Lifestyle expert and restaurateur B. Smith‘s husband made headlines recently for posting about his relationship… with his girlfriend.
Dan Gasby has been his wife’s caretaker since she was diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer’s in 2013, and after 27 years of marriage, there’s a new woman in the picture: his girlfriend Alex Lerner.
Dan and Alex, as well as Dan’s daughter recently sat down with Al Roker for the TODAY show about how the controversy has “spun out of control.”
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Dan shared what the response has been like since the initial Washington Post story:
“It spun out of control to ‘I’m having an affair. This woman, because of who she is, is taking B’s money. We’re abusing B. B wouldn’t want this.’ These people have never even talked to B.”
He also spoke about what taking care of B. is like for him, and how his relationship with Alex has changed:
“Taking care of someone like B, even having someone who is taking care of her periodically…the weight of every minute of the day is a blanket on you. And (Alex) was funny. The most important thing, she was kind. And we became friends, and that friendship got closer and closer.”
Alex also chimed in that while things were tough at first, she finds joy in her relationship with B. now:
“But after a while, I understood, or it seemed to me, as if I had met a man who has a child. In a sense that B. is now very child-like. And his responsibilities are almost those of a single father. Like, really being there 24/7. Taking care of every and all of her needs. We find ways to laugh together and find joy in taking walks or doing things together. I would almost say that it’s like sisters. It’s a very sweet feeling.”
Dana Gasby, Dan’s daughter who also assists in taking care of her stepmother, shared her feelings about her father and Alex’s relationship:
“Why shouldn’t my dad have companionship? Why shouldn’t he have someone to talk to? For the first few years, it was just me and him, and it’s hard. I’m not his wife, I’m his daughter. I can’t give him the support that a girlfriend, a friend, a companion can give. I am beyond happy for them. I’m more pissed at the people complaining about them. My life, my family, my stepmom isn’t a trending topic. My stepmom is dying, plain and simple.”
Watch the full interview AND weigh in on what YOU think of the very modern family (below):
[Image via Dan Gasby/Instagram.]