Well, we were expecting this, weren’t we? I was prepared for this Bobby Flay-Stephanie March situation to get worse before it got better. Even I had heard the rumors about Bobby Flay and some female employees over the years, and I’m not connected in any way, shape or form to New York-chef-gossip. So if I had heard those rumors, they must have been everywhere. And now Stephanie March is pushing back against Flay in a big way – Page Six published a lengthy interview with March’s friend Maia Madison on Sunday, in which Madison does all of the heavy lifting of telling March’s story. Apparently, March discovered that Flay had been carrying on an affair with one of his young employees, a woman named Elyse Tirrell. Tirrell has worked for Flay since 2008 as a hostess, assistant, etc, and Madison claims Flay and Tirrell have been having an affair for three years. This is what Madison had to tell Page Six:
Stephanie March “came to my house and was sobbing uncontrollably,’’ Maia Madison recalled. “She said, ‘I can’t believe the last 10 years of my life have been a lie.’ Elyse had always seemed so nervous when Stephanie came to one of the restaurants, and Stephanie, not knowing what was happening, went out of her way to compliment her and try to make her more comfortable. Elyse had even been to Stephanie’s home when she was there — and when she wasn’t. Now this girl is about to become the Monica Lewinsky of the food world.”
Flay did try to save the marriage, surprising March in Amsterdam while she was in Europe with pals for the holidays.
“He did a Hail Mary and asked her to please try to work on their marriage,” Madison said. “Because she loves him, she said OK, and they went to a therapist and tried to work through their problems.”
But then he agreed to appear at Miami’s South Beach Wine & Food Festival in February at the time of their 10th anniversary. He went with his “B-Team,” as he calls his assistants, including Tirrell. It hit March hard.
“Stephanie told me, ‘I wasn’t asking for much. I would have stayed if he had given me one date night a week and tulips on our anniversary,’ ’’ Madison said.
“The Monica Lewinsky of the food world” is a bit melodramatic, right? I mean, is Bobby Flay the Bill Clinton of the food world?! Anyway, of course I believe this. As I said, there have been rumors for years. My theory is that Elyse Tirrell is not the first (or the last).
The rest of that Page Six story is pretty juicy too – Flay’s spokesperson says she’s not going to respond to “spread rumors and innuendo” then goes on to respond by basically saying March’s lawyers have leaked all of this info (no sh-t, Sherlock) in an effort to throw out the pre-nup (pretty much). Then Page Six gets Flay’s business partner Laurence Kretchmer on the record. Kretchmer tells Page Six:
“Bobby has a rule that when people talk crap about him he doesn’t respond. I’ve been in the middle of this relationship for 14 years, and he did everything he could to save his marriage. Elyse is a great and valued employee and it is awful to see her dragged into this thing. If she had an affair with Bobby it would have been reported to me. That has never even been suggested, and people like to talk. Have Bobby and Elyse been seen together? Yes, that’s her job. None of this has any basis in reality. As ugly as Stephanie is going to look [when this news comes out], she will look uglier when other things come out.”
Whoa. Throwdown with Bobby Flay! I guess the insinuation is that March had an affair as well? Which I’m not sure if I believe, although that could just be because March has already done a good job of painting herself as a woman just trying to take care of her ailing mother while dealing with a husband with a wandering eye.
So, what do you believe? I believe none of these people are taking the high road, and you know that because all of them are insisting that they’re taking the high road whilst simultaneously feeding bitchy quotes to every media outlet out there. I also believe Flay was cheating and that March is out for blood AND money. And I believe this probably will end with Flay renegotiating the prenup and giving her a larger settlement, so why not just start that process now?
Photos courtesy of Fame/Flynet.
More dirt will come out in this divorce. This is just the beginning
If this is the beginning, then i am begging Bobby Flay to PLEASE settle. Make it go away. I am a fan and i don’t want to have to hate him forever for being a ginger, cheater sleeze.
” Ginger, Cheater Sleaze” Lol at the Ginger
So right, just settle and call it a day. He has more to loose
“I’ve been in the middle of this relationship for 14 years” —
Oh really, Mr. Kretchmer? What a thing to say.
Lotsa male arrogance on Flay’s side. This won’t help him at Food Netwk.
I am SOOOO disappointed to find out how disgusting he has been. COME on, 3rd wife?????
I will no longer watch him on FOODNETWORK as I have done for ever. Time to get NEW blood FN and make it someone with a personality
Here’s a new show for him; Bobby Flay’s SEX Addiction.
I’m a little torn here about the pre nup. I can’t stand Flay and don’t know why she married him, but she did agree to it. So pre nups become invalidated if he was a cheater? Unless that is spelled out, I would doubt it.
Some prenups do have cheating clauses but not all.
Seeing as he has a history of cheating and 2 divorces under his belt, he would not be so stupid as to put one in, also if there was one her people would have said so already. They are trying to fight the agreement based on hurt feelings and embarrass him into a large settlement.
His “source” already said (in another cheating story) that there was no morality clause in the pre-nup. So, technically, she’s out of luck.
never pretty when someone cheats and bobby flay seems to have a history.
but with a then 25-year-old assistant?
all kinds of disgusting.
yeah, 25 is adult, but she’s a kid really.
especially when you factor in a BOSS in his late 40s.
will love to see if he’ll end up with the “assistant” or if the long line of other women will be revealed.
i’m still waiting to hear if he is indeed january jone’s baby’s father and if he’s been messing around with giada…
i bet he’s done all of this…
and the little assistant will be heartbroken and now has herself quite a reputation.
Ok, but does any of this change the fact the she signed a prenup that entitled her to very little? I mean who is surprised that Bobby Flay is a lying cheater. I hope she has actual proof this assistant was sleeping with her husband or she could screw herself.
Obviously she wants money and to embarrass him, but everyone involved is starting to look sad and bitchy. Take the high road people!
What would proof do for her? It’s been ‘leaked’ and whispered everywhere that there is no morality clause in the prenup. This isn’t his first rodeo.
I don’t mean anything to do with her divorce she signed the prenup? I was thinking more along the lines of the woman suing her for making those claims. Even though she didn’t go on record, her friend did and her friend would have had to get the information from somewhere.
That’s what I said too. She just looks petty by smearing him. We already know he’s a d-bag.
The “she would have stayed” part just killed me – date night once a week and flowers once a year ? Whatever she was wanting out of the marriage was damn little eh?
If I had been her, I would had an infidelity clause in the prenup. Everytime Bobby banged another woman, pay up. Catherine Zeta-Jones reportedly had that in her prenup to Michael Douglas. Flay is a serial cheater, this information is no surprise.
My ex husband had an affair with his assistant. My heart goes out to her. It cuts like a knife. And it robs you of all of your memories, because, as she said, the whole thing has been a lie. So was that tender moment real or was he wishing he was somewhere else? Dirtbag.
@Gnat – so did mine. It just about killed me to attend company events and see her smirking and lurking about, laughing behind my back. You know what really killed me? We had a cat who had given birth to a litter of kittens and he gave her one. I was not happy about it and insisted on accompanying him when he took the weaned kitten to her home. She freaked when she saw me on her turf. Sadly, she informed ME the kitten had run away a few weeks later.
I’m sorry you went through that. It really hurts. And I’m sorry about the poor kitten. My final straw was after everything was over, and she had left the job, he rehired her. He was shocked that it bothered me to see her face at company events because nothing was currently happening between them. I just realized that he didn’t care how I felt about anything, and his needs would always be the only thing he cared about. I mean, I should have realized that years before, but apparently I need to be punched in the face with the truth.
I’m a member of your Club, as well. He was a bank executive and she was a teller, 17 years younger. It still hurts to this day, and I totally get the “laughing behind your back” comment, PunkyMomma.
I feel you. all of you.
it’s even worse when you call the office, ask for the S.O. and the person who answers the phone is like “is this X?” X being the name of the mistress. so, basically, everyone at your office KNOWS that you’re cheating on me? with a coworker? UGH.
Oh doofus, I’m so sorry.
Ladies, you are ALL amazing and strong!
Gah! Doofus! What a dick. Once someone said to me, “oh you’re X’s wife? I thought L was X’s wife.” Um, no, that would be his mistress, just to clarify.
thank you ladies. This place is great for venting and support.
GNAT & Punky – that sucks. It’s a strong betrayal bc most of the time wives have to also rely on the assistant for info on their husbands. As his wife, you also have to trust that person. It’s like a double betrayal.
Punky – can’t believe she did that with your kitten.
Edit – Judyk – sorry that happened to you.
That would be so hard and such a betrayal, because it was an affair where they saw each other every day, working closely together, not just an affair where he hooked up once a week with someone
Thank you for your kind words. Ironic that when the kitten disappeared, he realized her nature and he ended it. By that time I had filed. Apparently he thought I was just oblivious to it all – boy was he surprised when he was served. All of this because (it came out in therapy) I was in a better corporate job and I was making more money than he was at the time. So I was the emasculating bitch apparently.
Oh, yes, I’m sure it was your fault. Mine was that I wasn’t “fun” anymore because I didn’t want to get blind drunk every night and stay out at bars until four a.m. with people fifteen years younger than we were. So, yeah, I take full ownership of that.
@GNAT, PunkyMomma and Judyk – so did mine. We weren’t married, but had been living together for 10 years, I thought quite happily. She came to our house, we went to her wedding (which lasted all of 1 year), etc. etc. After I left him she went on to bag one of the senior partners at the law firm where he was also a lawyer, busted up his marriage and is now living happily ever after. I couldn’t believe how it hurt so I feel for you all who went through the same thing.
Ironically I left without a cent, didn’t want to fight and didn’t feel I deserved anything but my freedom and what I came into the relationship with – but I can understand why she wants more money, she’s had her heart broken and because of his philandering she has to start a new life.
Oh, I’m sorry you went through that. It just sucks. And it does just rip your life out from under you.
Punky, GNAT and Jaded–Ironic that WE were the ones who filed, not them. Shows that we are all strong women, with my ex telling me I was damned “independent.” Gave up a lovely lifestyle and had to raise a very young daughter all alone, but I’d do it all again.
So she pursued another married man after yours?
WTF.
I think every town has one person–man or a woman–who goes from married/taken person to another. I do know this one woman in my town like that–and she is actually very sweet, nice, great with kids, and will do anything for you…..but every single guy that she’s hooked up with has been married or had a girlfriend. And then the next person she hooks up with is GENERALLY her (married) boyfriend’s best friend. Seriously. And she also has no issues going up to the wives/girlfriends of the guys that she’s slept with, and smiling right in their faces like nothing ever happened. I just do not get it. At all. If I had been dumb enough to get with someone married, the last thing I’d do is act like nothing happened.
Sorry you all went through that. Hasn’t happened to me personally, but my uncle had an affair with his assistant, who was the same age as his daughter from his first marriage. He left wife #2 (and more kids) for the assistant, married her, and wondered why his younger kids went off the rails.
He has since left the assistant, wife #3, for someone else- that shocked no one except her, and no one has any sympathy for her.
Yes, I’ll never understand women who marry a man they met through cheating and are then surprised when he cheats on them. Duh.
^Truth. You get what you signed up for, Honeycakes.
If there’s a cheating clause, he’s screwed. If there isn’t, she might not get as much as she thinks.
He’s scum. I couldn’t stand anything with him in it. His solution to every food was to pour beer on it or BBQ it half the time on Iron Chef.
If you want to pass your peen (or poon) around, just get a divorce or agree to an open marriage/relationship. Why is this sh*t so difficult to understand?
It boggles my mind as well, that people like Flay who aren’t monogamous keep getting married and trying to have traditional, exclusive relationships. Seriously, open relationships are a thing and are becoming more common everyday.
My only guess the Flay’s of the world are also a-holes who want to step out but don’t want to give their partners the same option.
That’s it exactly. It’s because he feels ENTITLED to do whatever he likes, but his women shouldn’t have that freedom.
The very definition of a douchebag.
“My only guess the Flay’s of the world are also a-holes who want to step out but don’t want to give their partners the same option. ”
Exactly!
It could also be that he was raised with the idea that you have to look like a perfect family man. I mean, how many conservative, so called “christian” republican politicians have we seen that condemn other people i.e. hopeless sinners/democrats of being Godless Marriage Destroyers, and they themselves have been married five, six times, cheating to do with at least half of those marriages (Newt Gingrich, anyone?)? I think your family has a huge influence on you.
How many people do you think would get married if it wasn’t something that was pushed onto them as being something that good people do? Or to take it further–casual hookups/relationships for your whole life. How much shit does a normal person get when they aren’t married/dating someone on the regular? Not having sex (for example)? I like reading Dear Abby letters, and a 25 year old male wrote a letter asking about how to tell his friends/family that he was fine with not being married or dating anyone, and that he loved his life (work, friends, home, family) as is, and didn’t want kids or a girlfriend.
Now obviously Bobby Flay is a cheating douche, but I don’t think you can discount, at least in part, the theory that if you aren’t married or in a consistent relationship, people think there’s something wrong with you. I don’t doubt that he got married three times, because it was something that his girlfriends at the time wanted, and he wanted it too……but so much is built on a family brand…
I don’t know, now I feel super rambly in that comment, lol. Disregard.
I’m thinking someone told him it’s good for his image to be married, because it’ll probably give him more appeal and credibility to his TV fan base.
Doesn’t Flay have a kid with one of his exes? It really sucks for the kid that her father’s dirty laundry needs to be aired so publicly. I can totally believe this story, but I don’t like the idea that it’s being made so public when there is a kid involved.
As for the pre-nup, I mean, she signed it knowing what it said. A lot of people don’t seriously negotiate pre-nups because they really don’t see the marriage ever ending. But Flay was already divorced twice when they got married – his track record with marriage already stunk – I think negotiating for a good deal would have been smart.
Yes, Flay has a daughter from one of his former marriages. My heart breaks for this child.
his daughter is 19 or 20 yrs. old.
so, yeah, it must suck for her that her dad’s infidelities are blasted in the press.
but not because she’s a child who has to be protected.
she’s a young woman who must be mortified that her dad is screwing around with a young woman only a few years older than she.
her dad took advantage of a young woman who works for him.
there’s a pic somewhere – instagram maybe – of bobby with his daughter with a caption – “this is what your daughter looks like at 19” or something like that.
what does THAT mean…
i’ve been a follower of bobby’s for years…a fan of his restaurants.
his food is delicious.
i think he’s gone off the deep end…how embarrassing and way to destroy your image.
I did not realize she’s in her late teens. I recall him cooking with her in one of his Food Network shows and she was a young girl. But you’re right – it must be mortifying for her.
Yeah, I saw that instagram. I literally couldn’t think of of what he meant by that except something really creepy and horrible. I tried and tried, but I couldn’t come up with anything else, lol!
My conclusion is that he really is a creepy, nasty, pig-dude.
@Soporificat – right? so it wasn’t me?
i tried, too, to figure out what it could mean in a fatherly way…
but couldn’t…
creeped me out.
this entire thing with BF is a letdown.
i was a huge admirer…
love his restaurants.
i don’t think i could patronize them anymore.
aaaahhhh
maybe again at some point (food is TOO delicious to miss out on)…
but not right now…huge let down mr. flay
She seemed to warn him, and he pushed back too hard. He should’ve just settled, after all, she gave him 10 years. She’s not exactly setting the acting world on fire.
Why do these people (very famous, wealthy celebrities) insist on getting married? Unless you’ve got children with someone I don’t get it. Live your fabulous, busy life and of course, have relationships, but all the marriages? Smh.
Why does anyone who wants to see other people insist on getting married? If you don’t want to be monogamous, fine! Don’t be! But don’t promise someone that you will. I’ll never get it.
Guess they want to be seen as something they’re not, but then look how it backfires! Spectacular!
And didnt he pursue her?
I dont get it.
I’m a little frustrated by someone who sees something happen TWICE to other women and then jumps into the same frying pan only to leap out and cry it’s hot.
Ten years of your life has been a lie???
It’s not like Flay was some accountant from the boonies that no one knew about. A man divorced twice should be looked at carefully. A man divorced twice with cheating rumors BOTH TIMES should be avoided. A Google search could have saved her those ten years but whatever.
At this point I’m more worried she’s going to waste her time and money pushing these leaks and fighting an iron clad prenup while Flay walks off into the sunset. If there’s no cheating clause (his 3rd marriage) then she needs to move on.
That’s what I don’t get. She’s not some country bumpkin. She had to have heard the stories about his infidelity. I could understand if he had had an affair one time but this is reportedly a constant thing with him. Did she really think he was suddenly going to change and stop cheating?
Yes, sadly too many women think he be different with them. And men are great at perpetrating that fantasy to land someone.
That’s a good point. I didn’t know about his first two marriages, but that should have been a big red flag for her.
If there’s no cheating clause in the prenup, she needs to just ditch him and move on, and not hash this out in the press.
I also don’t understand women who marry someone who’s been divorced several times and are then surprised when it doesn’t work out. My sister was engaged for a couple years to a man who had been married FIVE TIMES–and none of his marriages had lasted more than 3yrs or so. I was flabbergasted! I asked her why the hell she went on even another date with him, let alone get into an actual relationship. And guess what? Yup, he cheated on her–with an ex-wife no less. And my sister was actually SURPRISED. Baffling.
I think a lot of people try not to make life decisions based on gossip. That goes for non celebs too but I can imagine that celebrities would be especially wary of the “talk”. The truth is there are rumors about top players in any industry ranging from sexuality to infidelity to substance abuse. I think unless you are getting the info first hand from the parties, it would be foolish to make a decision on the gossip mill. I mean occassionally, the gossips will have the story right but many times they’ll have it very wrong. I speak from experience having been the subject of a vicious and completely false rumor that follows me to this day. In the end you run with your gut and your heart and remember that every relationship carries risk.
She was probably thinking her pre-nup was pretty good so long as she was married for 3-5 years or less. $1 million plus $50k plus $5k/month for only a few years of marriage.
But then she stuck around for ten years and the longer the marriage lasted, the more she thought she should get more than what she agreed to.
Yeah, it’s too bad for her that he got richer while they were married, but she should have thought of that before being desperate enough to sign that pre-nup.
A whole new twist on Brunch with Bobby!!
Lmao
Color me surprised. I read an interview from last summer where she said he was working all the time and he promised her a walk on the beach together once a week. She didn’t even get that. It sounds like she wanted some intimacy or connection and wasn’t asking for much, just a little attention to the marriage. It sounds like he was busy elsewhere. Having it be someone you didn’t suspect and were friendly enough with when you saw them would be such a kick in the stomach and the betrayal so much more wounding, feeling like everyone knew but you. It’s sad.
If you consider it in business terms, if someone reneges on a business contract (aka marriage has an expectation of fidelity), the wronged party would be entitled to compensation… like if a company went back on a deal.
Should also apply to marriage, regardless of what was agreed to prior. Of course, you need some sort of evidence – gossip is not evidence.
I will forever see his face as the Burger King, no thanks to taterho.
Howdy Doody. You’re welcome.
Was that supposed to be better?? You and taterho are in collusion to give me nightmares.
ETA: what in hell kind of nightmare is her outfit and make-up application too? I’m staying out of the Flay.
I see what you did there, Kiddo…
Haha! The flay…
Re: her outfit. Interesting choices.
I sowwy.
Think of bunnies that look like Bramhall! Breathe. Breathe.
she is playing it way too hard to feel for her. she lost me at:
“Stephanie told me, ‘I wasn’t asking for much. I would have stayed if he had given me one date night a week and tulips on our anniversary,’ ’’ Madison said.
thats really just painting her as the upright saint that did not expect anything and still got betrayed. if that was all she wanted in a relatiosnhip i am sure she would have done fine with Joe from accounting.
Yes that sounds silly. You are so sure your husband has been cheating with one chick for 3 years, but if he gave you a date night and some flowers you would have stayed? That makes no sense.
I thought everyone knew he was a horndog. I don’t like to comment on other people’s marriage because what we see from the outside is often not what is happening on the inside. I wish them both luck and hope they can end this with some class and decorum. That would be refreshing.
That ship sailed. Buy popcorn and watch.
“I don’t like to comment on other people’s marriage because what we see from the outside is often not what is happening on the inside”
Yes me too. It’s why I usually avoid commenting on these threads.
i get this, but they’ve put it OUT there…
they want to play this out in the court of public opinion…and judgement…
so i don’t feel too badly about commenting on someone else’s marriage woes.
i don’t wish either of them harm, but as a fellow poster said upthread…
buy some popcorn and watch – it’s fair game…
I didn’t say anyone should feel bad about speculating-I was simply speaking about my own policy.
Fire away, celebitches.
Ah the life of a celebrity chef.
Been there, done that.
They all do.
Say it ain’t true about Mario Batali. It’ll break my heart.
@Helen
once married to a celebrity chef?
No, but dated one for years. Fun stuff for a while, first class, travel everywhere, then the late nights take their toll.
Ina Garten too. She better not be cheating on Jeffrey.
ina garten is a goddess…incapable of such human downfalls 😉
Not this celebrity chef…
https://youtu.be/sY_Yf4zz-yo
Hate to break it to you, but I did him in the eighties.
I won’t resort to muppet slut shaming but I will very curtly walk away and offer an unforgiving look over my shoulder.
*slams door*
@Taterho – you do realize that poor chef has someone’s hand up his azz?
Ok, I was lying. I hit on him but he said I wasn’t his type.
You win, GNAT. (OMG)😂😂😂
Someone needs to develop a sitcomish TV show for her where she plays the scorned wife of a celebrity chef whose empire crumbles because women won’t watch his show any more.
The sad part is, he’ll never lose his female fan base. Not by a lot, if any. Women are attracted to his assholery.
This confirms what I’ve always known: No matter how many times BF wins on his own rigged shows, he’lll still be the biggest loser around.
Im just waiting for him and Giada to make it official 😉
“And I believe this probably will end with Flay renegotiating the prenup and giving her a larger settlement, so why not just start that process now?”
In this game of chicken, he can wait her out because he can afford the lawyers’ fees more than she can. Also, his lawyers probably told him that he has an iron-clad pre-nup. And he’s probably a jack-ss who wouldn’t want to pay out more than he’s obligated to and end this a.s.a.p.
On the other hand, she gets $1 million, $50k in moving expenses, $5k/month spousal support, though I don’t know how long the support lasts. If she were smart, she’d take the money and run instead of playing dirty in the press and spending up her money on lawyers who tell her that they can overturn a presumably iron-clad pre-nup, especially since she still has the expenses of finding a new place to live and taking care of her ailing mother.
If she’s going to go back to work as an actress, she might not want scandal to be part of her re-entry back into the public eye.
From reading posts by people who think he should give her more, I wonder what’s the point of signing a pre-nup then?
Also to those who say that cheating means she deserves more than what she signed for, then based on what we presume to be no cheating clause in the pre-nup, why did she agree not to have one included in the first place?
Not sure it’s been brought up, and just as an interesting piece of trivia — Mariska Hargitay introduced them and “set them up”, so to speak, being a mutual friend of theirs.
Flat should pony up a couple million say 5 million which still isn’t enough but more than enough to allow her to her back on her feet and figure out her next steps in life.
I wonder how much she was hoping to get if the prenup was tossed out.
Team Stephanie! I am glad she is fighting back. Expose the cheating sorry excuse for a husband and I hope she gets more money than she ever hoped for!
I’m glad I have no clue who these people are. They have zero presence in Aus.
One of my exes was cheating on me with our boss and also a very good (so I thought) friend simultaneously. Then he left me to pay the rent on expensive apartment we were both on the lease for so I spent literally all my wage on rent. When he moved out he took all the furniture, including mine so I slept on the floor. He also told everyone at work he left me because I was violent, I ended up having to move jobs because of it.
I get why Stephanie is upset about being cheated on, really I do, but she needs to pick herself up and start again, it’s just that simple- because if she doesn’t she will just suffer more. Success is the best revenge and all that. Also, being above it all and being happy really gives cheaters the craps.
I love bumping into my exes now because, for some unknown reason, I still look in my 20’s and they all look like old men. They’re all like ‘wow look at you’ and I’m like ‘yeah, bye loser.’
I say Stephanie fries Flay. I think this is just the beginning of the roll-out. He’s an arrogant d-ck to the last, but I believe public shaming is very much in order. If he were smart (which he is not) he’d give in now, but as an as-hat he’ll let it play out to the bitter end. Never did get why women go for ugly cheats like him. Is it the money really? If so, I’d rather marry an 80 year old man and have him be my sugar daddy. At least it’s all clear from the start. Flay is beyond disgusting and Stephanie was not bright to marry him with a stingy pre-nup with no cheating clause. But I still feel she should get a big settlement out of him anyway. I just do. He deserves his just desserts and I hope she serves him a healthy portion.