Katie Lee Joel former Top Chef host & Billy Joel separate

June 20, 3:52 AMProvidence Food ExaminerDonna Diegel

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A New York State of Mind? Hardly! It was bound to happen. A drop-dead-gorgeous 27 year old chef, cookbook author and former Top Chef host, and 60 year old rock star drift apart and split. How can this happen to a Top Chef celebrity? A fellow foodie that seemingly has it all?

Katie Lee Joel & Billy Joel Split

People Magazine says, "For months, the couple has dodged reports of trouble in the marriage. Joel, 60, married Katie, 27, in a sunset wedding on September 2004 at his 15-acre waterfront Center Island estate in Long Island. Katie is a chef and former host of Bravo's Top Chef."  

Katie Lee Joel - Top Chef Host

According to Wikipedia, "In 2006, she (Katie) hosted the first season of Bravo's Top Chef. Critical reception to Joel's hosting style was less than enthusiastic, however, with many viewers citing her lack of culinary credibility and monotonic delivery as detrimental to the enjoyability of the show. As such, Bravo producers decided to replace her with a more lively Padma Lakshmi in an effort to boost ratings and bolster viewer reception." 

Katie Lee is an awesome chef and fellow foodie. Not only do I admire Katie for her culinary accomplishments, I also adore her husband Billy Joel, The Piano Man himself, author of New York State of Mind. Even though they were ages apart, and she was young enough to be his daughter, it's a crying shame this breakup had to happen to such a cute couple. As a teenager, I had quite the crush on Billy, and owned almost every one of his albums. I have the feeling he's going to be missing Katie and some really good meals very soon!

Katie Lee Joel is also the author of the best-selling cookbook, The Comfort Table. See my review!

Top Chef music video using clips from mostly one episode from season 1, set to the song 'Eat It' by Weird Al Yankovic. Credit Noromongrel, February 12, 2007.

Sources: wikipedia.com; people.com