In May, there was a weird rumor about how New York Governor Andrew Cuomo and his girlfriend/partner Sandra Lee were quietly breaking up. The evidence for the break up was some real estate drama, wherein Sandra was selling the home that she and Gov. Cuomo had shared for years. Many are familiar with Sandra Lee: she used to have a cooking show, or should I say, a food preparation show. She was barely a cook and she was definitely not a chef, but she somehow built a cooking/lifestyle empire worth millions. While I dislike her as a food preparer, I like her as a person – she went through hell as a child and while she and Cuomo were together for 14 years, she never wanted to marry him or have children with him. She never wanted a man to have control over her money or anything else.
At the time of those May breakup stories, Sandra halfway denied it and sources claimed it was just a downsizing issue, especially with Cuomo’s three daughters growing up and there was a need for less space. Well… months later, it looks like it was true. They’ve broken up.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo and longtime partner Sandra Lee have called it quits — confirming a split The Post reported was coming months ago.
“Over the recent past, we have realized that our lives have gone in different directions and our romantic relationship has turned into a deep friendship,” the now-former couple said in a joint statement on Wednesday. “We will always be family and are fully supportive of each other and dedicated to the girls,” they added, referring to Cuomo’s three daughters from his marriage to Kerry Kennedy. “Our personal lives remain personal and there will be no further comment.”
A source added that Cuomo, 61, and Lee, a 53-year-old Food Network star, have told friends over the past several weeks that they were no longer together. The Post exclusively reported in May that Cuomo and Lee were living separately, but Cuomo insisted at the time that they were still an item.
I tweeted about this last night because I was curious about whether anyone would care. I care! And so did some other people (one person even claimed to care more about Sandra than Miley Cyrus!). It’s always been fascinating to me how New York state residents just completely accepted the unconventional (in politics) relationship between Gov. Cuomo and Sandra Lee. I guess the answer was that everybody just treated Sandra like the First Lady of New York anyway, even though they were unmarried. And now that they’ve broken up, I can only imagine that Sandra is counting her money and thanking God that she’ll never have to pay Cuomo any kind of alimony. But what about palimony? He wouldn’t, would he? No – aren’t the Cuomos very wealthy on their own?
Photos courtesy of Getty, WENN and Avalon Red.
I care! lol
I find their relationship interesting because it seems so many politicians feel pressure to present this “ideal” family life (in quotes because the idea of what is “ideal” is obviously antiquated) and Cuomo and Lee just did their thing and were apparently very happy together for well over a decade, which isn’t a bad run.
Apologies if this comment is too snarky, but all I want right now is for Sandra to do a Kwanzaa style “break up” cake special on food network. Smash a relaxing scented candle right on top of it…. I will see myself out
🤣 that atrocious Kwanzaa cake was my first thought, too. I don’t really know anything else about her, but feel that cake probably sums up all I need to know.
The Kwanzaa cake incident made me dislike her as a “food celebrity”, as well as the episode of her show I caught casually in a doctor’s office while I was being diagnosed with mono (how appropriate) back in college. She was icing a beach themed cake during a wind storm on a beach.
“No, Aunt Esther, the extra crunch are just…er…sprinkles. YES, SPRINKLES!”
Omg I did not see that episode. I am totally looking for it at lunch. She is the queen of theme cakes that no one asked for! Kudos to them for being low drama at least so far….but she could still make a nice break up cake.
I love your snarky sense of humor.especially the last line. Thanks for the laugh…I needed it today….I lost my 97 yr old father last night…after over a decade of fighting dementia. Your post made me smile.
I’m so sorry for your loss. Dementia is no joke. I sometimes think my mother might be in the wee early stages and it terrifies me. I will keep you and your family in my thoughts today.
My condolences to you Suzanne, brighter days are ahead. A decade is a long time to live with that disease. Went through it with my mom for only a few years (she passed before Christmas, 2017), and it’s rough watching them disappear right in front of your eyes. They’re still physically with you, but they’re not the person you knew.
I thought she was very brave to document and share her breast cancer journey. Don’t know anything else about her. I wish her the best!!
Yeah the real estate thing was a big clue and I didn’t buy the explanations. Hopefully the break up remains amicable.
I care too! She seems like an interesting person. I found an article listing her net worth as 20 million, although she doesn’t seem to be professionally active since 2012.
“She never wanted a man to have control over her money or anything else.” Not quite. She got her money–and her “cooking show”–because she was married to a gazillionaire before the Cuomo relationship. Yes, she came through a hard childhood, but she’s also had a lot handed to her, and she’s hardly a champion of female independence.
I will always like Sandra because her non-kosher star of david and Kwanza cakes are entertainment gold.
The Kakes of Kultural Insensitivity! Bring on the Corn Nuts!
I care more about Sandra vs. Miley too. lol
I am OK with her and her show was fine to have on while I was puttering around the house. I found her show less annoying than Bobby Flay or Guy F.
I would assume the Cuomo family is very wealthy themselves, and more power to anybody who over comes a bad childhood. Lots of folks never do.
That statement sounds sweet and genuine. I, too, hate-watched her show (I know how to make cupcakes from a box, thanks) but for whatever reason like her. I wish them both the best.
Love is officially dead
Between the two brothers, Chris C. really got all the looks
I lived in NYS for the first 10 years of their relationship, and nobody cared that they were not married. It was completely without controversy. I always liked their relationship, mainly because Sandra seemed cool and independent and had her own life and I liked Cuomo more because he dated someone like that.