Melanie, 37, was married for 12 years to a chef who dominated their kitchen. "I didn't cook at all during that time," she says. "He just did it all. When we split up, I had to start cooking for myself and my two children. I found that not only could I cook, but I was pretty good at it too.
"When I was married I only had four dishes to my name. Now I have hundreds and I realise what fun I missed out on."
James, a 36-year-old jazz musician, was a notoriously bad eater. Tomato sauce on pasta was about as extravagant as he got. "I'd never had an interest in food until I met Melanie," he says. "I was like, 'Can you deep fry that?' Being a musician, a lot of the eating I did was between one and three in the morning."
