Her drug-addicted mother abandoned her as a baby, forcing her to pick berries to survive. Alone, she supported her four siblings. After years of relying on food stamps, she managed to break through and become one of the biggest TV stars we’ve ever had. Her name and journey

Life with Karatz was a far cry from the harsh reality of her upbringing. Suddenly, she found herself living in a mansion in Bel Air, driving a Mercedes, and holding season tickets to the Lakers. She attended parties on P Diddy’s yacht and vacationed in St. Tropez. Her friends included celebrities like Mary Hart, Arianna Huffington, and art consultant Barbara Guggenheim.

Sandra Lee launches her new cookbook “Semi-Homemade Desserts” at the St. Regis Hotel September 29, 2003 Century City, California. The event was hosted By Miramax Books in aid of Project Angel Food. (Photo by Giulio Marcocchi/Getty Images)

The marriage ended in 2005, and shortly after, Sandra began dating Andrew Cuomo, who would later serve as the Governor of New York.

The two met at a garden party, where Cuomo, fit and charming, arrived with his three daughters in tow, which immediately caught Sandra’s attention. Initially, she tried to set Cuomo up with some of her friends, as he was emerging from a difficult divorce from Kerry Kennedy.

However, it didn’t take long for both of them to realize they wanted to be together instead. They dated secretly for over a year, keeping their relationship under wraps from friends and family.

Eventually, the secrecy became too much, and they publicly acknowledged their romance, moving into Sandra’s home in Chappaqua, New York.Unlike her first marriage, Sandra noted that life with Cuomo was anything but glamorous.

Shutterstock

”We do not have full-time help,” she told New York Magazine and added: ”We are normal people. Our basement flooded this morning. Two weeks ago, the snow melted and came in between the floors, and we had buckets in the living room.”

When Cuomo became the 56th Governor of New York in 2011, Sandra took on the role of the state’s de facto first lady. While she largely maintained a low profile during most of his first two terms, she later emerged as a passionate advocate for cancer screening after her own battle with the disease.

Pages ( 4 of 4 ): « Previous123 4