- Faulkner and Torode went public with their romance in 2012
- They met while she was competing in Celebrity Masterchef in 2010
- He split from ex-wife Jessica, with whom he has two children, in 2011
- Faulkner split from husband Chris Hoghill in 2012. They have a daughter
By Daily Mail Reporter
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MasterChef judge John Torode was granted a divorce from his wife Jessica yesterday, clearing the way for his romance with actress Lisa Faulkner.
A High Court judge issued the uncontested decree nisi in less than a minute yesterday, finally cutting ties between the 48-year-old TV chef and the mother of his two children Jessica.
The pair, who have a son, eight, and a daughter, seven, had been married for seven years but ended their marriage 'by mutual consent' after breaking up in 2011.
Romance: Lisa Faulkner and John Torode, who was yesterday granted a decree nisi ending his marriage
A year later Torode made public his relationship with 41-year-old Spooks star Faulkner, who he met while she was cooking her way to victory in 2010's Celebrity Masterchef.
Faulkner has described her relationship with Torode, which blossomed after the pair split from their former partners, as 'really new, really lovely'.
She told the Mail last September: 'John and I were friends. Neither of us thought of it as anything else until...
'I don't know how things change, but something does. He asked me on a date. We went out for dinner. Then it was slightly different.
'I'm really, really happy. John and I are having such a nice time but we're taking things slowly. There are lots of other people to consider.'
Torode with his ex-wife Jessica: The pair ended their marriage 'by mutual consent' after breaking up in 2011
Faulkner's ex-husband Chris Hoghill, who played Tony King in EastEnders, moved out of their marital home in early 2012. The pair share custody of an adopted daughter, Billie, who is six.
Torode has four childre, two with his ex-wife Jessica and another two from a previous relationship.
She has previously insisted that there were no sparks between her and Torode when they first met filming Celebrity Masterchef.
Cook: Faulkner holds the Celebrity Masterchef trophy after winning the series in 2010. She met Torode, a judge on the programme, during filming
'When I met John he was a judge on a show I loved and I was petrified of him. He was brilliant and gave us all tips so you didn't want to let him down,' she said.
'All I could think was, "That sauce hasn't worked." I didn't see anything but food for three months.
'After I won, we did The Good Food Show and stuff. John and I always got on, but I never thought about me and him.'
Since first going public with their romance in November 2012, Faulkner and Torode have not sought to downplay their romance, but neither have they exactly flaunted it.
They have been photographed together at celebrity events just a few times and both still live at separate London adresses.
Faulkner began acting at 19 in the film The Lover after leaving school at 16 to model. Roles in Brookside, Holby City and Spooks followed.
Since taking the MasterChef crown she has reinvented herse lf as a cookery expert, publishing two recipe books, the second of which featurs her daughter throughout.
'Cooking anchors me and calms me,' she has said.
That makes her an ideal match for Torode, who began his kitchen career in his home town, Melbourne, aged 16 before moving to London in 1991 and clinching jobs as sous chef at some of London's most fashionable restaurants.
After first appearing on television in 1996 on ITV1's This Morning, he joined Greg Wallace to present a revamped MasterChef on BBC One in 2005.
Neither he nor his wife were in court to see their marriage ended, the Daily Express reports.
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