Lorraine Pascale's Story: From Foster Child To Food Network Favorite

Jeremy Moeller/Getty Images

From a supermodel to a celebrated chef, Lorraine Pascale's life has taken many twists and turns. For television audiences, Pascale is a familiar face who has frequently appeared on both the BBC and the Food Network, demonstrating how to pipe perfect Viennese whirls and courageously tasting the half-edible creations of some of the worst bakers in America.

Before Pascale was a chef, she was a model who worked with some of fashion's biggest brands and the most famous supermodels of the 1990s, including the likes of Kate Moss and Naomi Campbell. She later became best known for her pastries and desserts, as well as authoring several cookbooks and selling over 1 million copies in the U.K. and beyond.

But Lorraine Pascale hasn't always lived such a glamorous life. Both her personal life and career have been eventful. From a turbulent childhood to reentering academia and working her way up the ranks in her culinary career, this is the life of Lorraine Pascale.

Lorraine Victoria Brown was born on November 17, 1972, in a London hospital that served destitute or unmarried mothers. She hasn't spoken much about her biological mother, only that she entered the foster system after her birth. Pascale was fostered by Marion and John Bird for six months, after which her biological father took her in. Unfortunately, her dad failed to provide adequate care and attention to the then-infant. Concerned for her well-being, her former foster mother visited Pascale and found her in a terrible condition. She was so undernourished that her hair had started falling out.

Pascale was subsequently re-fostered by the Birds until she was adopted at 18 months old. Life with her new family started out strong, until the couple divorced a few years later. Pascale's childhood was later revealed to the public through a BBC documentary, "Fostering & Me with Lorraine Pascale," which aired in July 2014. It was through this documentary that Pascale got hold of her adoption records, which contained harrowing details about her adoptive mother and why she surrendered her daughter back into foster care.

After their parents' divorce, Lorraine Pascale and her adopted older brother, Jason (her parents' biological son), ended up in the custody of their mother, Audrey Woodward. Unfortunately, Woodward struggled with both alcohol and depression and became physically abusive to both children, but more so towards Pascale. It was revealed in the BBC's documentary, "Fostering & Me with Lorraine Pascale," that Pascale was marked as at risk after her adoptive mother admitted to hitting and attempting to strangle and suffocate her. Woodward also told social services that she had fantasized about pushing Pascale under a lorry.

It wasn't until 1981 that Woodward gave Pascale up to foster care again for fear that she might cause her serious harm. She lived with a school friend's family until she was matched with her second foster parents. Stella and Warren Eccles were former missionaries to Uganda and were highly religious. But Pascale wasn't happy under their care. While she noted in the documentary that they were friendly, she didn't enjoy the fact that they made her go to church every day. Additionally, Pascale wanted to return to her adoptive mother despite everything that had happened.

Pascale would later come to live with Woodward again. When the documentary aired several decades later, it was clear that Pascale had formed a stronger relationship with her adoptive mother, who passed away in 2015.

Dave Benett/Getty Images

Back in the '90s, Lorraine Pascale was a top model in high demand. She was discovered by a modeling agency in 1989 and recruited by an agent who had also scouted Naomi Campbell. She was only 16 years old when she started, but tall at 5 feet and 10 ½ inches. Pascale quickly caught the eye of photographers and fashion houses and later walked for several big names in the industry, including Alexander McQueen, Chanel, Todd Oldham, Hermès, Christian Lacroix, John Galliano, and Fendi. Pascale was also selected for campaigns for the likes of Donna Karan, GAP, and Yves Saint Laurent.

At 18, Pascale posed with Kate Moss for a campaign photographed by Corinne Day, an esteemed fashion photographer and model in the 1990s. At 21, Pascale was the first British Black woman to appear on the cover of American Elle. Four years later, she featured in Sports Illustrated's prestigious swimsuit issue. All in all, an extremely impressive resume for a model of the decade.

Jeremy Moeller/Getty Images

At the height of her modeling career, Lorraine Pascale married Polish musician Count Kaz Balinski-Jundzill in 1995. A year later, their daughter, Ella Balinska (who would later go on to star as one of the Angels in the 2019 reboot of "Charlie's Angels") was born.

Her daughter's birth marked a shift in Pascale's career direction. It appears to be one of her main reasons for leaving fashion. She didn't want to spend too much time away from her family, and modeling would have eventually prevented Pascale from being present in her daughter's formative years. "I didn't want to be traveling all around the world and not having time with my daughter," Pascale told Andy Coulson in his podcast "Crisis What Crisis?"

The couple divorced after six years of marriage. Pascale hasn't shared much about her first marriage, but candidly talks about the happiness that motherhood has brought her. She admits she was young, but she has no regrets. "I was kind of a child myself," she said in an interview with The Guardian. "I just had the idea. My husband and I thought 'that would be nice' [to have a baby]. It was the best decision I made."

Upon realizing that she wanted to be with her daughter and provide her with a stable home, Lorraine Pascale decided to explore other career directions. The first thing she did was buy a book. "I bought a book called 'What Colour Is Your Parachute?'" Pascale revealed during an interview for the "Crisis What Crisis?" podcast. She added, "I think I just read the end of each chapter rather than the whole book, and I did the exercises, and it was like, write all the things that you love or like doing, and then next to it write could be a career out of it."

And that was exactly what she did. Pascale signed up for a six-month car mechanics course at a Skoda factory, as well as training to be a hypnotherapist at the London College of Clinical Hypnosis, doing a course in interior design, and giving secretarial work a try. As a woman who had already overcome so many trials at this point in her life, the sky was the limit for Pascale. She made the most of the freedom and opportunities to find out what she wanted to do moving forward. This attitude eventually led her to the culinary arts.

Lorraine Pascale was 27 years old when she fully retired from modeling. It was around this time that she enrolled in a 10-week cookery course at Leiths School of Food and Wine. This made her realize that food was not only one of her passions but one she could sink her teeth into as a new career. Pascale would go on to study culinary arts management and earn a degree at the University of West London (then known as Thames Valley University).

While at university, Pascale specialized in pastry. In an interview with The Guardian, Pascale recalls her teacher, Yolande Stanley, challenging her class to get creative with food. "She would make us do this huge sculpture made of sugar, which is not really practical," she said. The experience further nurtured Pascale's interest in food and influenced her approach to cooking and baking. As a chef and baker who loves to cook what she actually likes to eat, it no doubt made her newfound career more fulfilling.

Pascale went on to graduate with a first-class honors degree. Ultimately, her decision to pursue culinary arts management in particular would prove useful to her later career.

Lorraine Pascale started her professional culinary career working at big names on the London foodie scene, such as the Mandarin Oriental Hotel and The Wolseley, which is particularly well known for serving afternoon tea. She also gained experience alongside famous chefs such as Tom Aikens. But Pascale quickly realized that juggling 18-hour shifts with motherhood would be difficult in the long run. The work itself is very demanding, and she simply didn't like the environment of a restaurant kitchen. "Oh, I'm not very good at being told what to do, let's put it like that," she later told The Guardian.

Pascale lasted a year cooking at restaurants before she pivoted again and ventured into baking. Pascale applied to London's Hummingbird Bakery, which specializes in American-style cakes and pastries. Eight months later, she decided to do baking full-time and opened her own cake shop in the diverse London foodie scene that is Covent Garden. She named it Ella's Bakehouse, after her daughter.

Some of her first sweet treats at the bakery were mojito and limoncello cupcakes. She also toyed with focusing on gluten-free cupcakes before ditching the idea. In 2008, after being recommended by chef Marco Pierre White, she was commissioned to bake celebration cakes for Selfridges. "Doing the Christmas cakes was the big break," Pascale said, adding that she made all 250 cakes by herself. "Seeing them on the shelves was an amazing feeling."

As her business gained traction, and after a guest appearance at Marco Pierre White's "Great British Feast," word about Pascale's baking prowess reached the BBC. In 2011, BBC had her host her own baking show, "Baking Made Easy."

Pascale recorded the episodes in a rented kitchen (her own was too small to host an entire production team). As the title suggests, the show was about the simplicity of baking. Pascale showed audiences just how easy baking cakes and pastries can actually be, all while being endearing and effortlessly likable. BBC audiences quickly fell in love with her and the show raked in 2 million viewers per episode, according to The Standard.

"Baking Made Easy" soon had a follow-up series called "Home Cooking Made Easy." The show's theme still revolved around simple recipes that most people could easily follow, but this time, Lorraine showcased her cooking expertise. She cooked the likes of braised lamb shanks with chorizo, slow-roasted pork shoulder, ultra-savory butternut squash soup — all dishes that offer pure comfort, body, and soul. In December that same year, she also filmed a special episode, "Lorraine's Last Minute Christmas." Her television career was officially on a roll.

Featureflash Photo Agency/Shutterstock

After dominating the food television scene in the U.K., Pascale started accepting offers to host television shows in the U.S. She soon became a darling of the Food Network, co-hosting and judging some of its biggest food shows. Between 2014 and 2023, she was a regular judge on the likes of "Spring Baking Championship" and "Holiday Baking Championship." She was also a mentor and co-host of "Worst Bakers in America," together with pastry chefs Duff Goldman and Jason Smith. Pascale also appeared as a guest judge at "Bakers vs. Fakers."

Pascale's new roles as mentor and judge, and her recruitment across the pond, cemented her status as celebrity chef royalty. It's also notable how she went from filming in the kitchen and talking to a camera to personally coaching people who've never cooked before. A few years after making her BBC debut, Pascale hosted "Lorraine Pascale: How to Be a Better Cook" for the BBC, teaching guests how to prepare certain recipes and build their confidence in the kitchen. Food is still the star of Pascale's latest television shows, but a greater focus on the people in the kitchen has also crept in over the years.

Chris Williamson/Getty Images

Lorraine Pascale became a household name in the U.K. not only because of her cooking shows, but also because of her highly popular cookbooks. Pascale is a best-selling author, having published several titles over the years, with her collective book sales exceeding 1 million.

Her debut book, "Baking Made Easy," was a companion to her first cooking show. It made bestseller lists, placing just behind "Jamie's 30-Minute Meals" by Jamie Oliver, who was then at the height of his television career. Her second book, "Home Cooking Made Easy," was another tie-in book to her show, and also became a bestseller. She later published additional titles, such as "Lorraine Pascale's Fast, Fresh and Easy Food" and "How to Be a Better Cook."

Pascale's recipes are often decadent, so in a refreshing turn, she published "Eating Well Made Easy" in 2015. It still contained her trademark straightforward recipes, but this time she paid more attention to nourishment without sacrificing taste. "Sometimes, when you're trying to follow a specific diet, the flavor suffers," she told Buzzfeed. "So I wanted to use my experience as a chef to make sure the flavor was in."

After her divorce, Pascale was in a relationship with Ged Doherty, a prominent film and music executive who formerly chaired BRIT Awards Limited and was head of Sony Music UK and BMG Music Group. They became engaged, but the couple separated in 2013 after he relocated to Los Angeles.

Pascale would later meet Dennis O'Brien in 2018. They were at the gym, and he complimented her on her skillful parking. Pascale later told Vogue that she loves cars, so it was "a good first step towards winning [her] heart!" O'Brien proposed on July 5, 2020, and the couple planned for a wedding in May 2021. Unfortunately, the COVID-19 pandemic persisted, and restrictions on gatherings in the U.K. kept changing. They eventually pushed through with an intimate wedding at Chelsea Old Town Hall in June 2021, surrounded by their closest and dearest.

On the big day, Pascale walked down the aisle escorted by her daughter, Ella Balinska. "You'll Never Walk Alone" by Gerry and the Pacemakers played as they walked — a symbolic song not only for O'Brien, who hails from Liverpool, but also for Pascale, and her life story thus far. Since their original guest list had shrunk to 30 due to pandemic-related restrictions, the couple had a second ceremony later that year. The ceremony was held at The Gherkin, this time with more of their friends and family in attendance.

Lorraine Pascale has always been academically inclined. She received a full scholarship to a Devon boarding school from the Buttle Trust when she was 11 years old. As previously mentioned, she also graduated with top honors from the University of West London. That she sought out books, classes, and training courses when she first explored other fields after modeling also speaks volumes about her love of learning.

Unsurprisingly, Pascale has since returned to studying, pursuing a doctorate in psychology and psychotherapy at the Metanoia Institute. "I've been through so much nonsense in my life, I wanted to put it to good use," Pascale shared during an appearance on "Loose Women" (via Daily Mail). "If you find real meaning to it, it can be healing."

Studying psychology proved to be a helpful and enlightening step towards Pascale's goal of helping people overcome their traumas and bringing mental health to the forefront of discussions. She had been through therapy and leaned on it to deal with her post-traumatic stress disorder and the lingering issues that stemmed from her tumultuous childhood. Studying psychology is deeply personal, and to her credit, she doesn't keep her biggest learnings to herself.

Lorraine Pascale went on hiatus from television during the pandemic. She stayed in the U.K. during its multiple COVID-19 lockdowns. By the time restrictions in the U.S. were lifted enough to allow television filming to resume, Pascale had decided to remain across the pond. But she stayed busy. Besides planning her wedding, she had devoted herself to becoming an advocate for mental health and wellness.

When Pascale chose to focus on the realities of midlife for women as the focus of her PhD dissertation, she took to social media to talk about the struggles women face in their 40s. Her Instagram account became a tool for her to discuss midlife challenges such as dating, ageism, friendship, trauma, staying healthy, and more.

Today, Pascale is most active on TikTok and Instagram. She no longer cooks but instead shares fun, engaging insights about life. She shares her gym routine, favorite salad recipes, skincare advice, and more. She also continues to motivate audiences to achieve the best versions of themselves by striving for physical and mental wellness.