John Torode was born on 23 July 1965 in Melbourne, Australia. His mother died when he was young, and he spent part of his childhood living with his grandmother, who introduced him to cooking.

He began his culinary career at age 16, attending catering college and working in restaurants in Australia before moving to the UK in 1991. There, he worked for the Conran Group and developed his reputation as a chef.

Torode first appeared on UK television as a chef on This Morning (ITV) in the 1990s. He rose to national prominence when he became co-presenter of MasterChef UK on BBC One in 2005, helping relaunch the format alongside Gregg Wallace.

Alongside television, he owned restaurants including Smiths of Smithfield and The Luxe, and authored several cookbooks. He later co-presented John and Lisa’s Weekend Kitchen with his wife on ITV.

He lives in the UK with his family and continues to work in food media, publishing, and broadcasting.