Life as the Wife

Long before we were engaged to be married My Chef told me about some study that he’d read at work.  It was a study that concluded chefs are the most likely profession to get divorced and that those with the most successful marriages are married to nurses.

What a pleasant date night conversation especially since I am not, nor will I ever be a nurse!

I don’t usually put a lot of faith in studies, afterall they tend to be conducted by marketing companies just trying to flog you something you don’t need.  But this conversation has always stayed with me.  And over the years I have come across more and more studies that confirm chefs are the most likely profession to get divorced.  And that chefs rank even higher than politicians in their likelihood to be workaholics.

Awesome!

But even with these statistics, I’ve always had chef couples that defeated the odds to look up to.  The ultimate chef couple being the Blumenthal’s. Heston is one of the most famous chefs in the world with one of the most successful restaurants.  I’ve read interviews where both Heston and Zanna, his wife, talk about what a strong relationship/partnership they have.  And as a relatively new bride to a chef it was the Blumenthal’s who in embodied the perfect little chef family.

So naturally, I was devastated this week when I learned that Heston and Zanna have split up.  And there is a lot of gossip online as to why they split up.  I will say here, I don’t care why.  I’m just sad for the whole family.

I guess the Oliver’s are going to have to take their place as the model chef family.  They’ve been married for 10+ years, have 4 kids and a pretty incredible little empire.  And most importantly, Jamie and Jools have admitted that his workload has caused problems in their marriage.  Maybe it’s best to be honest about these things – afterall, what marriage doesn’t have the occasional rough patch.

Here’s hoping that the Oliver’s, the Leano’s and all the other happy chef couples out there do not become statistics!

PS -  Yes, Rene Redzepi is married!  The term “Rene Redzepi wife” comes up pretty regularly in the search terms for this blog so I thought I’d just put you all out of your misery.