After his EastEnders role ‘killed his career’

John and Lisa’s Weekend Kitchen is continuing to air amid Torode’s axing from the BBC. Meanwhile, Lisa Faulkner‘s ex-husband is set to join the cast of Emmerdale.

Amid the fallout of the infamous MasterChef controversy, finalist Christine Hamilton has defended erstwhile judge John Torode and branded the BBC “woke”.

Torode is alleged to have used a particularly offensive racial slur. He denies using it, and claims to have no memory of the alleged incident.

BBC bosses extended him a “lifeline” when it first came up during the internal investigation, according to Richard Osman. And John and Gregg Wallace’s personal relationship also appears to have suffered.

Lisa and John married in 2019, several years after her separation from Chris Coghill (Credit: Splashnews.com)

Lisa Faulkner’s six-year marriage to ex-husband Chris Coghill

Long before she married John Torode, Lisa met actor Chris Coghill. They co-starred in the BBC Three drama Burn It, which aired in 2003.

Two years later, they tied the knot at a ceremony in in Surrey’s Richmond Park. Their wedding bash featured bottles of champagne and… bangers and mash, per the Manchester Evening News.

“Everyone says it should be the best day of your life and it really, really was,” it quotes her as saying. “It was a wonderful day – I wanted it to go on for a week.”

Guests included Corrie’s Antony Cotton and Mancunian actress Caroline Catz.

“We had every type of weather for the day – rain, sun and even light snow during the speeches. I wore a proper big dress and now I can’t wait for it to come back from the dry cleaners so that I can try it on again.”

They honeymooned in Malaysia, and did “absolutely nothing except lie on the beach and read – oh, and the odd bit of island hopping”.

The next two years were tough. Lisa suffered an ectopic pregnancy and endured four unsuccessful attempts at pregnancy via IVF.

“I don’t think people have any idea [how tough IVF is] until they go through it themselves,” The Lady quotes her as saying.

“It’s not just the physical stuff that happens. It’s the emotions and the hormones that are pumping through your body. You’re on this whole trip of desperation for a baby and you’ll do anything. But I was determined to be a mother.”

Lisa and Chris adopted a 15-month-old girl called Billie in 2008. Three years later, the couple separated. She married John Torode in 2019.

Chris Coghill has been on our screens since the turn of the millennium, but his stint on EastEnders made it harder for him to find roles (Credit: ITV)

Prestwich-born TV star Chris set to join cast of Emmerdale

Christopher Coghill was born in Prestwich in 1975.

Besides his stint alongside Lisa Faulkner in Burn It, he has made numerous appearances on British TV since the early 2000s.

They include HolyBlue, Shameless, Hotel Babylon, Doctors, Holby City and Waterloo Road. He was also played Bez in the 2002 movie 24 Hour Party People.

In 2008 – the year he and Lisa adopted their daughter Billie – Chris joined the cast of EastEnders as the controversial character Tony King.

In the show, Tony was arrested for grooming his fictional stepdaughter Lauren Branning from the age of 12. The episodes featuring his trial aired in December 2009.

Chris later said the sensitivity of the storyline had “killed his career”.

He now joins the cast of Emmerdale as Kev, a character who will “cause shockwaves this autumn”, says series producer Laura Shaw, per Digital Spy.

“Kev has a strong connection to one of our characters and it’s safe to say his arrival is going to be a massive surprise that will have major repercussions for some of our villagers.”

“I am really happy to be joining the cast of Emmerdale,” Chris says. “Kev is definitely going to shake things up a bit and I’m looking forward to getting cracking!”