked'.
He was a judge on a show I loved and I was petrified of him
Lisa Faulkner
"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 claimed she and John actually met for the first time on This Morning almost 20 years earlier, when Lisa was a guest and John was cooking, but said he didn't remember.
"He didn't remember me at all. He used to say: 'Oh, all right, yeah,' like he didn't believe me," Lisa said.
"And then he did an interview on This Morning where they showed the clip and he came home and said, 'I did meet you!' And I went, 'I know, I did tell you.'
"I remembered it so well. It's really funny. He said he was nervous because it was his first time on telly. I thought he just seemed really arrogant."
Love letter
Their simmering friendship eventually blossomed into romance when, newly single, John sent Lisa a romantic handwritten letter inviting her out for dinner.
"Neither of us thought of it as anything else until… I don't know how things change, but something does," Lisa admitted at the time.
"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."
Lisa previously told Good Housekeeping they took things really slowly because of Billie, and "also because I'd been through the end of a marriage".
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
Lisa Faulkner
"We had a child and I felt I'd failed in something I never wanted to fail at," she explained. "I never give up on anything, so when you do have to accept that something didn't work, starting a new relationship is a big leap of faith."
Torode has since confessed he sent Lisa the letter because he feared she might turn him down and wanted to avoid any awkwardness.
He explained: "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."
Secret to happy marriage
Although John and Jessica called it quits in 2011, their divorce was not finalised until 2014.
He proposed to Lisa on Christmas Day in 2018 and they married in October 2019 in a lavish star-studded ceremony at Aynhoe Park, a sprawling 17th century estate in the Northamptonshire countryside.
Guests included showbiz pals Amanda Holden, Angela Griffin and Tamzin Outhwaite – as well as Gregg Wallace and his wife Anne-Marie.
Asked the secret to their happy marriage, Torode said it all comes down to the bedroom.
"A really well-made bed," he joked. "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."
But Lisa says their happy marriage is all down to the sizzling chemistry between them.
"We really like and fancy each other," Lisa revealed in an interview.
We really like and fancy each other
Lisa Faulkner
"What I love about being married is that it's about being a partnership. John and I are a good team. We know how to look after each other."
Earlier this month John explained how their happy marriage has been constantly evolving over the six years since their wedding.
He said: "Lisa and I learn from each other all the time. As we have been cooking and working together for many years, I am sure things have changed, but as it's been a constant and consistent journey, it's not something that we feel is noticeable.
"What is evident is that we love cooking, food and travel as much as, if not more than, we did when we first met."
Greg Wallace scandal
- Gregg Wallace has today stepped down from MasterChef
- Star faces probe after allegedly making sexual remarks to 13 colleagues
- BBC Newsnight presenter and 2011 contestant Kirsty Wark says Wallace told 'sexualised' jokes while filming
- Gregg accused of talking openly about his sex life, taking his top off in front of a young staffer staffer and telling another he wasn't wearing any pants
- Previous MasterChef episodes presented by scandal-hit Gregg still on iPlayer
- MasterChef star Aasmah Mir shares cryptic 'always keep your receipts' post
- BBC will still air two Masterchef festive specials this Christmas – despite both being fronted by Gregg Wallace
Lisa added: "We're always learning from each other. We often do things differently, so I know I'm always learning something new from John, and I'm sure he would say the same."
The couple present John and Lisa's Weekend Kitchen on ITV, now in its tenth series, with extra episodes planned for Christmas, and they have published several bestselling books.
They often speak about their playful banter, their support for each other's careers, and the simple pleasure of cooking and eating together.
"We just get on, we laugh a lot," Lisa said.
"He's very romantic. We both are. We look after each other. If he's out before me in the morning, he'll leave a cup with a teabag in by the kettle and a note saying, 'I love you.'
He's very romantic. We both are. We look after each other
Lisa Faulkner
"I do the same – I put notes in his bag when he goes away. And he makes me the most amazing food. That's so romantic.
"It's the little things that are important – I love it when we cook for each other. Food is our thing, it's how we show that we love each other."
Pals reckon Lisa has had a positive impact on John, making him "less aggressive".
She previously told Fabulous: "I don't know if arrogance is the right word because I find arrogance quite attractive. He is brash and he knows how good he is at certain things.
"But I think he has got less… aggressive, maybe. He's definitely softened.
"I went to lunch the other day and somebody said, 'Oh my gosh, you've completely turned him around. He was so moody on MasterChef. He was always so grumpy and he's just lovely now.'
"I went: 'OK, I'll take all the credit'."
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