John Torode's wife Lisa Faulkner makes tragic child confession 'So lonely' (2024)

Lisa Faulkner and John Torode tied the knot in 2019 (Image: BANG Showbiz.)

BBC star and John Torode's wife Lisa Faulkner has opened up about the "very dark" times she faced during her battle with infertility. The 52 year old actress underwent three unsuccessful rounds of IVF and experienced an ectopic pregnancy while married to actor Chris Coghill, a period she now admits was incredibly challenging.

Lisa, who eventually adopted her daughter Billie, now 18, before parting ways with Chris, confessed to Good Housekeeping magazine: "Those years were a very dark time."

She added: "One minute I wasn't that bothered about kids, apart from my nieces, and then something happened overnight and I wanted a baby so badly."

Lisa also shared the loneliness she felt as her peers became pregnant while she continued to struggle: "All my peers were trying at the same time, so it was like we were swimming in the same pool, but they kept getting pregnant and climbing out until, eventually, I was still swimming in there alone."

Lisa has opened up about her struggles with infertility (Image: Getty)

She admitted that hearing others' pregnancy news often left her feeling a mix of shame, anger, and sadness. Speaking about her IVF experience, she said: "It was really lonely. When people would tell me they were pregnant I'd try to be fine, but I'd go home and be full of shame, anger and sadness.

"When I had IVF, it was with an amazing doctor with whom nine out of ten patients got pregnant - and I was the one in ten who didn't. I thought, 'Why me? ' It was exhausting.'" Lisa adopted Billie when she was just 17 months old, and candidly admitted that the process hasn't been without its challenges.

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The former 'Holby City' actress, now wed to television celebrity John Torode, opened up about her personal experiences, saying: "My daughter is my world, but adopting is a completely different ballgame in every way to conceiving a child. Even armed with every bit of knowledge you can find, it's not easy, because you're dealing with a child with trauma."

"It's a trauma that will never, ever be healed, and my job is to be there to help make it better in every way I can. I've had to do a lot of work on myself. It's an ongoing process; it doesn't stop."