ByJessica Booth/Updated: Oct. 7, 2020 3:44 pm EDT
Martha Stewart's daughter isn't too well-known, as Martha has probably accrued fame most for her tasty recipes and super successful lifestyle brand — not for being a mother. Her daughter's name is Alexis Stewart, and she is Martha's only child, whom she had with her ex-husband, Andrew. And while her life might not be making tabloid headlines, Alexis isn't exactly unknown in the world. She is a former television host of the show Whatever with Alexis and Jennifer, and she was the co-host of Whatever with Alexis and Jennifer on Sirius Satellite Radio. She also once co-wrote a book.
Surprisingly, Alexis has made quite the career out of making fun of her famous mother — both her television show and her radio show relied pretty heavily on Alexis and her co-host poking fun at most of the things Martha has done in her professional and private life. Makes sense given Alexis' very blunt, honest personality, but she's not the same woman she always was. Since she made a name for herself in show business, a lot about her life has changed significantly. Here's a look at what Alexis is like today.
Martha Stewart's daughter was once married to one of her mother's lawyers
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In 1997, Martha Stewart's daughter, Alexis Stewart, married lawyer JohnRobert Cuti. According to ABC News, Cuti served as a trial lawyer in Alexis' mother's infamous legal case regarding stock trading. But the pair's relationship wouldn't last. The two were reportedly separated before Martha was indicted in June 2003, but they didn't get divorced until 2004, when the trial was over. In an interview on Larry King Live,Alexis said it wasn't awkward for her and Cuti to be separated during the trial because they are "great friends." She added, "He's a wonderful person and a great lawyer, and it was lovely to have someone there that from the beginning you knew you could trust and would tell you the truth, and you didn't [have] to worry."
Alexis has also admitted to dating someone else before she was legally divorced from Cuti. In the same interview on Larry King Live, she confirmed she was dating someone and had been since her mother's trial, although she wouldn't say who it was.
Martha Stewart's daughter, Alexis, was on The Apprentice with her mom
In 2005, Martha Stewart had her own version of Donald Trump's show The Apprentice — it had the same concept, just with Martha's brand and voice.Although the show, aptly titled The Apprentice: Martha Stewart, didn't last very long (only one season), Martha did manage to get her daughter to take part in it before it ended. People reported that Martha Stewart's daughter, Alexis Stewart, and Charles Koppelman (Martha's chairman of the board), would be joining Martha in the "conference room." Martha called them a "dynamic duo," saying that "no one knows me better thanAlexis."
Alexis herself was happy to be on board, saying in a statement that she felt honored to be part of the show.She also described herself as Martha's "original Apprentice," saying, "Having contributed to almost every aspect of her business empire, I know first hand what it will take for one of these sixteen candidates to win the competition and I'm not afraid to call them out in the conference room."
Martha Stewart's daughter underwent fertility treatments
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In 2007, a 42-year-old Alexis Stewart, then single, opened about her struggles with fertility treatments during an interview with Oprah Winfrey. She explained that, at around 36 years old, she decided that she really wanted a baby. But, describing that point in her life, she said, "It wasn't a good time." She told Winfrey that she started seeing fertility doctors two years later and tried treatments for a year, because, as she said, getting pregnant at her age was hard, noting that her eggs were "dry and crusty."
Martha Stewart's daughter was honest about the treatments. She described the many medications she took every month and talked about how often she had to see doctors to get ultrasounds done. She also said she had three egg implantations, but none of them worked. At the time, she revealed that she felt like she was "sort of back to square one." To get through all of the emotions that come with fertility treatments, Alexis explained that she tries to treat the procedures like a job, saying, "If I get too emotional about it, I'll be unhappy all the time or freaked out all the time," adding, "So I look at it as sort of a chore. ... Not about having a baby, but what I have to go through to get there."
Martha Stewart's daughter has admitted to taking antidepressants in the past
Talking about her fertility struggles certainly wasn't the only time Martha Stewart's daughter, Alexis Stewart, let herself become vulnerable in a public interview.During a 2008New YorkMagazine profile, she discussed her use of antidepressants.According to the publication, she was told she was chronically depressed in her youth, and, in order to combat the depression, she started taking medication for it — specifically, 25 milligrams of Zoloft two times a day.At the time of the interview,Alexis said she was still taking antidepressants, noting, "Now it's one [50 milligram] pill once a day.And that's almost nothing."
When asked about her daughter's depression, Martha told New York Magazine that Alexis was always "striving for perfection" and claimed that that was the reason Alexis went to therapy. She also shared that there was no history of depression on her side of the family. As could be surmised from her comments on the matter, Martha does not appear to think highly of therapy, at least not for her family, though she did send her daughter to a therapist when she was young. Alexis has reportedly confirmed as much, admitting that her mother disapproved of her going to therapy.
Honesty is kind of Martha Stewart's daughter's thing
At this point, it probably wouldn't be surprising to learn that Martha Stewart's daughter, Alexis Stewart, was very open and honest about her life on her Sirius satellite radio show, Whatever With Alexis and Jennifer. Her New York Magazine profile pointed out that, for the two and a half years the show had been on air, she had talked about pretty much everything she had been through in life at the time: plastic surgery, Botox injections, fertility treatments, grooming habits, some of her sexual fantasies, an abortion she had in the past, and even her experimentation with lesbianism. Clearly, she's prefers to live life like an open book.
Alexis also used the show as an opportunity to voice her opinions on pretty much everything, from well-known celebrities to places to eat and her favorite music. She even spent some on-air time arguing with at least one guest until Sirius stopped sending people to appear on the show. It's apparently just the way Alexis is. In any interview she does or appearance she makes, she's unflinchingly honest — no matter the subject.
Martha Stewart and daughter Alexis Stewart did not have a good relationship growing up
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For much of her life it seems, Martha Stewart's daughter, Alexis Stewart, did not have a great relationship with her mom. A source close to the duo told New York Magazine that Martha and Alexis have a "complicated" relationship, saying that, while they both have a lot of love for each other, "they push each other's buttons."When asked if Martha provided her with contact comfort, such as a hug, when she was a child, Alexis answered, "I think not," though she said that she wasn't into hugging anyway. She added, "Martha's scary," and she explained that she always behaved well because she was constantly afraid of getting scolded.
But even though Alexis and Martha might not always get along,New York Magazine's source said that "if anyone says a bad word about Martha, even if she's in a period of not loving her, Alexis is like a mama cat with her baby," noting, "She's deeply protective of her mother's legacy."
Martha Stewart's daughter doesn't speak with her father
If Alexis Stewart's relationship with her mom sounds strained, it's nothing compared to the relationship she's had with father Andy Stewart, Martha's ex-husband. At the time of 2008'sNew YorkMagazineprofile on Martha Stewart's daughter, Alexis and Andy hadn't spoken in over 20 years — not since 1988. Andy himself admitted to the outlet that both he and Martha were "completely immersed in other things" when Alexis was born, saying that neither of them had a lot of time for their daughter. He said something similar in an interview with People, stating, "I think we did a poor job as parents."
He also said that not talking to his daughter was "a source of tremendous pain" for him, saying, "I think of her every single day, many times." Alexis, however, doesn't seem to feel the same way about her father."He was a d*** in many ways," she toldNew YorkMagazine."Monetarily. Emotionally. And he was creepy to me. He's just creepy." Andy told the outlet that he doesn't fully understand why Alexis wouldn't speak to him anymore, though he assumes it has to do with him having left her mother.
Her book was basically a tell-all on life with Martha Stewart
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In 2011, Alexis Stewart and her radio and television show co-host, Jennifer Koppelman Hutt, wrote a book calledWhateverland: Learning to Live Here.Although the entire book wasn't about Martha Stewart's daughter, she did spend a decent chunk of it writing about her family — especially her mother. As reported byABC News, Alexis wrote, "If I didn't do something perfectly, I had to do it again," adding, "I grew up with a glue gun pointed at my head." She opened up about how Martha wasn't always very motherly, and didn't make holidays particularly enjoyable. According to Alexis, she didn't allow her to wear a costume on Halloween and wouldn't take her trick-or-treating. Alexis added that Martha also handed her gifts before Christmas, telling her to wrap them herself without looking inside the boxes. Sounds like Martha's not quite as festive as we've been led to believe!
Weirdly enough, despite Martha's image as a pro in the kitchen, Alexis also complained about food at home. In her book with Hutt, she wrote, "There was never anything to eat at my house. Other people had food. I had no food. ... There were ingredients but no prepared food of any kind." Apparently, there was a sharp difference between the Martha Stewart the public knew and the one Alexis grew up with.
Martha Stewart's daughter ended a famous friendship
For years, Alexis Stewart and Jennifer Koppelman Hutt spent a lot of time together: They co-hosted their SiriusXM radio show and their television show, and they even wrote a book together. Although it was clear to viewers that the two were very different people, it also seemed like they were good friends.But in 2011, around the time that their book came out, it was revealed that the two had ended their friendship.
Awkwardly enough, they still did press together for their book, promoting their shared work even though there was clearly tension between them. It was especially obvious in an interview on theTodayshow, when the two addressed the fact that they were no longer friends. They didn't go into detail on what happened during their interview, instead just insisting that they had spent a lot of time together and were very different people. They even equated their friendship to a marriage ... apparently, a failed one. "Not all marriages last forever," Hutt said when asked about her and Alexis' falling out. When asked if they would ever be friends again, Hutt said that she knew that if Martha Stewart's daughter "doesn't want to be involved in the relationship anymore, then that's how it is. And that's okay."
She never had interest in being a part of her mother Martha Stewart's company
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As The New YorkTimes had pointed out in 2004, a lot of people felt that Martha Stewart's daughter was the "natural choice" to replace her as the leader of Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia.After all, it would make sense given that Alexis Stewart is Martha's only child and seemed to be someone Martha trusted and counted on. But even after Martha resigned as chief creative officer of the company, Alexis made it clear that she had no interest in stepping into her mother's shoes.
In 2004, when asked if she had plans to take over Martha's role one day in an interview onLarry King Live, Alexis said, "I'm not so goal-oriented. I'm more interested in environmental type issues." She explained that, while she's proud to have Martha as her mother, they have very "different personalities." From what Alexis said, it seemed like she may not have really known what direction in which she wanted her life to head — but she did know she didn't want to simply follow her mother's path.
Martha Stewart's daughter had two babies via surrogate as a single mom
In 2011, nearly four years after her interview withOprah Winfreyabout undergoing fertility treatments, Martha Stewart's daughter finally had her first child. After spending up to $27,000 each month for in vitro fertilization (IVF) procedures, not to mention the thousands she dished out for other medications, Alexis Stewart welcomed her daughter, Jude, into the world via a gestational surrogate on March 8, as reported byPeople.Understandably, Alexis said that she largely refused to allow herself to be "excited" about the pregnancy, given as how her surrogates has miscarried a total of four times before she had her daughter. Fortunately, everything worked out for baby Jude."Getting Jude was lucky," Alexis revealed toPeople after Jude's birth. "I'm happy, but this has been rough."
As a single mother, Alexis didn't seem concerned that her daughter didn't have a father present in her life, saying, "[Jude] could have a father like mine, or she could have one that's not there. What's the difference?" Shealso joked about Martha being around Jude too much. "It's so annoying," Alexis stated, "she won't leave!"
Martha soon had another grandchild to spend time with in 2012,when Alexis had a second child born via surrogate on March 6, a son named Truman.
Martha Stewart and her daughter seem to have a better relationship now
Although it's pretty clear that Martha Stewart and her daughter didn't have a super close relationship growing up, it seems like things are a lot better now between them. Martha regularly posts photos of Alexis and her children on her Instagram account, and the two seem to be very protective of one another.In an interview withPeople, their close friend, Manhattan immunologist Dr. Sam Waksal, explained, "It's tough being Martha Stewart's daughter, and Alexis is very private."He continued,"If one doesn't know her, one thinks she's arrogant or petulant. But they're truly close, and Alexis hates it when people criticize Martha."
In fact, Martha even said she found Alexis' book, Whateverland: Learning to Live Here,"hilarious," calling it "enlightening" and "full of funny stories." She added, "I must have instilled in her some good habits. She's tall, beautiful, gorgeous andmother of baby Jude, and that's all that counts." Martha and Alexis are obviously able to poke fun at each other and their relationship, asABC News noted that Alexis even dedicated her book to her mother. "Thanks in advance to my mother for not getting angry about anything written in this book," Alexis reportedly wrote in the dedication.
Martha Stewart's daughter, Alexis, is moving on to bigger things
Since having her children, Martha Stewart's daughter, Alexis Stewart, has pretty much stayed out of the spotlight. She is no longer a television or radio talk show host, and she seems pretty dedicated to family life. But in February 2019, Architectural Digest noted that Alexis had put her West Village triplex apartment on the market for about $53 million. According to the publication, the Manhattan home is made up of four separate apartments with six bedrooms, six and a half bathrooms, and 600 square feet of "outdoor terrace space."
The home is giant, by New York City standards, and gorgeously put together.So, why sell it? Listing agent Richard Ziegelasch of Brown Harris Stevens told the Wall Street Journal that Stewart wanted more space outside for her kids, Jude and Truman, saying, "They'll probably look for something else in the Village with a yard." It definitely makes sense that she would want something a little more kid-friendly.
