Anne Burrell

Anne W. Burrell was born on September 21, 1969, in Cazenovia, New York, a small town south east of Syracuse. She said her interest in cooking began at about three years old, watching Julia Child on television and paying attention to the food her mother made at home. Her mother, Marlene, ran a flower shop. Her father was initially unenthusiastic about cooking as a career but later supported her. Her first job in the trade was at a restaurant in downtown Syracuse.

Burrell graduated from Canisius College in Buffalo, New York, in 1991 with a Bachelor of Arts in English and Communications. A year later she enrolled at the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, graduating in 1996 with an Associate in Occupational Studies. She then studied at the Italian Culinary Institute for Foreigners (ICIF) in Asti, in Piedmont, Italy, before spending nine months cooking in Italian restaurants.

In Italy she worked at several restaurants, including La Bottega del '30, a small Tuscan restaurant with one seating each night. Returning to New York, she became sous chef at Lidia Bastianich's Felidia and then chef at Savoy, a small prix fixe dining room. She taught at the Institute of Culinary Education, and Joe Bastianich and Mario Batali named her chef for Italian Wine Merchants. She was executive chef of Centro Vinoteca in the West Village from its 2007 opening until September 2008. In spring 2017 she opened Phil and Anne's Good Time Lounge in Brooklyn, which had closed by April 2018.

On television she began in 2005 as one of Mario Batali's sous chefs, with Mark Ladner, on the pilot of Iron Chef America, and remained on his team throughout his tenure. Secrets of a Restaurant Chef premiered on June 29, 2008. In 2009 she appeared on The Best Thing I Ever Ate. Worst Cooks in America launched on January 3, 2010, with Burrell and Beau MacMillan as rival mentors. She won season one, won season two against Robert Irvine along with a side bet in which she had risked her trademark hair, and won season three against Bobby Flay, before Flay's team beat hers in season four. She remained the show's anchor for many seasons. She placed fourth runner-up on The Next Iron Chef in 2011, was second runner-up in the first Chopped All-Stars, and won the fourth Chopped All-Stars tournament in 2015, earning $75,000 for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. She hosted Chef Wanted with Anne Burrell from June 2012 to October 2013 (three seasons, 36 episodes).

In 2012 Burrell confirmed a two year relationship with chef Koren Grieveson, disputing the idea that she had been outed and saying she had never hidden her sexuality. She announced their engagement on December 31, 2012, but the couple later broke up. In 2018 she met Stuart Claxton on Bumble. They became engaged in April 2020 and married on October 16, 2021, in Cazenovia, New York, with Rachael Ray as a bridesmaid. Claxton's son Javier became her stepson. She spoke warmly about family Mets games and about how much she enjoyed married life.

Burrell's teaching was built on confidence and professional fundamentals, summed up in the title of her second cookbook, Own Your Kitchen: Recipes to Inspire and Empower. On Worst Cooks in America she treated even the most hopeless recruits as people who could learn,. She also spoke openly about being gay and about falling in love later in life.

Burrell is remembered as one of Food Network's defining personalities of the 2010s, an instantly recognisable presence whose blend of restaurant discipline and goofy warmth made professional technique feel achievable. Fellow Food Network chefs including Bobby Flay and Sunny Anderson paid public tribute after her death. Food Network marked her passing with a special run of her episodes and a posthumous new season of Worst Cooks in America in July 2025.

Winner of Worst Cooks in America seasons one, two and three as a mentor. Winner of the fourth Chopped All-Stars tournament (2015), with $75,000 going to the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. Two New York Times bestselling cookbooks. Reported major industry awards beyond these were not found in the sources consulted.

Books (with Suzanne Lenzer): Cook Like a Rock Star (2011); Own Your Kitchen: Recipes to Inspire and Empower (2013).

Television: Iron Chef America (sous chef to Mario Batali, from 2005); Secrets of a Restaurant Chef (from 2008); The Best Thing I Ever Ate (2009); Worst Cooks in America (from 2010); The Next Iron Chef (2011); Chopped All-Stars; Chef Wanted with Anne Burrell (2012 to 2013).

Burrell had been studying improvisational comedy at The Second City in Brooklyn and performed there on the evening of June 16, 2025. She was found unresponsive at her Brooklyn home the next morning and died on June 17, 2025, aged 55. Food Network announced that she had passed away that morning, and her representative and family confirmed the news. The New York City medical examiner later ruled her death a suicide from the combined effects of several medications and alcohol. Her family said her warmth, spirit and boundless love remain eternal.

If you or someone you know is struggling, in the US you can call or text 988, the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline.