John Torode’s wife Lisa, 48, revealed to Radio Times that she barely spoke to the Australian judge when she competed on Celebrity MasterChef in 2010. The Holby City actress opened up on the couple’s awkward start on the programme, and how the TV chef knew he wanted to pursue a relationship with her.
Lisa recalled how she spoke about “15 words” to John when they worked together on the BBC show a decade ago.
After filming wrapped on the cooking contest, they had both split from their respective partners.
This prompted John to formally ask the TV star out on a date, via a letter.
“I was surprised,” she admitted.
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However, Lisa did not spurn the chef’s affections and was bowled over by the sweet gesture.
“I knew we’d had a couple of nice times where we met, chatted, had fun and talked a lot
“So we were friends, and it didn’t come out of the blue.
“I thought it was a very gentlemanly thing to do, a letter,” she added.
Meanwhile he maintained that he would not enjoy filming in their busy household.
The couple have five children between them – Lisa has an adopted daughter Billie, 14, and John has older children Marcel and Casper from a previous relationship, and two children with his ex-wife: Jonah, 12, and Lulu, ten.
He said: “To cook in our own kitchen is hard enough with home schooling and everything else. For our show we’re doing eight recipes a day.
“We couldn’t physically do it,” he added.