Martha Stewart Remembers Losing Her Virginity to Her Husband at 19: 'He Was Very Aggressive and I Liked It'

Martha Stewart fell in love with ex-husband Andy Stewart on their first date.

In the new Netflix documentary Marta, the culinary icon recalls meeting Andy while she was a student at Barnard College in New York and he was attending Yale Law School. The couple began dating after being set up by Martha’s classmate and Andy’s sister.

“He picked me up in his little yellow Mercedes sedan,” she recalls in the film. “I’ve never been in a Mercedes before.”

Martha, 83, grew up one of six children in Nutley, NJ. The popular, tall blonde spent her teenage years modeling to provide extra income for her parents, “Big Martha”, a school teacher, and Edward, a failed businessman.

Martha Stewart (top center) with her family.

Martha Stewart/Courtesy of Netflix

Martha remembers going out to dinner with Andy on their first date when she was 19. “He was very polite and handsome, and he traveled a lot. It was exciting to meet a sophisticated young man. And he had an American Express card, which was a big deal at the time,” she says.

Martha Stewart Says ‘Sadly’ She Hasn’t Talked to Her Ex-Husband in ‘Over 20 Years’ (Exclusive)

While the couple were getting to know each other, Martha found Andy “intriguing, playful and likable”, and by the end of the meal she was “madly in love”. Martha says Andy started sending her money every week for a train ticket to visit him in New Haven, Conn.

“I’ve never slept with anyone before this,” she says. “He was very aggressive and I liked that.”

Martha and Andy Stewart.

Martha Stewart/Courtesy of Netflix

When Andy proposed, Martha says marriage seemed like “such a natural thing.” But her father did not approve of the relationship. “I went home and told my dad, and he slapped me,” she recalls. “And he slapped me hard across the face and said ‘No. You will not marry him. He’s Jewish.’”

“I remember getting that slap,” Martha continues. “I wasn’t surprised at all, because he was fanatical and impulsive.” Martha says she told her father, “I’m going to get married no matter what you think.”

She sewed her own wedding dress for her wedding in 1961 and four years later gave birth to a daughter, Alexis.

“The wedding day was very happy,” she says. “Very nice. It was the beginning of my life.”

The documentary also details infidelity in their marriage, revealing that both she and Andy had affairs. Martha recalls a kiss with a “very handsome guy” in Florence’s Duomo on their honeymoon and a “very brief affair” with a “very attractive Irishman” while working as a stockbroker in the late 60s.

Martha Stewart in her modeling days.

Courtesy of Netflix

“It’s nothing,” she insists. “I would never end my marriage for that.”

Andy told producers he “didn’t go astray” until she did. “I don’t know how many different girlfriends he had during that time, but I think there were quite a few,” says Martha, noting that one affair took place at the couple’s Westport, Conn., estate while she was writing cookbooks.

Martha and Andy divorced in 1990 and did not speak for more than 20 years.

Martha Stewart describes her husband’s years of infidelity, including one ‘Right on Our Own’ affair

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Martha told PEOPLE in 2020 that the divorce hit her hard.

“Divorce was a terrible thing for me, because we were the first in my family to divorce,” she said. “And the fact that we haven’t spoken since the divorce is even more painful. But I’m very strong and I’m very motivated to get on with life.”

Marta now streaming on Netflix.

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Source: HIS Education