How Anne Burrell Met Her Husband Stuart Claxton
Food Network's Anne Burrell, the host of "Secrets of a Restaurant Chef," once thought that she was married to her job. Although she previously had a long-term girlfriend and was once engaged to fellow chef Koren Grieveson, she told Today that "marriage didn't seem it would be in the cards for me." Neither of her past relationships lasted, yet Burrell must have kept some spark of hope alive, signing up as a user of the dating app Bumble. Somehow she surfed through the sea of bots and trolls and met a man with whom she actually clicked! What's more, Burrell's match had no idea she was a wealthy TV star.
Stuart Claxton, an ad sales marketer at Univision, simply liked Burrell's pics and personality, calling her "a wonderful surprise." And the surprise just kept getting more wonderful! Once they took things offline, he was pleased to note that she was even more beautiful in real life than in her photos. Burrell liked what she saw in Stuart, as well. Needless to say, the two must have hit it off. Two years after they first met on the app, they took things to the next level by quarantining together during the pandemic. (Now that's a real commitment!)
Stuart Claxton's sweet quarantine proposal
When Claxton and Burrell hunkered down in her hometown of Cazenovia, New York, they weren't alone — Burrell's mother and Claxton's son were fellow bunkmates. Claxton was already intending to propose pre-pandemic, but once circumstances changed, so did his plan for how he was going to pop the question.
With the help of Burrell's mom, Claxton planned a romantic dinner date, and they even went to the extent of decorating Burrell's Mom's townhouse. (How they kept any of their scheming a secret from Burrell is a mystery — maybe it's a really big townhouse, or perhaps Burrell's a very sound sleeper.) After dinner, he got down on one knee, pulled out a ring, and Burrell promptly turned on the waterworks — and obviously said, "Yes." Once it was a done deal, Mom popped out with a bottle of champagne, and the event was commemorated with all due festivity.
Among family, friends, and fellow chef Rachel Ray as a bridesmaid, the couple tied the knot in Cazenovia in a fall-themed ceremony that Burrell arrived at via horse and carriage. The happy bride told People that the wedding was "magical," and she didn't care at all about the "cheese factor."
Cheers to a long-lasting love!