Martha Stewart's Marriage Was Doomed From The Start

Martha Stewart's almost three-decade-long marriage to Andrew Stewart was packed with chaos from start to finish. The future couple met on a blind date in 1960 and tied the knot the following year, when the lifestyle icon was just 19 years old. In 1965, they became parents with the arrival of Alexis Stewart, who later admitted that Martha's parenting instincts left a lot to be desired. Andrew and the bestselling author ultimately parted ways in 1987. Although Martha was never the same after her divorce, she was ultimately glad to be free from the marriage. 

In her self-titled 2024 Netflix documentary, Martha discussed that she always knew she didn't want to take the more traditional path, sharing, "The cookie-cutter house and the cookie-cutter life was not for me," per Us Weekly. The famously frank star elaborated, "I have two mottos: 'Learn something new every day' and 'When you're through changing, you're through.'" Martha further asserted that she was relieved to have avoided the fate of becoming "a miserable, has-been housewife." 

Likewise, in her 2023 E! News interview, the media mogul acknowledged that she knew plenty of great men who would jump at the opportunity to date her. However, Martha couldn't be the nurturing partner they needed because her career would always be her number one priority. Elsewhere in her 2024 documentary, Martha noted that she had hardly ever opened her heart up to a partner in any relationship because she was always more interested in having conversations centered around life goals and the steps they were taking to make their dreams a reality. 

In Martha Stewart's Netflix documentary, she compared herself to a swan because of her affinity for monogamous relationships. However, that statement came shortly after the homemaking icon admitted to having a short-lived, casual fling during her marriage to Andrew Stewart. Additionally, Martha confessed that although she locked lips with another man during their honeymoon, she didn't view it as an act of infidelity. The outspoken media mogul also made it clear that Andrew wasn't entirely blameless in the downfall of their marriage since he cheated on her with multiple women — including Martha's assistant, who was living with them at the time. However, they both believed the other person had been unfaithful first. Martha also offered a pearl of wisdom, which seemed ironic given her own admission: "If you're married and your husband starts to cheat on you, he's a piece of s***. Get out of that marriage," (via YouTube). 

Needless to say, her ex-husband wasn't pleased with her putting him on blast so publicly. Shortly after the documentary's trailer was released, his wife, Shyla Nelson Stewart, shared a Facebook post where she noted that Andrew had been in several tumultuous marriages, and labeled his union with the TV personality as "painful and abusive." However, she was proud that those days were long behind him since the couple enjoys a simple and happy life together. As Shyla argued, "While Andy quietly moved on and forward with his life, it appears that Martha continues to publicly relitigate the marriage, including comments in a sensationalized trailer for an upcoming documentary on Netflix."