Celebrity chef Shannon Bennett has opened up about his new romance with James Packer’s glamorous ex-wife Erica.
The 48-year-old gushed about his new relationship, admitting it was a “fun and amazing adventure.”
“Erica is amazing,” Shannon told the BBC Herald Sun.
“She’s really good, she goes back and forth a lot. It’s a fun and wonderful adventure, it’s amazing we haven’t met before.”
‘We love life. “I am a very happy man,” he added.
Celebrity chef Shannon Bennett has opened up about his new romance with James Packer’s glamorous ex-wife Erica
Shannon and Erica were spotted everywhere during the Christmas holidays.
Erica married James in 2007 and they later split in 2013, but they are on good terms as they co-parent their three children.
Erica reportedly received a $100 million divorce settlement and bought a family home in Los Angeles shortly after the breakup.
James also bought a mansion in Los Angeles worth $80 million so he could be closer to Erica and their children when he was in town.
“James’ main priority at the moment is the well-being of his children,” a family friend told The Daily Telegraph at the time of the divorce.
When Erica visits Sydney, she often lives with her former husband and their children in James’ $72 million Crown penthouse.
The 48-year-old gushed about his new relationship, admitting it was a “fun and amazing adventure.” In the photo Erica in 2013
The ex-couple is so close that they often go on family holidays together.
In contrast, Shannon’s relationship with ex-partner Madeleine West is not so amicable.
Shannon, who shot to fame on MasterChef Australia, split from Madeleine in September 2018 after 13 years of dating.
Madeleine later stated that the divorce process “became love-toxic.”
Two years after their breakup, she left Melbourne and moved to the Byron Bay area to be near their six children, where she bought her own $4.6 million estate overlooking Tallow Beach.
In May 2022, Shannon said Madeleine saw their children biweekly, while they spent the rest of the time with him.
Shannon, who shot to fame on MasterChef Australia, split from Madeleine West (pictured) in September 2018 after 13 years of dating
Madeleine was embroiled in legal proceedings last year with Shannon’s elderly father Benny Bennett, who had an AVO filed against her following an alleged clash at the chef’s Byron mansion in 2022.
Enforcing the AVO, a magistrate described Madeleine as an ‘evasive’ and unreliable witness, and her alleged treatment of her ex-father-in-law, 75, as ‘verging on aggressive’.
But the decision was overturned when Madeleine appealed to the NSW District Court and won in a ruling by Judge Jonathan Priestley, who said ‘the evidence of the facts supporting them is light and not supported by’ the footage of five different CCTV cameras around Shannon. Bennett’s house.