Sandra Lee and her fiancé, Ben Youcef, have officially split and called off their engagement. The pair was together for five years.
Lee and Youcef Split
Lee’s rep, Jen Abel, confirmed the split to People, stating Lee ended her engagement with Youcef. The pair started dating and got engaged in the same year.
Without Her Ring
Rumors started flying about a possible split when TMZ posted a video of Sandra Lee out and about at La Boca in New York City.
However, she wasn’t sporting her engagement ring. Lee dodged questions about a prospective wedding date, stating she was focused on her career.
When asked about the missing ring, she simply said her outfit “didn’t call for jewelry.”
Whirlwind Romance
Lee and Youcef started dating in 2021 after meeting at a restaurant in Santa Monica.
A source shared with People, “Meeting each other during COVID was challenging. He’s become her friend and loving confidante quickly.”
In August of that year, the couple got engaged and celebrated in Paris. A source told Page Six they were “definitely in the midst of planning their wedding” and “looking at places in New York and the Hamptons.”
Lee made her relationship Instagram official on Valentine’s Day in 2022, writing, “So this happened! Ben happened! Love happened! Happiness happened! I was certain it never would again. … shocked when it did. I swore I would never fall again, trust again, love again or open myself up again.”
While their initial relationship was a whirlwind and featured lots of social media posts, the love quieted and stayed private. The pair’s last public appearance was in 2024 for Elton John’s AIDS Foundation Oscars viewing party.
Lee last shared a post of Youcef in 2025 on Valentine’s Day with a video compilation.
She wrote, “To my Special Valentines, Ben, thank you for nearly 4 years of love. We have had so much fun, so much romance, so many special moments.”
Lee’s Past Relationship
Before getting together with Ben Youcef, Lee was in a 14-year relationship with former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo.
During their romance, she was referred to as the “semi” First Lady of New York. She devoted much of her time to Cuomo, sharing with Vogue in 2011, “In 2010 I made a very conscious effort to get ahead of my work; I cleared the decks and reorganized the company so that I would have more time to devote to Andrew.”
However, the pair never went from dating to marriage. Lee and Cuomo split in September 2019 over a comment Cuomo made in the kitchen.
Lee shared with Us Weekly, “The minute he said it, I knew what he’d just said. And every window and door closed. And that was it. … He knows what it is; I know what it is.”