Lisa Faulkner and John Torode got married in 2019 (Image: ITV)
In addition to her successful acting career, Lisa Faulkner is also recognised for her role as a TV chef on ITV. Alongside regularly providing cooking tips on This Morning, she also co-hosted a series with her husband and former MasterChef star John Torode. After starring roles on Holby City, Murdoch Mysteries, EastEnders and Spooks, the 53-year-old took to the plunge and entered Celebrity MasterChef in 2010. There she met John, and after slowly building a relationship, the pair got married in 2019.
However, before embarking on their public relationship, Lisa was previously married to Emmerdale star Chris Coghill, who recently became a fan favourite for his role as Kev Townsend. Despite their glamorous red-carpet appearances, the former couple faced a series of private battles, which ultimately led to the end of their six-year marriage in 2014. Among the many challenges, Lisa and Chris also dealt with infertility and together adopted their daughter, Billie, 19.
Read more: John Torode’s ITV show ‘to be axed’ months after MasterChef sacking
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Lisa Faulkner was previously married to Chris for six years (Image: Getty)
In 2024, Lisa opened up about her previous marriage and detailed the “very dark time” she endured that contributed to the “failed” marriage, after going through three unsuccessful rounds of IVF and an ectopic pregnancy, in a heartbreaking bid to fall pregnant.
“Those years [battling infertility] were a very dark time,” she told Good Housekeeping. “One minute I wasn’t that bothered about kids, apart from my nieces, and then something happened overnight, and I wanted a baby so badly.”
“All my peers were trying at the same time, so it was like we were swimming in the same pool, but they kept getting pregnant and climbing out until, eventually, I was still swimming in there alone,” she admitted.
At the time, Lisa added: “It was really lonely… I was the one in 10 who didn’t [get pregnant]. I thought, ‘Why me?’ It was exhausting.”
Lisa adopted Billie when she was 17 months old (Image: Getty)
After navigating life as a single mother, Lisa then married John after taking things slow and keeping Billie in consideration.
She reflected: “We took things really slowly because of Billie, and also because I’d been through the end of a marriage, we had a child, and I felt I’d failed in something I never wanted to fail at.”
Together, Lisa and John share a blended family of five children, alongside Billie, and John’s kids, Jonah, 19, and Lulu, 17, from a former marriage and grown-up sons Casper and Marselle, whom he shares with his first wife, Jessica.
In a previous admission, the actress said that their partnership works because they “really like and fancy each other.”
As Lisa told the Mirror: “We really like and fancy each other! What I love about being married is that it’s about being a partnership. John and I are a good team. We know how to look after each other.”