'I married a celebrity chef - he binned my microwave and never celebrated my birthday'

Picking up the newspaper left Tess Floyd with a familiar pang of sadness, but she was not the least bit surprised when she read that another celebrity chef's marriage had ended.

It was 2012, and former MasterChef judge John Torode, 46, had moved out of his family home in London, leaving behind his second wife Jessica and their two young children after just four years of marriage. It was hardly an isolated case, as the list of celebrity chefs with broken marriages seems to grow longer each day.

There's been Marco Pierre White, Heston Blumenthal, Rick Stein, John Burton Race, Tom Aikens, and Antonio Carluccio. For those who have lived the life of a showbiz chef's wife, like Tess, it's a heartbreakingly familiar story.

Tess shared with MailOnline that she and ex-husband Keith Floyd first met in 1995 on the set of a TV advert. She was a 32-year-old food stylist, 18 years his junior, and he was already a culinary legend with three ex-wives and countless stories behind him.

At the time, she admits not paying too much attention to the warning signs. She thought the couple would "Live a normal life. I would have a house, dogs, and friends for dinner, and I would also go on holiday." However, Tess later discovered the assumption to be "wrong as she quickly learnt nothing is ever "normal" when you're married to a celebrity chef. The first thing to go? Weekends.

In the restaurant world, Friday night is Monday morning. There's no winding down at the end of the week, no lazy Sunday roasts, no Boxing Day leftovers. Christmas? Forget it.

Tess shared that when her husband had been spending time "serving up turkey dinners to tables of 40", the last thing he wanted was one more Christmas cracker at home

She also shared that "not once in 13 years" did her ex celebrate her birthday as they were always busy. We were always on the move, filming somewhere around the globe, and although that may seem glamorous for some, it was never once for leisure.

And while she may have had front-row seats to culinary genius, the price was steep. Keith, like many chefs, would not walk in the door after a shift and relax. The adrenaline, the chaos of the kitchen, the late-night camaraderie-it all meant he wouldn't be home until hours after service ended.

Tess even lost her microwave within days of our marriage. Keith threw it out, declaring it the enemy of real food. In our house, convenience didn't exist; only perfection did, often at the expense of everything else.