The food world was caught off guard this week after Jack Stein, son of celebrity chef Rick Stein, revealed that he and his new partner, Sophie Elizabeth Taylor, are expecting a baby.
The announcement appeared to come out of nowhere because Jack had not publicly confirmed that his four-year marriage to Lucy Musca had ended. That prompted widespread speculation over when the couple separated and when his relationship with Sophie began.
Jack, 45, shared the pregnancy news several days ago. A review of his social media activity by the Daily Mail now offers a clearer indication of the timeline surrounding his new romance.
First, a look back at the announcement.
Jack, Rick Stein’s middle son and a restaurateur and television personality in his own right, posted an Instagram photograph last Sunday showing him and Sophie holding a scan of their baby.
“One more at the table. April 2027,” he wrote in the caption.
Rick Stein’s television star son Jack has revealed that his new partner, Sophie Elizabeth Taylor, is pregnant, after reportedly separating from his wife of four years, Lucy Musca
Jack has not publicly announced his separation from artist Lucy, with whom he shares a son, Milo, and a daughter, Arla. The couple married in Cornwall in July 2022
Lucy (pictured) has not publicly addressed reports of her separation from Jack, who is now expecting a child with Sophie
The pregnancy announcement quickly drew attention because Jack had never publicly discussed a separation from Lucy, a food stylist and artist with whom he has two children, Milo and Arla.
The pair married during a lavish ceremony in Cornwall in July 2022.
Online discussion soon filled with speculation about the circumstances, with some commenters also referring to Jack’s father’s much-publicised relationship history.
However, social media posts reviewed by the Mail appear to indicate that Jack’s marriage had ended some time ago and that he and Sophie had been together for at least a year and nine months before announcing their pregnancy.
The pair appear to have started dating by January 2025, when they posted a TikTok skit about telling a partner that ChatGPT had been asked to help with a relationship.
Although it attracted little attention at the time, the video now appears to be the earliest subtle public indication that Jack’s marriage was over and that he had begun a new relationship.
By September 2025, Jack had shared another TikTok featuring the pair sunbathing on a beach in Portugal. In the clip, he joked about calling Sophie a “friend” while identifying himself as her “boyfriend”.
“Apparently calling Sophie ‘my friend’ is a crime #redflag #boyfriendfail #datingdebate #toxicornah #relationshiptok,” he wrote.
Social media posts reviewed by the Mail appear to show that Jack’s marriage had ended some time ago and that he and Sophie had been together for at least a year and nine months before sharing their baby news. Jack and Sophie are pictured in a TikTok posted in January 2025
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In September 2025, Jack shared a TikTok showing him and Sophie sunbathing in Portugal, joking about calling her a “friend” while tagging himself as her “boyfriend”
Little is known publicly about Sophie, although social media suggests that her family and Jack’s have longstanding connections.
Jack regularly comments on posts by Sophie’s mother, Dianne Taylor, while members of the Stein family are also connected with Sophie and her family online.
Since Jack announced the pregnancy, Lucy has yet to publicly comment on the news. Both her personal and professional social media accounts have been switched to private and she appears to have reverted to her maiden name online.
It is unclear if they are separated or divorced. Either way, the Daily Mail does not suggest any overlap between the two romantic relationships.
Jack previously spoke about cooking with Lucy in an interview with GQ in 2018, saying: ‘My partner is Italian and I mess about with food all the time. This is the zombie apocalypse movie of food books…’
The news comes after Jack’s father, Rick, previously spoke candidly about the end of his first marriage to Jill Stein, to whom he was married for 32 years.
The culinary icon divorced Jill in 2007 after an affair with Australian publicist Sarah ‘Sas’ Burns, who he met on a book tour and later married.
Rick has discussed the breakdown of his first marriage in interviews, attributing their split to the increasing distance between them, driven in part by the demands of their restaurant business.
Jack and Lucy (pictured far right) are pictured at a Stein family celebration years ago
Speaking to The Times Magazine, he said their work had come to dominate their lives.
‘Our lives didn’t exist outside it. The more successful we got, we had to keep the restaurant going all year and then we didn’t go away on our holidays,’ he said.
Rick said the couple eventually fell out of love.
He met Sarah in 1997 and began an affair that remained secret for years. Jill reportedly did not discover the relationship for five years. The couple separated in 2002 before their divorce was finalised in 2007.
Rick later said he would never be unfaithful again, describing Sarah as someone who ‘lit up his life’. He also rejected the suggestion that the affair was related to their age difference, with Sarah 20 years his junior.
‘I just felt meeting her that I’d known her all my life and that I’d come home,’ he said.
Reflecting on his first marriage, Rick said he and Jill had not brought out the best in one another.
‘I just feel I didn’t bring out the best in Jill, you know? And she didn’t bring out the best in me,’ he said.