Katie Lee is many things: a popular chef, television personality, cookbook author, and
more. What turned this West Virginia native into the TV star that she is today? Here are
the details on the stunning transformation of chef Katie Lee.
Katie Lee grew up in a small town amidst a large family, in Milton, West Virginia. Her
great grandmother, grandparents, great aunt and uncle, all lived on the same street. Out
of all the members of her family, it was her grandmother, Dora, who was her biggest influence.
As Lee said in her heart-warming eulogy for Dora on Instagram -
"She taught me how to cook, the idea of balance, to be strong, and she had an unparalleled
sense of humor."
Lee was just a toddler when she became sous chef to her grandma. She remembers making
biscuits with her at the crack of dawn, telling the Huntington Quarterly -
"I would get so upset if she started on the dough before I woke up; I would make her start
over so that I could help. Biscuits were the first thing I ever made, so I guess technically
I started cooking at the age of 3."
Growing up, Lee learned the farm-to-table concept up close when her grandma would cook
whatever her grandpa brought from the farm that day. This practice has stayed with her
through the years, as she told the Charleston Gazette-Mail -
"When I go to the farm stand and see what's available — that's where I get most of my
inspiration."
"My grandma taught me that if you had the best ingredients you really didn't need to
do much to 'em."
All through her school years, Lee showed little enthusiasm towards any sports events, telling
the Huntington Quarterly -
"I was never athletic. I tried everything, but I just wasn't good. Reading and writing
were things I really enjoyed, though: I always had my nose in a book."
When she wasn't binging on books, Lee was perfecting her beef stroganoff. Little did
Lee know then that her beef stroganoff would one day be featured on The Rachel Ray Show.
Cooking was never a professional career option for Lee. She did it because it was the most
natural thing to do, saying -
"Food was a big part of my life, but I never thought that was anything special."
But when she moved out of her home and began college, she realized that not all were as
passionate about food as she was, saying -
"I couldn't believe it – I just assumed everyone liked to cook as much as I did."
Lee double-majored in journalism and English at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, while
also taking a few classes on food science. Thanks to her one semester abroad in Italy,
she got a peek into the rich culinary culture of Tuscany.
After graduating from college in 2003, Lee never worked in the field of journalism, but
instead went into cooking. So why didn't Lee pursue culinary studies in the first place?
She told the Associated Press -
"I never thought I could make a career out of cooking. I thought unless you open a restaurant,
there really wasn't anything else you could do."
Her first job fresh out of college was as a fishmonger at Jeff and Eddy's, a restaurant
and fish market in the Hamptons. Meanwhile, she, along with a friend, launched a website
called Olive and Peach that aimed at making people more aware of the food they consume.
A chance meeting with rock star Billy Joel changed Katie Lee's life. She and a friend
were hanging out at the rooftop bar of The Peninsula Hotel in New York when her night
took a turn, saying -
"I am coming out of the bathroom, and who do I almost bump into but [Billy Joel]".
Lee didn't swoon — she hardly knew his musical repertoire. But by the end of the night, another
date was sealed.
"We had this great dinner, and we had pasta and white truffles, and you know, he was really
trying to impress me."
Joel even treated her to a performance at his Broadway show "Movin' Out." Following
that high-octane night, the duo started dating and eventually got married a year later, in
2004. Joel turned out to be Lee's lucky charm. As soon as Katie Lee became Katie Joel, a
flood of opportunities came her way. She told New York Magazine -
"I'm the first person to say having that last name helped me get a foot in the door, but
I feel like I can stand on my own two feet working toward my dreams."
Katie Lee stepped into the television industry as the host of the then-brand-new reality
cooking show Top Chef. At the time, she was still green in the culinary scene, and Top
Chef was a concept that no one had heard of. No one knew what to expect from the series
or the host, but it turned out that the show was a roaring success. But, after the first
season, Lee was replaced by the more experienced television personality, author, and chef Padma
Lakshmi, a welcome change for some viewers who weren't fans of Lee's hosting style.
Since then, she has established her presence in the world of reality television, appearing
as a judge on a number of other cooking shows.
Lee's marriage with superstar Billy Joel lost all its twinkle in five years. The two divorced
in 2009 — a split that went so amicably that Lee has complimented him as being the,
quote, "best ex-husband a girl could ever ask for." According to New York Post, there
were rumors that the two split because of Lee's alleged affair with Israeli designer
Yigal Azrouel. But, according to Lee, it wasn't as dramatic as the media reported:
"Between both of our careers, we started to grow apart and were unable to find a way back
to each other."
The divorce was tough on Lee, given how it had all unraveled in the public eye. She found
healing in a sport that was quite strange to her at the time: surfing. Lee had a fear
of the ocean when she first began surfing, but wanted to try something different during
the difficult time in her life and was ultimately happy she did.
"If you try something new, and conquer a fear, it brings you this whole new sense of confidence."
Surfing didn't just help Katie Lee heal, it also pushed her to branch out as a fiction
writer. With her background, Lee had the skills, not to mention the years-long intention to
pen a novel. But she didn't do it because she often limited herself, thinking that the
book had to be about food.
Surfing had changed her as a person — she was no longer scared to try something new.
As a result, she found herself writing a story inspired by her own life. How did Joel react
to it? Lee told HollywoodLife -
"He thought it was well written. He thought maybe it was a little too 'chick' for him."
Lee's protagonist in Groundswell, published in 2011, is a woman named Emma Guthrie. Just
like Lee, Emma marries a celebrity, gets divorced, and regains her confidence by learning how
to surf. HuffPost reports that the opening scene is set at the Met's Costume Institute
Gala, which Lee and Joel used to attend together when they were still husband and wife.
After Katie Lee and Billy Joel's wedding, they moved into a posh townhouse in the West
Village of New York City. In the first two years of their marriage, they bought two other
properties right by the beach, in Sagaponack, New York. Both of these beach properties were
put on the market soon after their divorce in 2009, according to Variety. Lee then sold
the West Village house for close to $12 million and went for a fresh start in the Hamptons.
She continues to call the Hamptons her home, according to Closer Weekly.
Lee, whose job has always revolved around creating and tasting recipes, knows that her
job is full of temptation, telling Health -
"There's food everywhere, and even off camera, there's craft services, where you can just
walk by and grab a handful of chips."
So how does Lee stay fit? Self-restraint, some discipline, and a ton of vegetables and
fruits.
Lee starts off her day with exercise. As she told Hamptons, it can be anything from a power
walk with her pet dog Gus to an online fitness class. She prefers working out at home to
hitting the gym. Obé, an app that offers live fitness classes that can be streamed
from anywhere, was especially well-suited to her travel-heavy lifestyle, with Lee saying
-
"I liked it so much, I invested in the company, actually."
In 2018, she even transitioned from a workout subscriber to a trainer on Obé, announcing
on Instagram that she was asked to teach a class.
Despite her routine, Lee, like so many other people regardless of fitness level or body
shape, had to deal with insecurity, telling Health -
"I just try to not beat myself up. I always remind myself that I'm healthy, and that's
the most important thing."
After her divorce, Lee started hosting a series called Beach Bites with Katie Lee. Lee's professional
career was on track, so she didn't think much about her personal one, telling Health -
"I kinda thought I never want to get married again."
But Cupid had different plans. Lee first met producer Ryan Biegel on the set of her beach-themed
show in 2016. Though Lee was seeing Beigel for the first time, he already knew of her.
She told Health -
"He told me later that he'd seen a TV segment of me promoting my last cookbook, and he was
like, 'I'm gonna marry that girl.' I was his crush."
Lee and Biegel became friends and began to enjoy each other's company, as Lee explained
-
"The more time I spent with him, the more I thought, 'This is the kind of life I want
to live.' Forget the love stuff—I really like him, too."
After a romantic proposal in Paris, it only took a couple of months for the love birds
to tie the knot at Lo Scoglio on Italy's Amalfi Coast — the place where they fell in love.
Lee and Biegel had planned to start a family soon after their wedding, with her admitting
on Instagram -
"I naively thought it would be easy."
But the reality was far from it. When it was clear that they wouldn't be able to have a
baby the old-fashioned way, they moved on to fertility treatments. This unforeseen issue
took Lee by surprise, as she was scrupulous with her health and fitness routine. She wrote
in an Instagram post -
"We were trying, I had to have surgery to correct a problem, got an infection, then
I was so run down I got shingles."
Finally, the couple decided to give in vitro fertilization a shot. But sadly, the first
attempt was unsuccessful.
While the whole process was emotionally draining, what also didn't help was the barrage of comments
from fans. As Lee wrote in her Instagram post -
"I get comments saying I look like I've gained weight, so I must be pregnant [...] I finally
responded that it's not ok to comment on a woman's body and you never know what someone
is going through."
The arduous journey, fortunately, had a happy ending. Lee announced her pregnancy in February
2020.
For Lee and Biegel, it was one challenge after another. At the time they announced their
pregnancy, the whole country went into lockdown because of the coronavirus pandemic. Lee told
Babe Hatch -
"We're taking life one day at a time and instead of worrying about the future, I'm focusing
on what I can control in the present to keep us safe and my anxiety to a minimum."
The lockdown, as it turned out, was also a blessing in disguise, as it gave both of them
the opportunity to stay close and embrace the journey together. Lee continued to co-host
The Kitchen from home as well. Luckily for her, she had her husband, a TV producer right
by her side to ensure the at-home shoot went smoothly. The show was quite an integral part
for the couple through the lockdown.
Their baby girl, Iris Marion Biegel, was born in September 2020, with Lee telling People
-
"I just love being a mom. I knew that was going to enjoy it, but I had no idea that
I would do this much. My favorite thing is getting her up in the morning, going in there
and seeing her little face smiling."
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