Food Network star Melba Wilson claimed Anne Burrell was “healthy and vibrant” before her shocking death on Tuesday.
The “Melba’s American Comfort: 100 Recipes from My Heart to Your Kitchen” author said she had just spoken to Burrell last week about karaoke and the late chef’s love of board games.
“Anne was fine,” she told TMZ Thursday.
“To wake up yesterday, or to hear yesterday, that she’s no longer with us, is devastating. It’s shocking. It’s unbelievable to know that someone so full of life is no longer with us,” Wilson, 50, added.
The restaurateur told the outlet that she, Burrell, and the “Worst Cooks in America” host’s husband, Stuart Claxton, attended her birthday party “a month and a half ago,” where the late TV personality was “dancing” and “had an amazing time.”
Wilson said Burrell “never mentioned anything about being sick.”
“That’s why this is such a big shock to us. She was healthy. She was vibrant. She was beautiful,” Wilson claimed.
The celebrity chef was found unconscious at her Brooklyn, NY, home Tuesday morning, a New York Police Department spokesperson told Page Six. She was 55.
Burrell’s cause of death has not been revealed and an investigation is ongoing; however, a 911 caller claimed she went into “cardiac arrest.”
Claxton reportedly found his wife’s cold, unconscious body on the shower floor Tuesday morning before calling 911.
Law enforcement sources claimed Claxton last saw the “Secrets of a Restaurant Chef” alum alive at 1 a.m. — just hours before he discovered her body around 7:50 a.m.
In a statement, Burrell’s family members described her as a “beloved wife, sister, daughter, stepmother, and friend.”
“Her smile lit up every room she entered,” her loved ones wrote.
“Anne’s light radiated far beyond those she knew, touching millions across the world,” the statement continued. “Though she is no longer with us, her warmth, spirit, and boundless love remain eternal.”
Burrell was also remembered by several Food Network stars, including Bobby Flay, who revealed the “greatest gift” she gave him before her untimely death was turning him “on to a world of Maine Coon Cats.”