Ina Garten‘s fans grew accustomed to seeing her husband, Jeffrey, on her hit Food Network TV show during its run, however, there has been a shocking new development.
The 76-year-old celeb chef revealed that she and her husband almost divorced back in the 1970s! She’s now explaining the circumstances that led to their separation at the time.
Keep reading to find out more…
During that time period, Ina was working overtime at her Hamptons-based store, the Barefoot Contessa, while Jeffrey was working in Washington, DC. He would return to the Hamptons on weekends, but he “expected a wife that would make dinner.”
“There were certain roles that we played, and I found them really annoying,” Ina told People. “I felt that if I just hit the pause button, I would get his attention.”
In her memoir, in stores on October 1, Ina wrote, “When I bought Barefoot Contessa, I shattered our traditional roles — took a baseball bat to them and left them in pieces. While I was still cooking, cleaning, shopping, managing at the store, I was doing it as a businesswoman, not a wife. My responsibilities made it impossible for me to even think about anything else. There was no expectation about who got home from work first and what they should do, because I never got home from work!”
She continued, “When Jeffrey came on weekends, he was a distraction. I didn’t pay enough attention to him. I just wanted everyone to leave me alone so I could concentrate on the store. Jeffrey was fully formed and living the life he wanted to live. I wasn’t, and I wouldn’t be able to figure out who I was or what I wanted unless I was on my own. I needed that freedom.”
“I thought about it a lot, and at my lowest point, I wondered if the only answer would be to get a divorce. I loved Jeffrey and didn’t want to shock — or hurt — him, so I’d start by suggesting we pause for a separation,” she shared. “It was the hardest thing I ever did. I told him that I needed to be on my own. I didn’t say whether it was for now … or forever. In true Jeffrey form, he said, ‘If you feel like you need to be on your own, you need to do it.’ He packed his bag and went home to Washington with no plan to come back. I buried my emotions and threw myself into my work.”
At the time, Barefoot Contessa closed up for the winter season and she returned to DC. She wrote, “Jeffrey met me at the [train] station, and when we got to our house, we sat together on the steps outside, reluctant to go in because we were caught between two worlds: the way it used to be when we were Ina and Jeffrey, and the sad way it was now. A painful limbo.”
She continued, “‘What can I do to change your mind?’ he asked so hopefully, not understanding that I doubted we could make our relationship work, and that we might be heading for divorce. I just couldn’t live with him in a traditional ‘man and wife’ relationship. Jeffrey hadn’t done anything wrong. He was just doing what every man before him had done. But we were living in a new era, and that behavior wasn’t okay with me anymore. I had changed.”
She asked him to attend therapy – and he did.
She shared, “Jeffrey’s willingness to see the therapist was as significant as anything that might happen during their session. He was that determined to convince me he was serious about making our marriage work.”
She added that she has no regrets about asking him for the separation, and she’s happy she did it.
She said, “Thank god I did. I think how crazy that was and how dangerous it was, but we wouldn’t have the relationship we have now if I hadn’t done it.”
“Be Ready When the Luck Happens” will hit store shelves on October 1. You can pre-order it now.
If you didn’t see, Ina once explained why she didn’t have children.
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