Television personality Sandra Lee has found love once again and is reportedly dating actor and interfaith leader Ben Youcef, who is 13 years her junior, People reported on Friday.
The 55-year-old former Food Network star is said to be a 'good match' with the 42-year-old divorced father of two said a source who added Lee 'needed someone completely different from Andrew [Cuomo]'.
Her new romance comes as her ex, New York governor Andrew Cuomo, is facing bombshell sexual harassment allegations and calls for his resignation across party lines.
New romance: Television personality Sandra Lee has found love once again and is reportedly dating actor and interfaith leader Ben Youcef, who is 13 years her junior, People reported on Friday (pictured in June)
Ben Youcef, Sandra's new beau, is an actor, producer and nonprofit interfaith leader in Los Angeles. He split from his wife and mother of his two children in 2019, finalizing the divorce at the start of 2020, People reported.
'They became friends when they met at a Santa Monica restaurant in March,' a source told the outlet. 'It's very early but they seem to have an undeniable connection.'
They added: 'But both are taking things slowly and enjoying getting to know each other. Meeting each other during COVID was challenging. He's become her friend and loving confidante quickly.'
There is more than a decade in age between the newly minted couple and an insider said that the large gap was a turn off at first for Lee but she eventually came around.
'They became friends when they met at a Santa Monica restaurant in March,' a source told the outlet. 'It's very early but they seem to have an undeniable connection.'
It's been some time since the Semi-Homemade mogul was in the dating game after she took some time off following her 14-year relationship with Gov. Andrew Cuomo that ended in 2019.
'I think she needed someone completely different from Andrew,' the source said. 'It took her two years for her to even consider dating again as she wanted to be sure she could make herself happy and to heal before she brought someone in her life.'
Sandra and Ben are currently on a romantic summer holiday together in St. Tropez, France.
Page Six reported that Youcef's acting career was spearheaded by Steven Spielberg who discovered the Algerian actor and gave him his first break in his 2005 film Munic and later mentored him.
'I think she needed someone completely different from Andrew,' the source said. 'It took her two years for her to even consider dating again as she wanted to be sure she could make herself happy and to heal before she brought someone in her life.' (pictured in 2020)
'Ben is a serious and accomplished nonprofit Interfaith leader providing the call to prayer heard all around the world,' a source told the outlet. 'He is as beautiful inside as he is outside – they make a gorgeous couple. They're both extremely spiritual.'
Meanwhile Sandra's longtime ex, Andrew Cuomo, is in the midst of political upheaval as he deals with sexual harassment allegations.
Lee and Cuomo dated for nearly 15 years after first meeting a cocktail party in the Hamptons in the fall of 2005. Their relationship became public the following year when she left California and moved to New York.
Sandra is reportedly very concerned about the impact that Andrew's sexual
