Getty Andrew Cuomo with his former girlfriend Sandra Lee (l) and ex wife Kerry Kennedy (r)
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has taken center stage in the national coronavirus crisis, due to New York State being a hotspot for the virus and his own detail-laden, reassuring press conferences. With typical New York tabloid-style hyperbole, The New York Post even revealed that women are “coroanvirus crushing” on the governor and wondering whether he’s single.
This appears to be a trend – lonely women, cooped up on lock downs – deciding they are in love with Cuomo via press conference. A Vogue magazine reporter revealed she’s “crushing” on Cuomo. A reporter for Jezebel penned, “Help, I Think I’m In Love With Andrew Cuomo???”
Well, those with Cuomo crushes might be in luck, although he’s a little busy right now. Cuomo is single. City and State New York even made him a fake dating profile, writing in 2019, “Andrew Cuomo is single and ready to mingle.”
Cuomo has had two lengthy relationships with prominent women. He did have a wife once – a Kennedy no less – but he doesn’t anymore. He had a high-profile girlfriend, Sandra Lee, but they broke up in September 2019. (Note: On March 31, Andrew’s CNN anchor brother Chris revealed Chris has coronavirus. You can read about that here.)
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo: “New York loves everyone…Love wins, always. And it will win again through this virus.” t.co/hmODbKuv4b
Here’s what you need to know:
Andrew Cuomo is Divorced From Kerry Kennedy
Andrew Cuomo with Kerry Kennedy
Cuomo’s ex wife is Kerry Kennedy of those Kennedys. According to Oprah’s magazine, they were married for 13 years.
Harper’s Bazaar reports that Cuomo split from Kerry in 2003 “amid allegations of her infidelity.”
They had three daughters together: Michaela, Cara, and Mariah.
A Vanity Fair article describes how Cuomo proposed to Kennedy on Valentine’s Day, 1990, uniting two political dynasties. She was the daughter of Robert and Ethel Kennedy; he the son of former New York Governor Mario Cuomo. “Look, he was very handsome, very charming, very funny,” Kerry said, according to Vanity Fair. “It was a traditional crush.” They both understood what it was like to be in public life, with a friend telling Vanity Fair, “Kerry was the right person at the right time for him. It wasn’t just that she offered him entrée. It was that she understood. And they were kindred spirits who fell in love because they share this bond.”
Kerry Kennedy with her daughters with Andrew Cuomo.
The article describes him as too defensive and tightly wound to fit in well with the boisterous Kennedy clan, however. The marriage started to fail in part because of Cuomo’s focus on his work and shouldering raising three children, the article contends.
A book on Cuomo, excerpted by The New York Daily News, alleged that “Cuomo’s controlling ways — and his disdain for everything from his wife’s housekeeping to her family and friends” doomed the marriage. There were warning signs from the start; he banned toasts at the wedding and planned it with excessive detail and he didn’t like Hyannis Port, says the article, adding that she was accused of having a “liaison with polo player Bruce Colley.”
According to the New York Post, Cuomo became suspicious that his wife was having an affair with Colley. He told his suspicions to Colley’s wife, and they both confronted their spouses, who admitted the affair. It led to the couple’s divorce.
Cuomo Dated Sandra Lee For Years After Meeting Her in the Hamptons & She Became Extremely Close to His Three Daughters
Cuomo’s relationship with the Food Network’s Sandra Lee was a long-term one. According to Harper’s Bazaar, they met in 2005 in the Hamptons, two years after his split from Kennedy.
He brought his kids, and Lee told the magazine that she was “moved she was by the sight of this big, masculine man with three little girls crawling all over him.” She developed a close bond with Cuomo’s kids, telling Harper’s Bazaar that they were “my semi-homemade daughters.”
They kept their relationship very private and off the campaign trail. She told the magazine, “I like being independent. I don’t think that marriage means you’re not independent, but right now I’m very comfortable, and I’m probably the happiest I’ve ever been. I feel solid. I feel safe.”
In September 2019, the couple broke up, according to the New York Times, which reported that they put a home they shared together up for sale.
GettyNew York State Governor, Andrew Cuomo (L), and his girlfriend, television personality Sandra Lee
In a joint statement, Lee and Cuomo said: “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. 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.”
The split upset members of Cuomo’s family. “Sandy has always been a loving and generous presence in the lives of my three nieces, and our entire family. We all love her dearly,” Margaret Cuomo, the governor’s sister, said to The Times. “She will remain a sister and extraordinary friend to me, and a cherished aunt to my daughters.”
Sandra told People Magazine: “Andrew will always be one of the greatest loves of my life and we will continue to be family.”
A Facebook post Lee wrote in 2017 underscored how deeply bonded she had become to Cuomo’s girls, writing, “Although I have never birthed children myself, I simply can’t image loving any child more than I do these three. The thought that I had a hand in helping to raise such beautiful, kind, intelligent girls is amazing. But what I appreciate the most is that Andrew, my life partner and sweetheart, always included me, making me part of the family and the co-parent of these spectacular young women.”
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