Lisa Faulkner: ‘Self-isolating is really weird’
Lisa Faulkner is self-isolating and speaking out frankly on social media about her experience. Here, the actressturned-chef talks about how life is working out with her MasterChef hubby, John Torode, and daughter Billie
Like a lot of us, former EastEnders star Lisa Faulker is currently re-organising her life, so she can selfisolate with her family – and says she is finding it all a bit ‘ weird’.
To cope, she admitted: ‘It’s the little things like having a cup of tea in bed with my husband, before we start our day. Chatting and planning what we can do, how we can help.’
She’s trying to stay active, too: ‘I did some meditation first, then I did some yoga. I’ve been really quiet and the house is really quiet. John’s doing the garden.’
The 48-year-old mumof-one who, like so many of us, is worrying about elderly relatives she can’t visit, shares her North London home with adopted daughter Billie, 14, John, 54, and the family’s two dogs, Otto and Rory. Here she talks about marriage, motherhood and – rather handily now we’re all home and testing out new recipes – what it’s like cooking dinner with a chef…
HOMEBIRD HOBBIES
It might not be everyone’s idea of relaxing but Billie and I are both big fans of horror films! My main form of exercise is yoga, in my pyjamas. My sister is a yoga teacher, which is handy! It makes me feel instantly calm.
WOMAN’S BEST FRIEND
I enjoy hanging out with our gorgeous miniature schnauzers, Otto and Rory. I can feel low quite easily, but sometimes being able to see the sky helps me to realise that there’s something out there that’s much bigger than my little world.
FOOD, GLORIOUS FOOD
Everyone always asks who does the cooking in our house. We do it together. It’s funny, because my auntie recently said that it’s like watching us on our TV show, John & Lisa’s Weekend Kitchen. He does one thing, I do another, and we just chat. Day to day, we eat normal food like anybody else. We have spag Bol, pasta bakes and fish once a week. Sometimes, it’s really hard to get inspired about cooking.
But then other times, I’ll read a recipe book and become really excited. John is the chef and I’m the cook. Generally, I’m a big fan of anything I can put in one pot! If I name it, John can make it. I can say, ‘I want a steak,’ and he’ll concoct something amazing. And he loves my roast dinners.
MORE TIME WITH JOHN
We’re still saying, ‘ hello husband’ and ‘ hello wife’ to one another. We’ve always looked after each other, but it does feel different now; like security. It makes me feel really warm inside. John and I are both romantics. When he went away before Christmas, he left me a card underneath my pillow saying, ‘Go to the spare room’, where there was a box, and inside was a Liberty advent calendar. I hide notes in his shoes and socks when he goes away, too, so he can find them when he’s unpacking.
BEING A MUM
My path to motherhood hasn’t been smooth… I was 31, when my ex-husband, Chris, and I decided to adopt. We signed up to adoption charity Coram and went through numerous assessments. In 2008, Billie, then 15 months old, came to live with us. She was like a little pixie. She was beautiful. I remember the exact moment
I fell in love with Billie. We’d fostered her before the adoption paperwork went through meaning, during that time, there was a chance she wouldn’t be able to stay with us for ever. I had been trying to protect myself, keeping a certain distance. But, one day, I was singing Incy Wincy Spider with her and she kept saying, ‘Again, again.’ She took her dummy out, put it on my nose and I just thought, ‘That’s it, I’m gone.’ Billie is 14 now, and I’m in awe of her. She’s strong, kind and funny. She’s very much her own person. She often says to me, ‘Aren’t you pleased the IVF didn’t work, because you got me?’ And I am. I will always hold her hand, through every twist and turn in life. My book,
Meant To Be: My Journey To Motherhood, isn’t just about adoption. It’s about the journey and how to get through it, for people experiencing that period when life hasn’t worked out how they imagined; perhaps asking, ‘ What’s next?’ Billie was my happy ending. Meant To Be: My Journey To Motherhood (Ebury Press) by Lisa Faulkner is out now.