John Torode's MasterChef Sacking Put Into Perspective by Wife's Cancer Diagnosis

John Torode has revealed that his wife Lisa Faulkner's breast cancer diagnosis earlier this year provided a vital shift in perspective amid his own professional challenges, including his sacking from MasterChef.

Speaking on Lorraine on Thursday, Torode described his wife's health battle as putting everything else into stark relief. "When someone says the cancer word, everything else just disappears," he said, acknowledging the "tough year" the couple had experienced.

Faulkner, who announced she had received the all-clear in July following surgery and radiotherapy, urged women to attend their mammograms. She explained that her cancer was detected early due to a contrast-enhanced mammogram (CEM), a procedure that uses a dye to highlight areas of concern. "There is a whole thing with breast density that we don’t know about," she stated.

Torode's dismissal from MasterChef reportedly occurred in July 2025, stemming from an alleged race row. The BBC did not release an official report regarding the incident, which allegedly involved Torode singing lyrics containing a racial slur from a Kanye West song at a post-work party in 2019. Torode has stated he did not remember the evening.

Following his sacking, which he described as the BBC "spitting him out," Torode felt there was "a lot more at play than to do with me." He noted that the months after his dismissal were a period of grief.

Despite being asked to continue presenting MasterChef without his former co-host Gregg Wallace, Torode was subsequently dismissed himself. The investigation into Wallace, ordered by Masterchef's production company Banijay UK, upheld 45 of 83 allegations against him, including inappropriate conduct and comments.

Torode and Faulkner, who first met in 2010 when she won Celebrity MasterChef, have since collaborated on their cookbook "John and Lisa's Weeknight Dinners" and co-present "John & Lisa's Weekend Kitchen."