Most people know John Torode. MasterChef judge, chef, TV bloke who spends his life tasting food on telly. But Jessica Torode? Most of us have never heard of her.
She had been married to John for 14 years. They had two kids together. But when her marriage ended in 2014, she all but disappeared. No interviews. No social media. Nothing. She chose privacy over fame, which is kind of unusual these days.
So who is this woman, anyway? Let’s have a proper look.
The Beginning
Jessica Torode was born Jessica Heywood in Australia, the same as John. They first crossed paths in the 1990s when John was working his way up through London restaurants. He’d come to the U.K. in 1991 and was grafting hard in the kitchen world.
They married in 2000, the year John launched his Smiths of Smithfield restaurant. Back then, he wasn’t famous. He was a chef who knew what he was doing. MasterChef hadn’t even started yet.
Not much is known about Jessica’s background. She’s kept all that private. We have no idea what she did for work before she met John or what her life was like as a kid. She has never given interviews or commented publicly about herself. That takes serious commitment in today’s world.
Marriage and Kids
Jessica and John had two kids. Jonah was born in 2007, and Lulu followed in 2008. John already had two sons from a previous relationship, so Jessica also became a stepmum.
They were fine for more than a decade. John’s career was exploding. He’d begun hosting MasterChef in 2005, and it became a huge hit. Just like that, everyone knew who he was. But Jessica? She stayed out of it. No magazine spreads, no reality telly, no exploitation of her husband’s fame.
She has hardly any photos online. The few that exist are obviously from events where she went with John. Even so, she has the air of one who would much prefer to be anywhere than in front of cameras.
When Things Went Wrong
John and Jessica broke up in 2011. There, they amicably parted, without any big drama or newspaper stories. Neither of them said a word about why it had ended. No screaming matches in the tabloids, no selling stories for money.
But the timeline is a little sticky here. How did Lisa Faulkner meet John? She appeared on Celebrity MasterChef in 2010, and John was one of the judges. They became mates. Lisa won the show that year, and apparently, she and John hit it off.
Now for the question on everyone’s lips. Did John leave his wife for Lisa? It’s messy. John says he and Jessica broke up in 2011, after which he began dating Lisa. He has described the separation as “awful” in interviews. Lisa has claimed they were friends at first and that things just suddenly changed between them.
But people have questioned whether his relationship with Lisa, before he’d even split up from his wife, may have something to do with the division. Neither John nor Lisa has said that is what happened, but the timing makes people wonder.
The divorce wasn’t sorted until 2014. Three years after they separated. A judge signed it off in less than a minute because neither of them was fighting about it. They’d both moved on.
Lisa’s Situation
Lisa was also experiencing her own marriage falling apart at the same time. Who is Lisa Faulkner’s ex-husband? Chris Coghill. He’s some actor bloke from EastEnders or something. Chris and Lisa tied the knot in 2005 and adopted a daughter, whom they named Billie, three years later, after they failed to conceive by IVF.
They separated in 2011, the year John and Jessica did. It’s timing that has always got people talking. The timing of both marriages ending in tatters at the same time coincided with John and Lisa becoming close on MasterChef.
By the way, why did John and Lisa split up? They didn’t. They’re still together now. They married in October 2019 and host the ITV cooking show John and Lisa’s Weekend Kitchen. Some people are confused because John mentioned in 2022 how he wrote Lisa a letter asking her out and made fun of himself for being “cowardly” about it. That was when they first met, not during a breakup.
John wrote to her because he was afraid she’d tell him no to his face. She said yes, they went to dinner, and things changed between them. That’s how they started dating.
Where Is Jessica Now?
Nobody actually knows. After the divorce in 2014, Jessica disappeared completely. She’s not on any social media. No Instagram, no Facebook, nothing. There aren’t any recent photos of her anywhere.
She shares custody of Jonah and Lulu with John. The kids are teenagers now. Jonah turned 18 this year, and Lulu is 17. But beyond that? We’ve got absolutely no idea what Jessica’s doing with her life.
Maybe she’s working somewhere. Maybe she moved away from London. Maybe she just wanted to live normally without cameras everywhere. Given how private she’s always been, the last one seems most likely.
John mentions his children sometimes in interviews, but rarely talks about Jessica. When he does, it’s always respectful. He’s never badmouthed her or shared private details about their marriage. That’s decent of him, actually. Plenty of celebrities use their divorces for publicity.
What Makes Her Different
Think about it, though. Jessica could have made loads of money from her story. “Ex-wife of MasterChef judge tells all” would have sold papers. She could have gone on reality shows. She could have started an Instagram account and gotten thousands of followers just from being John’s ex.
But she did none of that. She chose privacy over everything else. In a world where people film themselves crying on TikTok for views, Jessica just walked away from public life completely. That takes guts.
Her kids have grown up mostly out of the spotlight, too. You don’t see them plastered over tabloids or posting everything online. That’s harder than it sounds when your dad’s on television every week.
The Kids Today
Jonah and Lulu are nearly adults now. They’ve had divorced parents since they were tiny. Jonah was only four when his parents split. Lulu was three. But by all accounts, John and Jessica have kept things civil for their sake.
John’s married to Lisa now, and Lisa gets on with the kids. They all spend time together. It could have been a mess, but somehow they’ve made it work. That’s credit to both Jessica and John for putting their children first.
What We Can Learn
Here’s the thing about Jessica Torode. Her story matters precisely because there’s so little to tell. She was married to someone famous, had children with him, got divorced, and then went back to being a normal person.
No drama. No scandals. No selling out for quick cash. Just a woman who decided fame wasn’t for her, even when it would have been easy money.
She’s proof that not everyone wants to be famous. Not everyone wants followers and likes and their face in magazines. Some people just want to live their lives quietly, raise their kids, and get on with things away from cameras.
Whatever Jessica’s doing now in November 2025, she’s doing it her way. On her terms. No press releases. No announcements. Just living.
And honestly? There’s something quite admirable about that. In a world obsessed with being seen and heard, Jessica chose to disappear. She chose peace over publicity. That’s her right, and she’s stuck to it for over a decade now.
Maybe that’s the real story here. Not the divorce or the new relationships or any of that stuff. Maybe it’s about a woman who knew what she wanted, which was simply to be left alone. And somehow, she actually managed it.