ITV1 has commissioned series eight of John & Lisa’s Weekend Kitchen following its continued ratings success, with brand new series returning from springtime 2023 on ITV1 and ITVX.

Hosted by television’s top culinary couple John Torode and Lisa Faulkner, the series - produced by ITV Studios Daytime - will see the perfect partnership serve up 10 brand new episodes, after their autumn and festive airings (series seven) achieved its highest audience share since John & Lisa’s Weekend Kitchen first launched in 2019.

Best known for their expertise in creating delicious, original and family-favourite dishes that encompass cost-effective and time-saving hacks, the couple will continue to deliver more mouth-watering meals that pair perfectly with the imminent lighter evenings.

PLEASE CREDIT: John & Lisa’s Weekend Kitchen returns Saturday 8th April at 11.40am on ITV1 and ITVX

John & Lisa’s Weekend Kitchen continues on Saturdays, 11.35am on ITV1 and ITVX

Please note: There will be some breaks during the series on certain weekends due to Royal and sporting occasions, please check with sarah.hitching1@itv.com or rachel.mccullough@itv.com for up to date details.

• JOHN ON RECEIVING HIS MBE: ‘I was nervous and humbled. Dad was so proud… and I’ve now got this extraordinary piece of history’

• LISA FAULKNER ON LONGING FOR LIGHTER EVENINGS: ‘I try not to wish the days away but everything feels more hopeful in spring… I don’t think I’m as good with winter'

• JOHN TORODE ON LEARNING TIPS AND RECIPES FROM KIDS: ‘The youth of today have so much information flooding to them from social media… If you don’t think you can learn from your kids, that’s a problem’

• JOHN AND LISA ON WHAT MAKES A HAPPY MARRIAGE: ‘Date nights, nice towels… and a well-made bed!’

Viewers last saw you during the winter months, how does it feel being back together for series eight of Weekend Kitchen and what can viewers expect this time round?

Lisa: “We are so happy to be back! We really do love it so much and welcoming new viewers each time. The whole thing is such a pleasure to do.”

John: “It’s great and this time we are airing in spring and there’ll be episodes heading into summer as well, so we’ve tailor-made some rather brilliant new recipes for that time of year. There’ll be plenty of green, tasty, seasonal and healthy stuff...”

L: “Yes, there will be a lot more fresh and light ideas… Some real classic British flavours, delicious Easter treats and some perfect family feasting suggestions, as well as some picnic favourites too.”

J: “We’ve also tried to introduce a few new ingredients here and there and gone a little bit off-piste… but we’ve kept our one meat-free dish in every show, we’ve kept a bake on every show and there are definitely some classics with modern twists - but there are some new and outrageous things too!”

What excites you most about the changing seasons and does it get harder to think of new dish ideas?

J: “Not at all. I think spring and summer opens up a huge box of delights!”

L: “It’s been really lovely actually do some spring and summer dishes because we’ve been doing so much autumn or festive winter food - which we do love doing too - but it’s been really nice to come up with new things this time round that are more for the light longer days we’re about to have, and including things that are a bit more green like delicious warm salads. There are lots of lighter options that are still very cost effective that we want viewers to explore with us.”

J: “With these seasons there are options to also do more grilling outside too for instance and incorporate lots of spring veg. You can learn how to do asparagus properly for example or how to make the most of the garden pea... We actually do a whole show about everything green! So this time of year I think is packed full of really luscious and good-for-you stuff.”

Do your daily routines change as you approach summer?

L: “It completely changes because the daylight is there. I try to not wish the days away but when you wake up and it’s light outside and it's the daylight that wakes you up, the days just feel so much longer. You want to go out for a walk more, you can just fit more into the day and looking around you seeing spring springing - everything just feels more hopeful! I don’t think I’m as good with winter.”

J: “And almost automatically I think your body wants to start eating differently. It does yearn for different things and what we’ve tried to reflect this series is exactly that, so yes our days are completely different. We get up a lot later, we light the barbie outside, we have people outside in the garden, and just enjoy sitting outside more…”

L: “To start having the windows and doors open more is so nice - that gives me joy!”

Like Christmas, Easter is often a time when friends and families get together - do you have any plans organised yet?

J: “We are not sure what we’ll be doing this year. Our families are growing and have their own lives too, to a certain extent.”

L: “We will all try and get together if we can. We are still slaves to school and college holidays at the moment but I hope that Easter weekend will bring us all together.”

If you could have any surprise inside your Easter egg, what would it be?

J: “Twenty seven million dollars… It’s a line from a film! For Christmas I was wishing for some sunshine and a holiday and I was lucky to get that so I just feel like this year is going to be a really good year. Hopefully that will be the case and that's all I’ll need.”

L: “Well I would just like [John’s] salted caramel sauce in the middle of my egg!”

J: “Ha! Maybe I’ll just go for some gooey marshmallow in mine instead then too.”

Your children are growing up now, do they ever cook for you? Have you learnt any tips from them?

J: “I think you have to be open-minded about everything and the youth of today have so much
information flooding to them from social media… So yes, they do sometimes make their own food or make food for us. We’re often like ‘where did you learn how to do that?’ and they say ‘Tik Tok’. I’ve experienced it on Masterchef before too with Kitty Scott-Claus when she cleaned a prawn - which she hated doing - but she told me she’d learnt how to do it from Tik Tok too!

“Social media can be so incredible. I’ve seen people skin a salmon with no knife at all, so I do think the younger generation are watching and learning heaps of different things.”

J: “I’ve just asked one of my sons for his yorkshire pudding recipe actually, because his are way better than mine! They’re amazing!”

L: “It’s great to share tips and learn new ways of doing things.”

J: “You’d be silly not to, the world is massive and people have seen lots of things so there’s no reason why you can’t keep learning from others too… and if you don’t think you can learn from your kids, then that’s a problem!”