Bobby Flay’s love life explained: He is dating a mysterious woman

Bobby Flay’s nearly three-decade association will cease at the end of his current contract following a disagreement over Bobby’s compensation. It’s unlikely that Bobby will leave television: it’s expected that other networks will move to snap up the pioneering chef. 

Flay’s shows have given us more than delicious recipes. The secretive chef sometimes lets the details of his love life slip as he prepares his signature dishes. Unfortunately, Bobby’s love life hasn’t mirrored his professional successes – Bobby has divorced three times and faced accusations of infidelity. 

In a recent appearance on The Today Show, Bobby spilled that he has a girlfriend. 

Bobby appeared on the show to promote his new cook and share some recipes. He mistakenly stated that he’d started trying out veggie recipes because his girlfriend doesn’t eat meat. 

The hosts caught the slip and attempted to get the unsettled chef to reveal his girlfriend’s identity, but Bobby stood firm. Bobby tried to divert the attention back to cooking, but the determined hosts kept shifting back to his girlfriend. 

Flay’s relationship came up again during Today with Hoda & Jenna. “We heard this season of [Beat Bobby Flay] is different because you have a new girlfriend,” hosts Hoda Kotb and Jenna Bush teased Bobby as the show started. 

“Well, we just wondered that now you’re probably ready to reveal,” Hoda said. Bobby refused to come clean, instead talking of how his revelation dominated his previous appearance on Today. Flay said:

“No, Savannah [Guthrie] loves egging me on. But I asked for it. I mentioned that I do have a new girlfriend and that she doesn’t eat meat, and, of course, I was making vegetarian chili, and the chili went out the weekend.”

We can’t confirm who Bobby’s dating now, but we are sure that it isn’t fellow chef Giada de Laurentiis. Giada told Andy Cohen that she has a rule against dating fellow chefs. “I’m smarter than that,” she said. Furthermore, she said on the Beyond the Plate podcast that Bobby is a valuable friend:

“I think that Bobby is one of those people that if you are his friend, he has your back forever and he will stand up for you. He’s one of those guys you can be in a pinch and he will get you out of it. He’s special in that sense.”

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Bobby Flay and actress Helene Yorke kept their relationship a secret for a year. Flay publicized the relationship when he invited Helene on Beat Bobby Flay. During that episode, Bobby revealed that the couple met courtside at a Knicks basketball game. 

“So I’m going to let you in on a little secret,” Bobby said. “Last season, I went to a Knicks game, and I met Helene. Now we kind of date.”

In an interview with E! News, Bobby revealed that Helene initially feared cooking for the renowned chef. However, she grew more comfortable being in the kitchen as she learned more about Bobby. 

“She’ll say ‘I want to cook this’ and I’ll stand next to her and help her,” Bobby said. “Her cooking has gotten to be really fantastic. We love to cook together.”

Emma announced her split from Bobby by posting an intimate photo with a mysterious person at a Michigan football game. Bobby confirmed the breakup during an episode of Beat Bobby Flay.

“I’m very single,” Bobby said. “She kicked me to the curb.”

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Flay and Law & Order actress Stephanie March married in February 2005. They had a reasonably low-key marriage until news of the pair’s divorce surfaced in 2015. 

Stephanie reportedly instigated the split after finding out about Bobby’s three-year affair with his assistant Elyse Tirrell. March’s friend, Maia Madison, told Page Six that March never suspected that Elyse seemed nervous around her because of her relationship with Flay. Madison said:

“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.”

A statement by Flay’s spokeswoman referred to the reports as ‘rumors and innuendo.’ However, Flay’s spokesperson refused to confirm or deny the alleged affair. 

Madison added that Flay tried to save the marriage by surprising March in Amsterdam. March agreed to work on the marriage, but Flay’s decision to attend a food festival rather than celebrate the couple’s 10th anniversary with March sealed the union’s fate. 

To make matters worse, Bobby attended the festival with his assistants, including Elyse Tirrell. “Stephanie told me, ‘I wasn’t asking for much,’” Madison added. “I would have stayed if he had given me one date night a week and tulips on our anniversary.”

Reports also suggested that Bobby cheated with Love Actually actress January Jones. The pair had an unusually close relationship, which some speculate culminated in the birth of her son, Xander. His birth lines up with the period of the pair’s alleged affair. Jones stated that she wouldn’t reveal whether she had an affair with Bobby:

“It’s just not something the public needs to know. I don’t divulge my sexual preferences. There are parts of your life – no matter what your job – that should remain private.”

March and Flay finalized their divorce in July 2015. Bobby’s refusal to have a public trial forced him to agree to better divorce terms for March than she would have gotten per their prenup. 

Bobby Flay married fellow chef Debra Ponzek in May 1991. The marriage ended in 1993. 

He then married Kate Connelly, with whom he shares a daughter named Sophie. The couple separated in 1998. 

Bobby and his ex-wives reportedly didn’t date for long enough before turning to marriage.