“I literally expected to be there for the two days,” the 46-year-old former EastEnders actress recalled. “The first engagement fee is literally you get two days that you’ve got to be in for. They say, ‘You will definitely do two days.’ And I thought, well, I’ll definitely be out after the second day, it’s two days.
“At the time I took about three other jobs on at the same time!” she admitted.
“I said yes to an acting job, a presenting job and a voiceover job thinking that I wasn’t going to be working and then I had to juggle because I ended up getting through and getting through.
“But I had no idea it was going to end up like that,” she added.
Lisa Faulkner said she completed all three jobs despite going on to make it all the way to the MasterChef final and being crowned champion.
“It was great fun but crazy and I was obsessed with food so I was trying to work out menus and recipes while learning lines and doing other interviews and things,” she said.
“But, you know what? Sometimes you have to have those times where you say yes to something and it’s scary and a lot of work. But it was great and it paid off.”
Lisa recently revealed her partner John Torode, 53, had proposed on Christmas Day.
She shared the news with her 128,000 followers on Instagram, uploading a smitten snap which showed her and the MasterChef judge beaming for the camera as she flashed her sparkling engagement ring.
“My gorgeous John completely surprised me on Christmas Day and asked me to marry him!” she said.
“After waiting to tell our family when we got home we then had a few days just grinning at each other!
“I’m so very happy to share our lovely news with you,” she gushed. “Happy 2019, it’s going to be quite a year and I’m going to embrace every minute of it.
“All you need is love. Love is all you need,” the blonde beauty quipped.
Lisa has recently teamed up with Ceder’s non-alcoholic gin in order to launch their “Alt-Jan” movement.
“What I loved about the Ceder’s campaign was that it wasn’t all about going, ‘We have to be Dry January and it’s all very depressing,’” she said.. “It was an uplifting, mindful January that, if you wanted to do a Dry January, then Ceder’s was going to help you through it with different hints and tips.
“What I think a lot of people struggle with is the ritual of having a drink, wanting to feel that if they were with other people that were drinking that they weren’t the outcast,” Lisa continued.
She called Ceder’s a “non-alcoholic gin that tastes like gin”.
“You do it exactly the same in a nice glass, lots of ice and tonic and cucumber and herbs and you make it a special event to have that drink,” she explained.
“I drank it on New Year’s Eve and I liked the fact that I could have a proper alcoholic gin and tonic and then I could swap to the Ceder’s and nobody was any the wiser!”
Speaking about her favourite non-alcoholic cocktail recipe with the Alt-Gin, she added: “They do a crisp one which has got cucumber and chamomile in it as well and it’s just delicious and I do cucumber in it and a bit of mint or rosemary and some lemon and it’s really refreshing and just gorgeous.”
Lisa Faulkner has teamed up with CEDER’S Alt-Gin to launch its Alt-Jan Movement, promoting mindful drinking this January. For more information and tips, follow@CEDERS_AltGin on Instagram or visit www.ceders-alt-gin.com for delicious alt-cocktail recipes.