A Look Back At HGTV Star Jeff Lewis' Messy Custody Battle With His Ex

While it has been over six years since interior designer and reality star Jeff Lewis broke up with longtime partner, Gage Edward, it's clear there's no love lost between them. The couple dated for 10 years and welcomed a baby girl, Monroe Christine, via surrogate in 2016, before splitting in 2019. This sparked a bitter and legally contentious custody dispute that played out over two years — even throughout the coronavirus pandemic, where Lewis got a chance to focus on fatherhood amid lockdowns.

As Lewis explained on his SiriusXM show, "Jeff Lewis Live," back in 2021, things weren't immediately acrimonious after their split. The pair had a casual custody arrangement of their daughter, and that worked for a short time before lawyers were brought in to negotiate and eventually find a suitable common ground a full 26 months later. The "Hollywood Houselift" star announced that they'd settled their dispute in May 2021.

Both men took different approaches to dealing with the situation. Lewis frequently opened up about their problems on his talk show, detailing their issues and updates on their legal fight, while Edward opted to keep things private. Although, he did take a swipe at Lewis' airing of their grievances when he released a statement to People in 2020. "I will continue to stay silent on the issues related to our private custody case." Edward shared. "The situation is being exploited for attention, which is sad because that ultimately only affects our daughter later."

Apart from one instance in June 2021, a month after coming to an agreement when they posed for a photo together with their daughter to commemorate her preschool graduation, the former flames have struggled to make their co-parenting a smooth operation. Lewis claimed in January 2024, on an episode of his "Jeff Lewis Live" podcast, that Edward is often unresponsive and difficult when it comes to changing their shared time with Monroe.

However, the "Flipping Out" star — who is no stranger to public feuds – also recalled one moment in which the pair actually put their differences aside when it came to the wellbeing of their little girl. He recalled an incident when he was dropping Monroe off at Edward's and she threw up. Without hesitation, both fathers rushed to her aid and worked quickly to comfort and clean her up. "We were like taking care of her, which was awesome," Lewis reflected. "I was like, 'I wish we could co-parent like this all the time.'"

This momentary détente was short-lived though. In September 2024, Edward slammed Lewis after the Bravo star posted a photo of their daughter to his Instagram story. It seems that the tensions between the pair are not likely to die down any time soon.