Ina Garten has revealed she briefly split from her husband after starting her cooking empire because he ‘expected’ her to play a ‘certain role’ and felt she ‘didn’t pay enough attention to him.’
On the outside, it appears that Ina’s 56-year marriage to Jeffrey has been arranged down to the last detail.
But now the acclaimed chef and author, 76, has revealed that she and her 77-year-old husband split in the 1970s, when she was just starting out in her career.
The Barefoot Contessa star shared People that her husband had certain ‘expectations’ of herwhich she found ‘very annoying’.
“He was expecting a woman to make dinner,” she said. “There were certain roles we played that I found really annoying.”
Ina Garten has revealed she briefly split from her husband Jeffrey after launching her cooking empire because he ‘expected’ her to play a ‘certain role’
Ina and Jeffrey married in 1968 and at the time she worked as a budget analyst for the White House.
But in 1978, she quit her government job and bought a grocery store in New York called Barefoot Contessa.
In an excerpt from her forthcoming memoir, Be Ready When the Luck Happens, Ina explained that after starting her own business, she realized she could no longer “live with him in the traditional ‘husband and wife’ relationship.”
“When I bought Barefoot Contessa, I broke our traditional roles. I smashed them with a baseball bat and they were broken to pieces,” she wrote.
‘When I was cooking, cleaning, shopping and running the store, I was doing it as a businesswoman, not as a wife.
“I just couldn’t live with him in a traditional ‘man and woman’ relationship. Jeffrey had done nothing wrong.
“He was just doing what every man before him had done. But we were living in a new era and that behavior was no longer okay with me. I had changed.”
The 76-year-old admitted that her immense “responsibilities” as a shop owner made it “impossible” for her to even think about anything else, and confessed that she “didn’t pay enough attention” to her husband.
The chef and author, 76, revealed to People that she and Jeffrey, 77, split in the 1970s, when she was just starting her career. They are seen getting along early in their marriage
“He was expecting a woman to make dinner,” she explained. “There were certain roles we played that I found really irritating.” They are pictured at their wedding in 1968
“There was no expectation of who came home from work first and what they had to do, because I never came home from work myself,” she continued.
“I didn’t pay enough attention to him. I just wanted everyone to leave me alone so I could focus 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.”
Ina said she considered divorcing Jeffrey, but ultimately chose to divorce because she needed time to figure out what she really wanted.
In the book, she described it as “the hardest thing she’s ever done,” but stressed how important it was to “be alone.”
“I didn’t say if it was for now … or forever. In true Jeffrey style, he said, ‘If you feel like you need to be on your own, you should be on your own,'” she recalled.
“He packed his bag and went home to Washington, with no plans to return. I buried my emotions and threw myself into my work.”
Eventually, Ina suggested that Jeffrey see a therapist. He agreed, which changed everything for them.
They spent six weeks apart before finally deciding to give their love as ‘equals’ another chance.
“Jeffrey’s willingness to see the therapist was at least as important as anything that happened during the session,” Ina added.
‘He was so determined to convince me that he was serious about our marriage.
‘Six weeks passed. We talked, we listened and most importantly, we heard each other when we expressed our concerns.
In an excerpt from her memoir, Ina explains that after starting her own business, she realized she “could no longer live with him in the traditional ‘man and woman’ relationship.”
They spent six weeks apart before finally deciding to give their love another chance as ‘equals’, and have been happily in love ever since. They can be seen in 2015
The star wrote: ‘If we move forward, we can be equals who care for each other. That wouldn’t happen overnight, but if we work towards the same goal, we can change things together’
“As we move forward, we can be equals who care for each other. It won’t happen overnight, but if we work toward the same goal, we can change things together.”
For over twenty years, Ina grew Barefoot Contessa into a thriving business before publishing her first cookbook in 1999.
It became a huge success and made her a megastar in the culinary world.
She then appeared regularly on Martha Stewart’s show, before getting her own show on Food Network in 2002, called Barefoot Contessa.
Since then, Ina has published 13 cookbooks and started a bunch of other business ventures. Her series ran for 29 seasons, ending in 2021.
Since their brief separation, Jeffrey has always been by her side and, decades later, they are still very happy and in love.
On his 77th birthday last November, Ina paid a moving tribute to him.
“Happy birthday to my dear husband Jeffrey. I have loved you dearly for almost 60 years and I am just getting started,” she cheered.
