The couple welcomed their daughter, Alexis Stewart, in 1965 before separating in 1987 and officially divorcing in 1990.
In 1995, Martha’s mother, Martha Kostyra, told People that the acrimonious divorce left her daughter “badly wounded.”
Kostyra added: “I don’t think she’ll ever get over it.”
Decades later, in 2020, the 83-year-old opened up to the outlet that she had moved forward despite the pain.
“Getting divorced was a terrible thing for me, because we were the first to divorce in my family,” confessed Martha. “And that we haven’t spoken since the divorce is even more painful. But I’m very strong, and I’m very motivated to get on with life.”
“I have survived the rigors of time, of marriage, of childbearing, of building a business from scratch. I have survived very nicely, and I think I make the most of it.”
In the new Netflix documentary “Martha” by RJ Cutler, the businesswoman shared that she was unfaithful to her ex-husband.
“Young women, listen to my advice, if you’re married and your husband starts to cheat on you, he’s a piece of s–t,” Martha said in the doc’s trailer that dropped on Thursday. “Get out of that marriage.”
A producer quips, “Didn’t you have an affair early on?”
Martha then admits, “Yeah, but I don’t think Andy ever knew about that.”
So who is Martha Stewart’s ex-husband? Keep reading for everything you need to know about Andrew Stewart.
He met Martha on a blind date
The pair met when they were set up on a blind date. Martha told People she was attracted to Andrew because he was “extremely serious.” After a year of dating, they tied the knot in 1961.
He went to law school and is now a publisher
Andrew’s serious side was in full effect when he met Martha as a 23-year-old Yale law student. According to the New York Times, Andrew graduated from the University of Virginia before receiving his law degree from Yale.
He also has a master’s of law degree from Columbia University.
Andrew pursued a career in publishing and is currently publisher emeritus of Fieldstone Publishing, a nature publishing company.
He and Martha were home renovators
During their relationship, Andrew and Martha spent time revamping old homes. People reported in 1995 that the pair spent the early weekends of their marriage “restoring a schoolhouse in the Berkshires.”
Andrew and Martha first leaned into home renovations in 1971 after Andrew bought a fixer-upper in Westport, Conn., according to an interview with CNN.
They named the property Turkey Hill Farm, and it was where Martha started her lifestyle empire that launched her into billionaire status in 1999.
Martha and Andrew welcomed their only child together, daughter Alexis, on Sept. 27, 1965.
He is estranged from daughter Alexis Stewart
Andrew shared in 1995 during an interview with People that he regrets how he and Martha raised their daughter, stating, “I think we did a poor job as parents.”
“We were too involved in our professional lives and fixing up the house. We were always making the home into a mythological place. But it wasn’t a home — we didn’t spend enough time with Lexi.”
He called his estrangement from Alexis “a source of tremendous pain.”
He married Martha’s assistant
Following Andrew and Martha’s divorce in 1990, he married Robyn Fairclough in May 1993.
Fairclough was Martha’s former assistant and 21 years younger than Andrew.
The two eventually divorced.
He is currently married to Shyla Nelson Stewart
In 2016, Andrew remarried once again to Shyla Nelson Stewart (per Shyla’s Facebook).
Shyla is the president and CEO of Fieldstone Publishing as well as a “writer, environmental advocate, and artist.”
Andrew’s Fieldstone biography notes that he and Shyla live between Pasadena, Calif., and Lake Champlain in Vermont.
