Sandra Lee romance nonetheless feels model new three years into her relationship together with her fiancé.
“It’s just completely different. It’s almost like. It’s almost like having a first love again for me. And I think for him, I am his first love,” the “Blue Ribbon Baking Championship” host instructed Fox Information Digital.
She continued, “So it just it’s a completely different relationship than I think either one of us have had before. And, you know, all the things that you go through with a first love is exactly the kind of stuff we go through. And some of it’s silly, and some of it’s not. And, you know, it’s very present, every day. It’s very like there’s no time off. We are in it to win that.”
Lee is relationship Ben Youcef, 44, an actor-producer.
Sandra Lee mentioned her relationship with Ben Youcef is “completely different’ and feels “nearly like having a primary love once more.” (Michael Kovac/Getty Images for Elton John AIDS Foundation)
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She recently celebrated her 58th birthday on Instagram, sharing a series of photos of her and Ben kissing, writing in the caption, “Finest birthday present ever was Ben! Thanks for chasing me up the road and never taking NO NO NO for a solution! You have been proper!”
“Thanks God for such fantastic man to get to kiss,” she added, also writing, “so grateful for my love!!”
Lee’s romance with Youcef comes after a troublesome decade marked by well being and relationship points.
“Discuss turning your life the other way up. It was being a pancake on a griddle and simply getting flipped. And I had simply gotten to, like, essentially the most excellent place. And abruptly, the whole lot went south,” she mentioned of the previous decade.
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“That is the gorgeous factor about life, is you actually it exhibits you [that] you actually should benefit from the good instances. And since the dangerous will come irrespective of who you might be. And I believed I had already taken my lumps, however, you realize, life was going to point out me that there have been nonetheless some extra hiccups to go. And so I had [take] them over the past couple of years.”
In 2015, Lee was diagnosed with breast cancer, specifically ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS), and underwent a double mastectomy and later a complete hysterectomy.
“It is nearly like having a primary love once more for me. And I believe for him, I’m his past love.”
Four years later, in 2019, she and her longtime boyfriend, former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, went through a very public break-up.
And during the break-up, she found out that her uncle, who she considered a father figure, had been diagnosed with a terminal illness and moved to California to care for him until his death in 2023.
Lee and former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo broke up in 2019 after 14 years together. (Getty Images)
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“After I had a breakup, I moved to California to be by my uncle, and that simply turned out to be the perfect factor for me. And I received to spend time with him I might have by no means gotten to spend. And we went on so many journeys collectively and checked off so many objects on his bucket checklist, and that is what I needed to do, and that is what I did,” she recalled.
Handling the whirlwind of emotions helped Lee learn a lot about herself.
“I simply let it’s. I simply let it breathe. I simply actually sat again and sort of watched what was occurring and actually leaned into who I needed to be and who I believed I used to be,” Lee said.
She admitted, “Among the choices I made have been very petty, and so they have been very troublesome choices to make, and so they have been heartbreaking choices and different choices I had no management over, apart from how I used to be going to deal with them.”
“I simply actually sat again and sort of watched what was occurring and actually leaned into who I needed to be and who I believed I used to be,” Lee said of overcoming the past decade of difficulties. (Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images for GLAAD)
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“In the future at a time is precisely what I did. Actually sooner or later at a time. I took my time with it,” Lee said of managing her life, revealing that much of her New York home that she packed up when she left for California is still in storage “as a result of I have never been in a position to take care of it till simply this yr.”
“I let myself undergo each, every bit and a part of it. And it is nonetheless not simple. Nothing’s simple. You realize, 14 years of a life is . . . to stroll away from, it is not a straightforward factor.”
What has been easier is her relationship with Youcef, who she jokes “can not cook dinner his means out of a field.”
“I imply, he simply likes to eat, and I wish to cook dinner, and in order that works out simply tremendous,” Lee said, adding that his favorite meal is lamb chops with mashed potatoes, and maybe some brownies for dessert.
Lee said Youcef, “simply likes to eat, and I wish to cook dinner, and in order that works out simply tremendous.” (Jamie McCarthy/Getty Photographs for The Hollywood Reporter)
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“Each relationship is exclusive. Each relationship has particular issues in it, and each relationship has difficult issues in it. It is only a matter of ‘Can you deal with the challenges that are created with a particular person that you are with?’ And typically it is sure, and typically it is life’s too quick.”
Lee said there are no wedding plans yet for her and Youcef, instead focusing on her new series “The Blue Ribbon Baking Championship,” on Netflix.
Lee created and co-hosts “The Blue Ribbon Baking Championship,” on Netflix. (Courtesy of Netflix. © 2024)
She not only co-hosts with “American Pie” star Jason Biggs, but also judges with former White House pastry chef, Bill Yosses, and award-winning artisan baker, Bryan Ford.
The “Semi-Home made” star loved watching contestants not only compete, but come together, even with prizes like $100,000 and a Best in Fair blue ribbon on the line.
“Nothing’s simple. You realize, 14 years of a life is . . . to stroll away from, it is not a straightforward factor.”
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“I really like the truth that they assist each other when one is in hassle and struggling. They would go away their stations and assist their fellow rivals, to not the detriment of themselves, however sufficient to get them over a hump. And so they have been actually glad for each other,” she said.
For Lee, the show also highlights some true Americana with its state and county fair aesthetic.
“For me, while you’re who we’re as America, it is the individuals who go to the state gala’s. They’re a favourite amongst children,” she said.
She continued, recalling her own fond memories of attending fairs as a kid.
Lee said she likes the camaraderie of the contestants, saying, “They would go away their stations and assist their fellow rivals, to not the detriment of themselves, however sufficient to get them over a hump.” (Courtesy of Netflix. © 2024)
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“I keep in mind what I ate, I keep in mind I had my first kiss on the tram going throughout the fairgrounds with a boy named Ben after I was 13. Just like the state gala’s are a factor. You eat, you’ve gotten enjoyable, you go on rides, you play with your folks, you hang around, you realize, it is good, clear enjoyable.”
“The Blue Ribbon Baking Championship” has also been a labor of love for Lee. She created the show 12 years ago, and found that even after all that time, there were still last-minute changes to be made.
Lee said working on “The Blue Ribbon Baking Championship” brought back all her fond memories of going to state and county fairs as a kid. (Courtesy of Netflix. © 2024)
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“It is a residing factor. I imply, proper in the midst of the primary, the primary day of taping, we determined we have been going to shoot it like each different meals competitors the place you cease down, folks go dwelling and all people’s rested, and all people’s tremendous. And we checked out, we went, that is not actual life. That is not what occurs on the earth. That is $100,000 is, you realize, somebody must be the most effective baker with all of the stress and all of the strain and all of the challenges. And so we ran that present in actual time. And people bakers are baking in actual time. If it is a day, it is an actual day. And that is quite a lot of work, and that is quite a lot of stress, and that is quite a lot of vitality, and that is quite a lot of focus. But it surely’s additionally quite a lot of pleasure, and it makes superb tv.”
“The Blue Ribbon Baking Championship” is streaming now on Netflix.
