Sandra Lee shared the exact moment she realized her relationship with former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo had ended.
Lee and Cuomo were together for 14 years but never tied the knot. They parted ways in 2019, four years after the celebrity chef was diagnosed with breast cancer.
“I was in my kitchen, and he said something. The moment he said it, I understood fully. It felt like every window and door shut. That was it,” Lee told US Weekly.
However, Lee chose not to disclose the specifics of the comment that was made in the spring of 2019.
FOOD NETWORK STAR SANDRA LEE WAS ‘AS SICK AS CAN BE’ AFTER WEIGHT-LOSS MEDICATION TRIAL
Andrew Cuomo and Sandra Lee ended their relationship in 2019 after 14 years together. (Getty Images)
“He is aware of what it is. I am too,” she remarked.
During their separation, Lee and Cuomo had been spending less time together and were leading “separate” lives.
Lee preferred not to delve into many details about her breakup with Cuomo, opting instead to keep certain matters private.
“When you live parallel lives, you aren’t building a life together,” she shared with the outlet.
Sandra Lee mentioned Andrew Cuomo’s lack of presence toward the end of their romance. (Getty Images)
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“I was in my kitchen, and he said something. The moment he said it, I knew what he meant. It felt like every door and window shut. That was it.”
Lee also claimed that Cuomo was absent during her battle with cancer. The “Semi-Homemade Cooking with Sandra Lee” host was diagnosed with ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) in 2015 and underwent a double mastectomy followed by a complete hysterectomy.
“Cancer is ruthless and elusive, often hiding and waiting,” Lee told US Weekly. “I had to confront it head-on for a year.”
During her treatment, she reflected on spending her birthday in solitude.
Andrew Cuomo and Sandra Lee’s paths crossed in 2005 at a gathering in the Hamptons. (Getty Images)
“I spent my birthday alone. I was sitting on my lawn by myself,” Lee recalled. “That particular day meant so much to me. I’m not someone who typically wallows in self-pity, but I felt overwhelmed that day.”
She clarified that she and Cuomo eventually went out for dinner that evening.
Cuomo asserted that he rearranged his schedule to celebrate Lee’s birthday that year.
Rich Azzopardi, Cuomo’s spokesperson, criticized Lee’s narrative, stating that it doesn’t align with the actual events.
“Her current recounting of the events doesn’t match what she claimed in the documentary that she herself produced and released in 2018 — three years after her medical procedure — and a story that she planted in Page Six about how she celebrated her birthday after her surgery (which the governor restructured his schedule to spend time with her) and more comments she made praising the governor for standing by her ‘through every step’ during her breast cancer recovery,” Azzopardi remarked to Fox News Digital.
“We wish her nothing but success in her future pursuits.”
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Sandra Lee shared her thoughts on her breakup with former Gov. Andrew Cuomo during a recent interview. (Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images)
While navigating the chaotic media scrutiny following her breakup from Cuomo, Lee learned that her uncle was diagnosed with a terminal illness.
She took the step to care for her uncle, who she regarded as a father figure, before his passing in 2023, marking a “low point” in her life.
“I went into the restroom and started throwing up,” Lee disclosed. “I think that was my body expelling all the emotions from those five years. That had to be the most difficult moment of my life, bent over a toilet, vomiting out of despair and sorrow.”
Sandra Lee expressed that the “lowest point” in her life came after the loss of her uncle. (Jon Kopaloff/FilmMagic)
For Lee, the last decade has made her “wiser and stronger.”
“I have come to terms with the fact that I will never fully heal from the heartbreak I’ve experienced in the last 10 years,” she stated. “The grief has been unending, but I will use it as inspiration to grow and become even wiser and stronger.”
“I have faced the most demanding decade of my life.”
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