Celebrity chef Heston Blumenthal has reportedly split from ‘wife’ Stephanie Gouveia, but there is some confusion over whether the pair were ever legally married.
The famed TV chef and founder of The Fat Duck restaurant allegedly married French estate agent Gouveia in 2018, but her friends say that she never legally married Heston, who is 21 years her senior.
In 2018, Blumenthal and Gouveia reportedly married in the Maldives - a spokeswoman for the chef was quoted as saying: ‘Heston and Stephanie are delighted to announce they’ve got married.’
‘They were spending some quality time together and decided to seize the moment.’
However, a spokesperson for Gouveia has since said: ‘Marriage should be recognised by legal authorities. This wasn’t. What happened does not constitute a marriage in a legally binding sense.’
According to The Daily Mail, a friend of Gouveia’s also said that, ‘despite all the reports at the time, they were never married,’ adding, ‘Heston and Stephanie actually split up some time ago.’
Blumenthal and Gouveia also have a child together, born shortly before the pair exchanged vows in 2018. The famed chef has four children in total, as he also shares three children with ex-wife Zanna; Zack, 25, Jessie, 22, and Joy, 20.
It remains unclear whether the couple will go through divorce proceedings, and whether Gouveia would have any claim to the chef’s multi-million pound estate.
Blumenthal shot to prominence as the head chef of The Fat Duck - a restaurant in Bray that has become famous for multi-sensory food experiences. He was the first to popularise the use of liquid nitrogen in kitchens as well as a range of other highly scientific techniques, and The Fat Duck has received three Michelin stars from the Michelin Guide, as well as named the world’s best restaurant by the 50 Best Restaurant Awards in 2005. Blumenthal himself won a lifetime achievement award from the same publication in 2017.
Got a taste for the finer things in life? Check out our complete list of every three Michelin-starred restaurant in the UK - including The Fat Duck and more.