John: Lisa’s easy to work with despite my kitchen calamities
TELLY chef John Torode has revealed the recipe for the success of his latest show – and it’s not Gregg Wallace.
The Australian, 54, and wife Lisa Faulkner, 48, have cooked up a ratings winner for ITV with their show, John and Lisa’s Weekend Kitchen, now in its fourth series.
But despite still working with Gregg, 55, on BBC’s MasterChef he is in no doubt which of his onscreen partners he prefers.
He said: “I live with and love Lisa. She is easy to live and work with, so that means you soften a little.
“Weekend Kitchen is a very different thing altogether and I’m pleased about that. It isn’t telling people they have to be the best cook in the world.”
Despite enjoying an on-screen chemistry with Gregg, John has previously revealed they would disagree over contestants on the MasterChef set and sometimes it would get heated.
He said: “It’s funny, we’ve never been friends. We’ve not been to each other’s houses. Once, we had a bit too much to drink and filming got called off.
“We ended up having a massive fight about one of the contestants and he got really stubborn – it was ridiculous.
“We’ve had a couple of stand-offs over the years about contestants and I’ve just had to walk away from him.”
John met Lisa, 48, on Celebrity MasterChef in 2010, which the EastEnders actress won.
During that series they barely spoke to one another and it was not until months laterafter they had met at an event that John wrote to Lisa to ask her out.
They dated for five years before marrying at a countryside wedding at Aynhoe Park, Northants, last October. Both have children from previous relationships.
Lisa has an adopted daughter, Billie, 14, while John has grown-up children Marcel and Casper from a previous relationship and two children with ex-wife Jessica – Jonah, 12, and Lulu, ten.
Speaking about how the pair were coping with lockdown, John told the Radio Times: “We’re doing pretty well, considering we have been next to each other non-stop for nine weeks and then doing a TV show together.”
Lisa has also taken to social media during the lockdown to express how well they are getting on.
Last month, she uploaded a picture of them together and said: “I feel so very blessed because I have been in lockdown with this man every single day.”
But it does not always go to plan for John, who recently exploded hot sauce across his kitchen and set fire to a tea towel while cooking live on This Morning.
He added: “Because of the twosecond delay, I couldn’t hear Phillip Schofield and Holly Willoughby panicking immediately.
“It’s a good lesson, though. You shouldn’t have something on the stove and turn your back on it – and don’t put a tea towel near the stove.”