Anne Burrell’s Friend Duff Goldman Reveals ‘Last Conversation’

Anne Burrell‘s fellow Food Network star and friend Duff Goldman posted a lengthy tribute to the platinum-haired chef, who unexpectedly passed away on June 17, 2025. He also revealed the details of his final conversation with the star.

People says Burrell left behind a husband, Stuart Claxton, and a stepson, Javier.

Goldman, a pastry chef who has starred on “Ace of Cakes” and “Duff Takes the Cake,” shared a close but complicated relationship with Burrell, according to the tribute post he shared on his Instagram. Read on to see what he had to say.

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Duff Goldman Detailed “Complex” Relationship With Anne Burrell

Goldman began his tribute to Burrell, which he said he had rewritten several times, by sharing that he became friends with the “Chef Wanted” star around 2006. He revealed he made her a special cake when he heard she was going through a rough time.

Goldman revealed he and Burrell didn’t always see eye-to-eye, and recalled a feisty exchange about catfish.

“We had a complex relationship and I remember the last conversation we had before our paths drifted was a pretty feisty debate about the merits of catfish. I believe the words ‘trash fish,’ ‘tastes like mud,’ and ‘cake boy’ were used, haha,” he said. He called their style of banter a “somewhat acerbic back and forth.”

Goldman said after that, the two chefs’ paths drifted apart, and he didn’t see Burrell again until “a year or two ago.”

Duff Goldman Recalled His Last Conversation With Anne Burrell

Goldman said his last exchange with the “Worst Cooks in America” star took place at a gala in New York City.

He says the conversation he struck up with Burrell after running into her in the lobby “left my heart lifted and full of light,” and that it left him believing “Anne really had found a measure of happiness and love.”

While she was known for her wit and sarcasm, Goldman praised Burrell for some of her warmer qualities.

“Anne was as tough as they come, but when you got past the armor there was a depth of compassion and kindness that was absolutely beautiful,” he wrote.

He finished the message by joking that when he gets to heaven, he will share a drink with Burrell and teach her “how to catch and cook the best catfish you ever had.”

“Rest up chef,” he signed off his message, before adding a heart emoji.