Bobby Flay and Food Network Costar Brooke Williamson are Dating: ‘Love Bloomed’ (Source)

Bobby Flay and Brooke Williamson are officially a couple. 

The Beat Bobby Flay star, 60, and the Top Chef season 14 winner, 46, are dating, PEOPLE can confirm.

“They have been friends for a while and recently decided to jump in,” a source tells PEOPLE. “Her divorce last year probably gave them some additional shared experiences and over the last few weeks, love bloomed.”

The longtime friends work together on Bobby’s Triple Threat. However, a romance did not start until Williamson and her ex-husband, Nick Roberts, separated two years ago and finalized their divorce in early 2024. She and Roberts share a son. 

Last week, Williamson was honored at Los Angeles’ No Kid Hungry Dinner on March 17 alongside actor Jeff Bridges.

For the event, which had a theme of “Restoring Hope: Feeding Kids in the Wake of the LA Wildfires,” Flay flew to L.A. to surprise the chef and restaurateur. Williamson posted several photos from the event on her Instagram page, calling it the “best night ever” in one post.

“It was very sweet,” the insider tells PEOPLE of Flay’s trip to see Williamson.

The Iron Chef America star was most recently linked to Christina Pérez. The former couple dated for more than three years before PEOPLE learned of their split in June 2024.

Flay was previously married three times. He shares a daughter, Sophie Flay, with his second wife, Kate Connelly, whom he was married to from 1995 to 1998.

Following his split with Pérez, the famed chef and reality star opened up about his love life and whether or not he believed marriage was in the cards for him again during a late October 2024 appearance on Kristin Cavallari’s podcast Let’s Be Honest.

“Is it off the table?” Flay asked in response to Cavallari, 38.

“If you asked me today, I’d say probably, yes. I don’t know,” he replied. “For me, it hasn’t been the best situation. That said, I don’t feel like I need to do it again. I have an amazing daughter who is 28 years old. I’m not having any more kids as far as I know.”

The Bobby Flay: Chapter One author admitted that even though he didn’t necessarily see marriage in his future, that he was still open to love. 

“I would be interested in a life partner for sure. But I don’t think it necessarily needs the documentation,” he said.

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Flay told Cavallari that, in his opinion, things tend to change after couples say “I do.”

“Once you sign a document that says, ‘You are now together,’ there’s something that changes,” he said. “When you try to explain that to people who have never been married, they don’t know what you’re talking about. They’re like, ‘What’s the difference?’ And I’m like well, there is a difference but I can’t really put my finger on it.”

The next season of Bobby’s Triple Threat has already been filmed and will air later this year on Food Network. No exact premiere date has been set.