People close to Sandra Lee said she’s still reeling from her breakup with New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, despite the fact that she has a new beau.
Currently, the 55-year-old lifestyle expert is seeing 46-year-old Algerian actor, writer, and producer Ben Youcef.
She appeared to be wearing an engagement ring as they lounged on the beach in St. Tropez, France.
In the two years following her divorce from Cuomo and her public battle with breast cancer, those close to Lee say she has struggled to reclaim her life.
According to a close friend, Sandra is struggling to move on because she is still nursing her wounds. “At the moment, she’s just trying to keep her head above water.”
Cuomo’s alleged sexual harassment of 11 women by Attorney General Letitia James this week is a new source of pain, according to the source.
Cuomo’s alleged infidelity with Lee during their relationship was an “open secret,” according to an article in The Washington Post from April. “This has all been enormously unpleasant and difficult for her to read about,” a friend claimed.
After Andrew broke up with her, she was devastated; she has never spoken out about their relationship and had always kept her mouth shut. ”
The only thing she wants is a little bit of happiness and comfort.”
Relocating from New York City to Malibu, California, in September 2019, Lee announced the end of her 14-year relationship with Cuomo.
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Sandra Lee Moved On?
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An insider said, “This is Sandra’s first joy in a long time, but it isn’t realistic to say that she’s moved on.”
“She’s been in agony for the past two years since her divorce from Andrew. She had to relocate across the country in order to get her life back on track.”
As far as we’ve heard, Lee has always been adamant about her love for the two daughters of former New York governor Mario Cuomo and Kerry Kennedy.
As executive producers on Lee’s recent Starz documentary about Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Mariah and Cara, both 26 years old, and Michaela, 23, all Ivy League graduates, worked together as co-executive producers.
Women are, in the words of one insider, “her first and foremost concern,”
The two are believed to have met in March at a Santa Monica charity event, where Youcef initiated contact between Lee and Youcef.
According to a friend, the couple was brought together because they both have a “spiritual foundation.”
“We’re just happy for her,” a source close to her said. It’s our hope that Sandra will find happiness, and we’re rooting for her.”
Who is Sandra’s, new love?
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Youcef is a devoted father to five-year-old twins. He and Apryl Stephenson, a realtor in California, divorced in 2019, and they filed for divorce in January 2020.
Youcef got his big break as a Palestinian member of Black September in Steven Spielberg’s 2005 film “Munich.”
Claims have been made that Youcef was tutored by Spielberg and persuaded to accept the job.
That is not the case with Youcef, who refuses to play roles that he believes harm his community. Reciting the call to prayer around the world since the age of eight keeps him in balance, he claims.
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Youcef Acting Career
On “CSI New York,” he’s appeared in several episodes, as well as on CBS’s “SEAL Team.”
According to his website, “I was born in Algiers on the Mediterranean Coast in the middle of a family of seven children,” the former model said. In all likelihood, my acting career began when I was vying for attention amongst my siblings.
For me, the purpose of acting is to give the rest of the world a fresh look at Arab culture. My life is a fusion of Islamic fervor and contemporary dynamism. In many ways, I’m still a child at heart, with an almost naive perspective on the world.