{"id":461384,"date":"2026-05-26T20:02:11","date_gmt":"2026-05-26T20:02:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/461384\/"},"modified":"2026-05-26T20:02:11","modified_gmt":"2026-05-26T20:02:11","slug":"chelsea-handler-names-the-cheap-celebrity-chef-she-went-on-a-bad-date-with","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/461384\/","title":{"rendered":"Chelsea Handler names the \u2018cheap\u2019 celebrity chef she went on a \u2018bad\u2019 date with"},"content":{"rendered":"

Chelsea Handler<\/a> has recalled her brief romantic entanglement with a celebrity chef whom she described as \u201ccheap.\u201d<\/p>\n

Speaking on Tuesday\u2019s episode of Kristin Cavallari\u2019s Let\u2019s Be Honest podcast, the comedian, 51<\/a>, was asked to share a never-before-told \u201cbad celebrity date story.\u201d<\/p>\n

Handler immediately named Iron Chef America star Bobby Flay<\/a>, revealing they had been introduced by a mutual friend and \u201cwere talking on the phone [and] flirting a little bit.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI was at a hotel with some girlfriends,\u201d the former Chelsea Lately host<\/a> remembered. \u201cHe knew the hotel well. He wanted to order \u2026 food for us. He was like, \u2018Let me order your food for you. I love that hotel.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

She claimed that Flay, 61, ordered the food, but then left her with the bill.<\/p>\n

\"Chelsea<\/p>\n

Chelsea Handler described her brief entanglement with ‘cheap’ Bobby Flay (Getty)<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd I\u2019m like, \u2018What?\u2019\u201d Handler continued. \u201cAnd then somebody was like, \u2018Oh yeah. He\u2019s really cheap.\u2019 And I was like, \u2018Oh, I hate cheap.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

She added: \u201cIf you\u2019re penurious, I\u2019m not interested in you. I\u2019m generous and I like people to be generous with their money.\u201d<\/p>\n

Despite the food service debacle, the pair later went on a date. However, according to Handler, they were \u201cnot a match.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was just like, messy,\u201d she said, without providing any other details.<\/p>\n

The Independent has contacted Flay\u2019s representative for comment.<\/p>\n

Flay has been married three times: first to fellow chef Debra Ponzek from 1991 to 1993; then to TV host Kate Connelly \u2014 with whom he shares his only child, 30-year-old daughter Sophie \u2014 from 1995 to 1998; and later to Law & Order: SVU star Stephanie March from 2005 to 2015.<\/p>\n

He is currently dating chef and restaurateur Brooke Williamson, 47, whom he\u2019s been with since March 2025.<\/p>\n

\"Flay<\/p>\n

Flay has been dating award-winning chef and restaurateur Brooke Williamson since March 2025 (Getty)<\/p>\n

Months before reports of Flay and Williamson\u2019s relationship broke<\/a>, the chef appeared on Cavallari\u2019s podcast, recounting the time he asked her if he could take her to dinner, only for her to turn him down.<\/p>\n

\u201cI DMed you and I said to you \u2026 \u2018I\u2019m going to be in Nashville for one night, can I take you to dinner?\u2019\u201d the Beat Bobby Flay star said. \u201cAnd you literally said something to me like, \u2018I\u2019m already dating somebody.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Cavallari remembered the interaction differently, insisting she gave a different reason. \u201cOr I was like, \u2018I\u2019m over dating right now.\u2019 I was burnt out on dating or something,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Flay disagreed, arguing: \u201cNo, you said, \u2018I\u2019ve already started seeing somebody!\u2019 And I said, \u2018I just want to go to dinner with you.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

He further shared his preference for a long-term partner rather than another marriage.<\/a> \u201cI would be interested in a life partner for sure. But I don\u2019t think it necessarily needs the documentation,\u201d Flay said.<\/p>\n

Admitting that marriage \u201chasn\u2019t been the best situation,\u201d he reiterated, \u201cI don\u2019t feel like I need to do it again.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Chelsea Handler has recalled her brief romantic entanglement with a celebrity chef whom she described as \u201ccheap.\u201d Speaking…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":461385,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[161200,214886,161199,458,43593,154301,214887,146,85,46,172718],"class_list":["post-461384","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-celebrities","tag-beat-bobby-flay","tag-bobby-flay","tag-brooke-williamson","tag-celebrities","tag-celebrity-chef","tag-chelsea-handler","tag-chelsea-lately","tag-entertainment","tag-il","tag-israel","tag-kristin-cavallari"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/461384","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=461384"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/461384\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/461385"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=461384"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=461384"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=461384"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}