New York Metropolis restaurateur and Meals Community character Melba Wilson mentioned the late Anne Burrell appeared “wholesome” and “vibrant” earlier than her surprising demise on Tuesday, June 17.
Wilson instructed TMZ in an interview printed on Thursday, June 19, that she spoke to Burrell simply final week and described her passing as “completely surprising.”
“Anne was tremendous,” Wilson mentioned of their dialog, noting that they spoke about karaoke and Burrell’s love of board video games.
“To get up yesterday, or to listen to yesterday, that she’s now not with us is devastating,” the Melba’s Restaurant proprietor added. “It’s surprising. It’s unbelievable to know that somebody so energetic is now not with us.”
Wilson instructed the outlet that Burrell and her husband, Stuart Claxton, attended her birthday celebration “a month and a half in the past,” the place the late Worst Cooks in America host was “dancing” and “had an incredible time.”
Earlier than her demise, the favored tv chef appeared in good well being, in line with Wilson.
“Anne by no means talked about something about being sick. That’s why that is such an enormous shock to us,” the restaurateur mentioned. “She was wholesome. She was vibrant. She was lovely.”
Wilson has appeared as a visitor choose on numerous Meals Community reveals, together with Worst Cooks in America, which Burrell hosted, and Beat Bobby Flay.
Information broke on Tuesday that Burrell had died on the age of 55. Her husband, Claxton, reportedly found his spouse mendacity unresponsive on the ground of the toilet bathe of their Brooklyn, New York, residence that morning.
TMZ reported on Wednesday that Burrell was “unconscious” when Claxton noticed her within the bathe. He known as 911 to get assist. Police confirmed to Us Weekly that they had been alerted to the scene at “roughly 7:50 a.m.”
In a press release Wednesday, a rep for the New York Metropolis Fireplace Division mentioned a 911 caller had claimed that Burrell went into “cardiac arrest” and was “DOA [dead upon arrival].”
“Anne was a beloved spouse, sister, daughter, stepmother, and buddy — her smile lit up each room she entered,” Burrell’s household instructed Us in a press release Tuesday. “Anne’s mild radiated far past these she knew, touching hundreds of thousands the world over. Although she is now not with us, her heat, spirit, and boundless love stay everlasting.”
Moreover her husband, Burrell is survived by his son, Javier, in addition to her mom, Marlene, and sister, Jane.

