MasterChef Gregg

We’ve got recipe for the perfect bromance

Emma Pryer He’s been divorced three times but MasterChef’s Gregg Wallace says his “TV marriage” to John Torode is one of the best in his life.

The star, who is gearing up for his fourth wedding next month, has revealed how his co-presenter helped him through a messy divorce and a custody battle for his kids.

On Friday, the pair will judge the final episode of BBC cooking series Celebrity MasterChef – which sees former EastEnder Sid Owen, TV news anchor Louise Minchin, actor Alexis Conran and singing legend Jimmy Osmond battle it out for the trophy.

Gregg, 51, who has known best pal John for 22 years, said: “We are definitely like an old married couple.

“Sometimes we’re perfectly harmonious and sometimes we niggle each other but our friendship has been going a long time.

“He is definitely one of my most successful relationships. It’s the closest I’ve ever had with a man.”

Despite bickering over dishes during 12 years on the hit series together, they’ve never come to blows.

Instead, Gregg says John has helped nurse him through two of the lowest ebbs in his life.

Next month, he marries 29-year-old Anne-Marie Sterpini and John will be his best man. The couple met on Twitter after she asked him a question about rhubarb.

His first marriage, in 1991, lasted just six weeks. He later married a pastry chef, Denise, and had two children – Tom, 21, and Libby, 18 – but the couple divorced after 14 years.

Most recently, Gregg went on to marry and divorce a biology teacher called Heidi within 18 months.

He said: “John’s been there for me through some of the hardest times.

“The breakdown of my marriage to Heidi and the custody battle with my children were both very difficult. But I’m in a good place now.

“John’s natura l ly intuitive. He just knows if I’m having an off day.

“We are very comfortable with one another.”