Bobby Flay responds to allegations he cheated on Stephanie March

NEW YORK, April 20 (UPI) -- Bobby Flay has responded to recent cheating allegations.

The 50-year-old celebrity chef issued a statement through his rep after Page Six reported Flay cheated on wife Stephanie March, whom he separated from earlier this month.

Friend and actress/writer Maia Madison told the publication Flay was seeing 28-year-old singer/actress Elyse Tirrell for three years. Tirrell worked as a hostess at the chef's Bar Americain in 2008, and later became his assistant.

"She came to my house and was sobbing uncontrollably," she said of March, who allegedly discovered the affair in late 2014. "She said, 'I can't believe the last 10 years of my life have been a lie."

Flay addressed the claim over the weekend, saying, "We will continue to refrain from responding to the continued efforts by certain parties to spread rumors and innuendo. This specific allegation was in a letter sent from one attorney in this case to another."

"It was written and then leaked specifically to try to insert this story into the press, and that's unfortunate," the rep declared. "Even more unfortunate is that all of this is being done in order to renegotiate a prenuptial agreement that was agreed to over a decade ago and never amended during the marriage."

Flay was previously married to Debra Ponzek and Kate Connelly, and wed March in February 2005. The chef is known for his work with the Food Network, and has hosted such shows as Throwdown! with Bobby Flay and Worst Cooks in America.