Martha Stewart

Martha Stewart Reveals the Unexpected Reason She Broke Up With Anthony Hopkins

Let's just say his work on the big screen was a little too intense for her

Anthony Hopkins and Martha Stewart
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Eat your heart out, Sir Anthony Hopkins.

Martha Stewart says she once dated the two-time Oscar winner, but ended their relationship because she couldn’t get past his role as Hannibal Lecter from “The Silence of the Lambs.”

The domestic diva talked about how his Academy Award-winning role affected their relationship Thursday while playing two truths and a lie on “The Ellen DeGeneres Show.”

“I dated Sir Anthony Hopkins but broke up with him because I couldn’t stop thinking of him as Hannibal Lecter,” she said, revealing one of the choices in a round of the game. The other choices included regretting not hosting "Saturday Night Live" and having a tattoo on her foot.

DeGeneres thought that was a lie, but Stewart set her straight about what she thought of Hopkins' role in the 1991 movie.

“I have a big, scary house in Maine that’s way by itself on a hundred acres in a forest and I couldn’t even imagine taking Anthony Hopkins there. I couldn’t because all I could think of was him eating, you know …” she said, not finishing her thought, but alluding to how the character was a cannibal.

Ellen then asked if they really dated and if she called it off because of his infamous role.

“Yeah,” Stewart said, leading to laughter from the audience.

It’s not clear when they dated, but Hopkins did marry Stella Arroyave in 2003. It’s his third marriage. Stewart, who was married to Andrew Stewart from 1961 until 1990, remains single.

Stewart has talked about her relationship with Hopkins before.

“I went out to dinner with him a couple times, but all I could think of was Hannibal Lecter,” she said during an appearance on “The Meredith Vieira Show.” “I’d already seen the movie. And then when he eats the brains, that I couldn’t ...”

Hopkins, who collected his second Best Actor Oscar in 2021 for "The Father," reprised his role as Hannibal Lecter in 2001’s “Hannibal” and 2002’s “Red Dragon.”

This story first appeared on TODAY.com. More from TODAY:

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