‘I was cowardly!’: John Torode reveals he asked Lisa Faulkner on a date with a letter while she thought he was ‘arrogant’ as they discuss falling in love and navigating their blended family
John Torode and Lisa Faulkner have opened up about their romance and navigating their blended family.
The celebrity chefs, 56 and 49 respectively, wed in 2019 – the second time for them both after their first marriages collapsed.
And in a new interview with The Sunday Times, the culinary duo got candid about their first encounter, cooking and family, with John admitting there has been a ‘black mark’ about when the pair met.
‘We just really, really like each other!’: John Torode and Lisa Faulkner discussed falling in love and navigating their blended family in a tell-all interview with The Sunday Times
The Australian explained how in his version of events, they’d met when Lisa was a contestant on Celebrity MasterChef back in 2010.
Yet unearthed footage from This Morning back in 1996 showed John being introduced as the new chef, while his now-wife was being interviewed on the sofa.
For London-born Lisa, their initial meet on the ITV daytime show had not escaped her memory, as she recalled complimenting one of his dishes and his brusque reply.
Happy: The culinary duo got candid about their first encounter, cooking and family, with John admitting there has been a ‘black mark’ about when the pair met
She regaled that she thought he was arrogant, but that soon changed when their soon-found friendship after MasterChef developed into something more.
Of how he’d been encouraged to ask the Brookside actress on a date, John divulged: ‘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.’
John explained that she’d agreed to a date and from there, everything fell into place, gushing that ‘we just really, really like each other.’
Mix up: The Australian thought they met when Lisa was a contestant on Celebrity MasterChef, but unearthed footage from This Morning back in 1996 showed John being introduced as the new chef, while his now-wife was being interviewed on the sofa (John pictured December 2021)
Lisa, who was sweetly described as extremely generous, very, very kind and calm’ by her husband of two years, explained how they took things slowly due to being married before.
She also quipped he has become ‘less arrogant’ the longer they’ve been together, praising her partner’s caring and inquisitive side and gushing how they love being in each other’s company.
The actress has an adopted daughter, Billie, 16, with ex husband Chris Coghill, while John has four children, Lulu and Jonah with ex wife Jessica, and Casper and Marselle from another relationship.
Second time lucky: Lisa, who was sweetly described as extremely generous, very, very kind and calm’ by her husband of two years, explained how they took things slowly due to being married before
Special day: The celebrity chefs wed in 2019 – the second time for them both after their first marriages collapsed
Old times: John has four children, Lulu and Jonah with ex wife Jessica (pictured October 2010) and Casper and Marselle from another relationship
‘We’re also able to navigate our blended family successfully too, all things considered. It feels very much like a modern family, and everybody bounces off each other. There are certain relationships that are great and certain relationships that at times are not, but that’s what sibling relationships are like,’ John said.
While Lisa added: ‘When the kids were younger, we used to love the movie Blended with Drew Barrymore and Adam Sandler because it reminded us of our family.
‘Sometimes we all get on, sometimes we hate each other, but no one tends to take anything too personally.’
Parents: Lisa has an adopted daughter, Billie, 16, with ex husband Chris Coghill (pictured October 2009)
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