Lisa Faulkner has thanked her fans for support after a MasterChef scandal saw her husband John Torode get sacked from the show.
The actor, who met Torode on the celebrity version of the BBC cookery series, addressed the “lovely comments” she’d received after the chef was dropped for allegedly “using an extremely offensive racist term”.
“Hi there, I just wanted to check in and say hello and I’m here,” Faulkner 53, said in an Instagram video on Monday (28 July).
“Just thank you for all your really lovely comments because they really mean a lot, so thank you.”
Torode, who co-hosts John and Lisa’s Weekend Kitchen with Faulkner, had one allegation upheld in the report conducted by MasterChef’s production company Banijay.
The TV chef, 60, said he has “no recollection” of using a racist term – and also claimed BBC bosses did not inform him of their decision ahead of time. He said he learnt of his firing while reading media reports online.
The allegation emerged during a seven-month investigation into the show, which substantiated 45 claims of misconduct against his co-host Gregg Wallace, who has also been sacked.
“I will watch fondly from afar as I now focus on the many other exciting projects that I have been working towards,” Torode said after learning of his sacking.
“My tummy will be grateful for a rest after 20 years of eating, but what a joy it has been.
“Life is ever changing and ever moving and sometimes personal happiness and fulfilment lay elsewhere. Thank you for the many years of MasterChef.”
Former EastEnders star Faulkner first met Torode when she won the fifth series of Celebrity MasterChef in 2010. The couple remained friends and went on to marry in 2019.
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The pair have children from different relationships. Torode has two adult kids, Casper and Marselle, from one former relationship and also Lou, 18, and Jonah, 20, from his marriage to Jessica Torode, whom he divorced in 2014. Meanwhile, Faulkner adopted daughter Billie, 16, with her ex Chris Coghill in 2006.
Wallace, Torode’s MasterChef co-host of 20 years, has also been sacked from the show following the Banijay investigation.
Wallace said he is “deeply sorry for any distress” caused by the findings and that he “never set out to harm or humiliate” anyone with his behaviour.
The presenter faced multiple accusations, including claims that he made inappropriate sexual jokes, asked for the phone numbers of female production staff, and behaved unprofessionally around female colleagues on set.
The report noted that during the course of the investigation, which was over a seven-month period, Wallace was diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder, and said that the findings should be viewed in the context of his neurodiversity.
In his statement, Wallace, 60, added: “I’m relieved that the Banijay report fully recognises that my behaviour changed profoundly in 2018. Some of my humour and language missed the mark. I never set out to harm or humiliate. I always tried to bring warmth and support to MasterChef, on screen and off.
“After nearly 20 years on the show, I now see that certain patterns, shaped by traits I’ve only recently begun to understand, may have been misread. I also accept that more could have been done, by others and by myself, to address concerns earlier.
“A late autism diagnosis has helped me understand how I communicate and how I’m perceived. I’m still learning.”
Wallace praised the show’s production company, Banijay, saying they had “given me great support, and I thank them”. However, he criticised the BBC for “exposing” him to “trial by media fuelled by rumour and clickbait”.
A statement from Wallace’s lawyers last November, when reports first surfaced, said that it “is entirely false that he engages in behaviour of a sexually harassing nature”.
The relationship between Torode and Wallace, who have both presented the cooking programme since 2005, has always been mired in complication – and on Saturday (19 July), it was claimed by a source who worked on the show that the pair “were never friends”.
