Despite having a new lover, Sandra Lee’s friends say she’s still grieving from her separation from New York Governor Andrew Cuomo.
The 55-year-old lifestyle guru is now dating Ben Youcef, a 46-year-old Algerian actor, writer, and producer.
As they lounged on the beach in St. Tropez, France, she looked to be wearing an engagement ring.
Those close to Lee said she has battled to recapture her life in the two years after her divorce from Cuomo and her public fight with breast cancer.
Sandra is trying to move on, according to a close friend, since she is still nursing her wounds. “She’s simply trying to keep her head above water right now.”
According to the source, Cuomo’s alleged sexual harassment of 11 women by Attorney General Letitia James this week is a fresh cause of grief.
According to an April story in The Washington Post, Cuomo’s alleged adultery with Lee while their relationship was an “open secret.” A friend remarked, “This has all been incredibly unpleasant and terrible for her to read about.”
She was upset when Andrew broke up with her; she had never spoken out about their relationship and had always kept her lips shut.
“All she needs is a little pleasure and comfort,” says the narrator.
Lee declared the end of her 14-year relationship with Cuomo when she moved from New York City to Malibu, California, in September 2019.
Sandra Lee Moved On?
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“This is Sandra’s first delight in a long time,” a source added, “but it isn’t realistic to claim she’s moved on.”
“Since her divorce from Andrew two years ago, she’s been in excruciating pain. In order to get her life back on track, she had to migrate across the nation.”
According to what we’ve heard, Lee has always been vehement about her affection for former New York governor Mario Cuomo and Kerry Kennedy’s two kids.
Mariah and Cara, all 26 years old, and Michaela, 23, all Ivy League grads, collaborated as co-executive producers on Lee’s latest Starz documentary on Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
Women are “her first and main priority,” according to one source.
The two are said to have met in March at a charity event in Santa Monica when Youcef introduced Lee to Youcef.
The pair were brought together, according to a friend, because they both had a “spiritual background.”
A person close to her remarked, “We’re simply pleased for her.” Sandra will hopefully find happiness, and we are pulling for her.”
Who is Sandra’s, new love?
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Youcef is a loving father to twins who are five years old. In 2019, he and Apryl Stephenson, a California realtor, split, and in January 2020, they filed for divorce.
Youcef earned his big break in Steven Spielberg’s 2005 film “Munich” as a Palestinian member of Black September.
There have been claims that Spielberg coached Youcef and urged him to take the position.
Youcef, on the other hand, refuses to portray parts that he feels are harmful to his community. He maintains that reciting the call to prayer throughout the globe since he was eight years old puts him in check.
Youcef Acting Career
He’s been in multiple episodes of “CSI New York,” as well as CBS’s “SEAL Team.”
“I was born in Algiers on the Mediterranean Coast in the center of a family of seven children,” the former model said on his website. My acting career most likely started while I was competing for attention with my siblings.
The goal of performing for me is to provide the rest of the world with a new perspective on Arab culture. My life is a synthesis of Islamic zeal and modern vitality. In many respects, I’m still a kid at heart, with a childlike outlook on life.
