Martha Stewart admits she kissed a stranger in a cathedral during her honeymoon
Martha Stewart revealed that she shared a kiss with a stranger at a cathedral while she was on her honeymoon with her now ex-husband Andrew Stewart.
In the upcoming Netflix documentary “Martha,” the 83-year-old lifestyle maven recalled that she and Andrew, who tied the knot in 1961, decided to embark on a five-month extended honeymoon in Europe after their nuptials.
During an on-camera interview with director R.J. Cutler, Stewart remembered that the former couple arrived in Florence, Italy, on the night before Easter. The TV personality explained that she visited the famed Duomo Florence Cathedral solo while Andrew stayed back in their hotel room.
“He didn’t have any interest in going to the Duomo with me,” Stewart said of her former spouse. “Listening to that amazing music in the cathedral… It was a very romantic place, crowded with tourists, and I met this very handsome guy.”
Martha Stewart revealed that she kissed a stranger in a cathedral while on her honeymoon with her former husband Andrew Stewart. (2024 Martha Stewart/Courtesy of Netflix)
She continued, “He didn’t know I was married. I was this waif of a girl hanging out in the cathedral on Easter Eve. He was emotional. I was emotional. It’s just because it was an emotional place. It was unlike anything I had ever experienced. An expansive dome. So beautiful and paintings all around you.”
MARTHA STEWART ADMITS SHE HAD AN AFFAIR DURING MARRIAGE BUT EX ‘NEVER KNEW ABOUT’ IT
“It was like nothing I had ever done before,” Stewart added. “And so why not kiss a stranger?”
“Were you being, you know, what’s the word I’m looking for?” Cutler asked.
“Naughty?” Stewart replied.
“Was it naughty or was it infidelity?” the director asked.
“Neither,” Stewart said. “It was neither naughty nor unfaithful. It was just emotional of the moment. That’s how I looked at it. And it was exciting because, I mean, it was a very emotional place. I wish we could all experience such an evening.”
The couple were married from 1961 to 1990. (2024 Martha Stewart/Courtesy of Netflix)
Stewart and Andrew met in 1960 after his sister set them up on a blind date. At the time, she was attending Barnard College in New York City, and he was a 23-year-old student at Yale Law School.
In the documentary, Stewart, who was raised by a middle-class family in Nutley, New Jersey, recalled that she was impressed when Andrew picked her up for their first date in a yellow Mercedes sedan.
“It was like nothing I had ever done before. And so why not kiss a stranger?”
“I had never been in a Mercedes before,” she said. “We went out to dinner. He was very polite and handsome, and he had traveled a lot. It was exciting to me — a sophisticated young man. And he had an American Express card, which was a very big deal in those days. And he was just intriguing and playful and nice. By the end of dinner, I was madly in love.”
Stewart accused Andrew of being unfaithful during their marriage. (Arthur Schatz/Getty Images)
Stewart recalled that she visited Andrew every weekend while he was studying at Yale, and she had never slept with a man before her future husband. The two tied the knot after a year of dating.
While speaking to Cutler, Stewart remembered that she was amazed by the sights and cuisine in Europe and dreaded their return to New York City after their honeymoon.
“I was 19 years old and I didn’t want to go home,” Stewart explained. “We got back to New York and reality came crashing down.”
Stewart and the publisher welcomed their only child, daughter Alexis, in 1965. In the documentary, the businesswoman admitted that she initially had mixed feelings about motherhood.
“Back then, everybody was having babies so young,” Stewart said. “That was sort of like the style and I thought it was a natural thing. And it turns out it’s not at all natural to be a mother.”
The lifestyle guru revealed that she also had a brief affair. (Arthur Schatz/Getty Images)
Andrew and Stewart separated in 1987 and officially filed for divorce in 1990. In an interview with Cutler during the documentary, Stewart recalled that Andrew had numerous affairs during their marriage and revealed that she had also been unfaithful to him.
“He was not satisfied at home,” Stewart said of Andrew. “I don’t know how many different girlfriends he had during this time, but I think there were quite a few.”
“Young women, listen to my advice, if you’re married and your husband starts to cheat on you, he’s a piece of s—,” she said. “Get out of that marriage.”
“But I couldn’t do that. I couldn’t walk away,” she admitted.
“Didn’t you have an affair early on in the relationship?” Cutler asked.
“Yeah, but I don’t think Andy ever knew about that,” Stewart answered.
“He did say he knew about it,” Cutler said.
“He did?” Martha asked.
“Yes, you had confessed to him,” Cutler replied. “He says he didn’t stray from the marriage until you told him you had already strayed.”
Andrew and Stewart share a daughter, Alexis. (Scott Morgan/Patrick McMullan via Getty Images)
“Oh, that’s not true. I don’t think,” Stewart responded.
“But what happened?” Cutler asked. “You had an affair.”
“I had a very brief affair with a very attractive Irishman,” Stewart shared. “And it was just nothing. It was nothing. In terms of— it would never have broken up a marriage. I would never have broken up a marriage for it.”
“It was nothing,” she reiterated. “Nothing. It was like the kiss in the cathedral.”
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Stewart said that her affair was “nothing.” (Gabe Ginsberg/Getty Images)
In “Martha,” Stewart also accused Andrew of cheating on her with her former assistant Robyn Fairclough.
“Robyn worked for me and she had lost her apartment or something,” she recalled.
Stewart said that she told Fairclough that she could move into a barn on the property that the cookbook author shared with Andrew.
MARTHA STEWART ADMITS SHE HAD AN AFFAIR DURING MARRIAGE BUT EX ‘NEVER KNEW ABOUT’ IT
“When I was traveling, Andy started up with her,” Stewart said. “It was like I put out a snack for Andy.”
When asked if she confronted Fairclough, Stewart confirmed that she did and “kicked her out immediately.”
“You know, what the hell are you doing? Andy betrayed me. Right on our property,” Stewart said.
“Not nice,” she added.
Director R.J. Cutler conducted interviews with Stewart for the new documentary “Martha.” (Stephanie Augello/Variety via Getty Images)
Three years after his divorce from Martha, Andrew married Fairclough, who was 21 years his junior, in May 1993. However, they later divorced.
Andrew is currently married to Shyla Stewart. Shyla is the president and CEO of the publishing company Fieldstone Publishing, while Andrew is its Publisher Emeritus, according to the business’s website. The couple share five children, per People magazine.
Fox News Digital has reached out to a representative for Andrew for comment.
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Stewart has not remarried, though she was in an on-and off-relationship with billionaire Charles Simonyi for 15 years until they split in 2008. During a 2022 episode of “The Ellen DeGeneres Show,” Stewart revealed that she previously dated Anthony Hopkins but broke up with him because she “couldn’t stop thinking of him as Hannibal Lecter.”
“Martha” will be available to stream on Netflix on Wednesday. (2024 Martha Stewart/Courtesy of Netflix)
Hopkins played serial killer Hannibal Lecter in the 1991 horror thriller “The Silence of the Lambs” and won an Academy Award for his performance.
In a recent interview with People magazine, Stewart revealed that she and Andrew have not spoken in two decades.
“I haven’t talked to him for over 20 years,” she told the outlet. “Sadly.”
“Martha” will be available to stream on Netflix on Wednesday.
