I Want What They (Almost) Had: Martha Stewart and Anthony Hopkins

Image may contain Tie Accessories Accessory Anthony Hopkins Suit Coat Clothing Overcoat Apparel Human and Person
Photos: Getty Images

Love is a many-splendored thing, especially when you’re gawking at it from the outside. In this column, we’ll be examining the celebrity couples that give us hope for our own romantic futures and trying to learn what we can from their well-documented bonds.

Domestic diva Martha Stewart is, in fact, surprisingly relatable. She loves weed (well, CBD, anyway); she maintains an immaculate—if slightly bizarre—Instagram presence; and from time to time, she likes to indulge in a slice of American cheese. Same, girl!

One thing that sets Stewart ever-so-slightly apart from the rest of us, though (besides the fact that she once owned a pony named Ben Chunch) is her relationship history; recently, Stewart set the internet alight by admitting that she had previously dated actor Anthony Hopkins—and, what’s more, she ended things because of his notorious Silence of the Lambs role.

This fact came to light when Stewart stopped by The Ellen Show last week. During a game of “Two Truths and a Lie” called “Where’s the Lie, Martha?,” one of the clues read: “I dated Sir Anthony Hopkins but broke up with him because I couldn’t stop thinking of him as Hannibal Lecter.” Stewart couldn’t deny it, explaining, “I have a big, scary house in Maine that’s way by itself on 100 acres in the forest, and I couldn’t even imagine taking Anthony Hopkins there. I couldn’t—all I could think of was him eating, you know...”

Stewart, now 80, has also admitted that she and Hopkins “went out to dinner a few times,” but was insistent that “a girl should never kiss and tell.” No disrespect to the culinary goddess, but I’m of the opinion that a girl should kiss and then tell absolutely everyone, especially me. What does a girl have to do to become the go-to confidante for celebrity hookups? (I like to fancy myself a celebrity-hookup doula of sorts, going from one part of L.A. to another dispensing my sage wisdom, but I digress.)

It’s not clear exactly when Stewart and Hopkins went out, but Hopkins has been married to his third wife, Stella Arroyave, since 2003, so presumably it was sometime before then? For her part, Stewart has been divorced from Andrew Stewart since 1990, which means there were 13 or so years when a Stewart-Hopkins relationship could have feasibly come to pass. Honestly, I don’t blame Stewart for one second; have you seen Hopkins as Hannibal Lecter? I watched that movie in a dorm common room with 15 other people at the age of 19, and I still cried out of fear. No offense to the man, who is extremely handsome and dashing even at 84, but how could one possibly associate him with romance rather than terror? Good for you, Martha.


Vogue’s Favorites