Ina Garten is spilling the beans about comparisons between her and former friend Martha Stewart.
The Barefoot Contessa opened up to Oprah Winfrey on the latter’s new “Oprah Podcast” about the lifestyle maven with whom Garten has a long-running feud. Winfrey said she thought cookbook publishers “were trying to change” Garten and “make” her like Stewart.
“Just trust your vision. I think the thing that works is if you’re really true to who you are, if you believe in it so fiercely, somebody out there is gonna believe in it too,” Garten said in an episode released Christmas Eve.
“Just put out who you are and do the best job you can possibly do,” Garten continued.
Garten appeared on Oprah’s podcast to promote her book “Be Ready When The Luck Happens,” which details the Food Network star’s rocky childhood and rapid rise to culinary fame.
Ina Garten is addressing comparisons between her and former friend Martha Stewart.
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Earlier this year, the New Yorker detailed the rise and fall of Garten’s relationship with Stewart, telling the outlet that Garten stopped talking to her when she went to prison for insider trading in 2004.
“When I was sent off to Alderson Prison, she stopped talking to me,” Stewart told The New Yorker in an interview published on Sept. 9. “I found that extremely distressing and extremely unfriendly.”
According to the story, Stewart was a major fan of the famous lemon bars at Garten’s now-shuttered specialty food store in the Hamptons. Later, the pair formed a personal friendship and professional relationship, but it didn’t last and things went sour.
In 2000, the former “Martha Stewart Show” host’s production company launched a show starring Garten for the Food Network called “Someone’s in the Kitchen with Ina,” which didn’t make it to air.
“I remember telling my mother about it, and she said, ‘Why does she want you?'” Garten recalled, while Stewart said it was Garten’s “broad appeal.” But there also seemed to be a dash of shade from Stewart, who told The New Yorker though she “did like the coconut cupcakes,” she clarified that she has never cooked Garten’s recipes.
Later, “The Barefoot Contessa” premiered on the Food Network in 2002. Now, Garten stars in “Be My Guest,” a Food Network series where she invites celebrities over to visit for conversation and cooking.
In October, Stewart addressed her feud with Garten again while appearing as the guest bartender on an episode of “Watch What Happens Live” with host Andy Cohen.
It got messy at the bar when the Bravo host asked Stewart if she had read “Be Ready When the Luck Happens.”
“I’ve read parts of it,” Stewart responded when Cohen asked if she had “read the part about yourself.” The “WWHL” host asked, “What was your take?” before Stewart said back: “She can write whatever she wants.”
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Ina Garten addresses Martha Stewart comparisons amid feud
