New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and longtime girlfriend Food Network host Sandra Lee have broken up after 14 years of dating.
Cuomo and Lee announced the split in a joint statement released on Wednesday, Sept. 25.
"Over the recent past, we have realized that our lives have gone in different directions and our romantic relationship has turned into a deep friendship," the former couple said. "We will always be family and are fully supportive of each other and dedicated to the girls. Our personal lives remain personal, and there will be no further comment."
Rumors of a breakup began earlier this year when Lee, 53, put the home she shared with Cuomo in the New York City suburbs on the market in May. Lee owns the home.
Lee shot down those rumors, writing in a Facebook post at the time: "Both Andrew and I confirmed before the breakup story ran but the story was not true," she wrote on May 14. "Andrew and I are still very much together after 14 years. We share three beautiful daughters that I helped raise and a beautiful home, Lily Pond, where we live.""I’m not getting a divorce. I am not getting married. I am not pregnant," she added in the post, which included a picture with the family of five together.
Cuomo, 61, has spent much of his time in the governor's mansion in Albany since the home, which Lee owns, was put on the market.
Cuomo is currently in his third term as governor.
The former couple met in 2005 and had dated for more than a decade. Lee appeared beside Cuomo at official state functions, but largely stayed out of politics.
The Democratic governor has three adult daughters with ex-wife Kerry Kennedy, the daughter of Robert F. Kennedy and Ethel Skakel Kennedy. Cuomo and Kennedy divorced in 2005.
Lee is a host on Food Network and cookbook author famous for her “semi-homemade” approach to cooking. She emerged as a vocal advocate for cancer screenings after her successful fight against the disease in 2015, which involved a double mastectomy. Cuomo championed the cause as well, successfully convincing lawmakers to increase access to breast cancer screenings.