Alton Brown Finally Speaks Out About His Divorce Years Later, Saying We’re ‘Better Off Where We Are’
No one knows as much about second chances as Alton Brown. Brown got into the spotlight thanks to his Food Network show Good Eats. However, the show went off the air in 2011 after a successful 13-year run, only to come back as Good Eats: Reloaded in 2019.
Brown has also had a second lease on love with his second wife. After ending a 21-year marriage to his first wife, DeAnna Brown, the culinary expert kept his feelings and the news under wraps but pulled the veil back to speak about the divorce, saying, “We’re better off where we are.”
Inside Alton Brown’s first marriage
Brown and his ex-wife DeAnna got married in 1994. In 1999, they welcomed their daughter Zoey who attends Georgetown University. When Brown launched Good Eats, he brought his then-wife DeAnna as an executive producer.
Their daughter Zoey also made frequent appearances and was fondly referred to on the show as Alton’s Spawn. Brown and DeAnna were devotees of the Southern Baptist religion. After 21 years together, Brown and DeAnna called it quits with E! News confirming that Brown was the one to file for divorce.
A source close to the couple stated that Brown and DeAnna had separated in mid-2014. The chef filed for divorce near Georgia toward the end of 2014. The source also revealed that Brown had been unhappy in the marriage for a while and that the split wasn’t much of a surprise as everyone had seen it coming.
Their hectic work schedules also did nothing to help the situation. At the time, Brown was deeply involved in the Food Network. His schedule included hosting several cooking shows and a speaking tour.
Alton Brown opened up about divorce years later
Brown might have been a fixture on the Food Network, but he’s managed to keep his private life, well, private. Brown never addressed the divorce when it happened and simply moved on with his life.
However, he spoke to People about it in 2019 for the first time. The chef said, “We really went separate ways in our lives. We changed, the world changed and she went one way and I went the other way. I think we’re probably both a heck of a lot better off where we are.”
After the divorce, Brown left the Baptist church, which tried to keep the duo together despite wanting to part ways. The author noted that he decided to take a hiatus from religion not because he has issues with God but because he has problems with religion.
Brown also noted that his social beliefs contradicted “what falls under most of the structures of organized religion,” which he found challenging to work with. Brown acknowledged that although his marriage to DeAnna had ended, he still wished her well. He said, “We have a great kid in common, so we talk about her, and I wish her well.”
Alton Brown’s second marriage has him not regretting anything
Brown seemingly found happiness in the arms of restaurant and residential decorator Elizabeth Ingram. Brown and Ingram met serendipitously when he hired her to decorate his three-bedroom Marietta, Georgia loft.
Their professional encounters soon unraveled their feelings for one another, and before they knew it, they had gotten engaged. Brown popped the question in April 2018 and they tied the knot in 2018 on a boat.
Speaking about Ingram in the interview, Brown said, “I think that you get to a point in life where you realize that regret is really a waste of time. I’m married to a wonderful woman that seems to like me, so I can’t complain about how I got here.”
