Just now in Chihuahua, Mexico, celebrity chef Aarón Sánchez broke his silence—his voice trembling, his eyes full of tears—as he publicly mourned the sudden loss of his dear friend and Food Network colleague, Anne Burrell. She was 55.
Speaking at a culinary event in northern Mexico, where he had been scheduled to appear long before the news broke, Sánchez took the stage not to promote a dish, but to share a piece of his heart.
“I lost my sister in this world,” he said quietly, pausing to hold back emotion. “Anne wasn’t just a chef, or a TV star. She was family—to me, to all of us who ever stood in her kitchen or felt her love.”
The room fell silent.
Sánchez, who worked alongside Anne on numerous Food Network specials and competitions over the past 15 years, shared that the two had remained close off-camera. Late-night texts. Holiday calls. Honest conversations about burnout, love, and legacy. “She’d lift you up when you were at your lowest,” he said. “And she didn’t do it for show. She did it because that’s who she was.”
He recalled a moment just months before her passing—how Anne had called him after seeing one of his charity interviews. “She said, ‘You made me cry, hermano… but in a good way.’” He laughed through his own tears. “Now here I am, crying for her… in every way.”
“If you ever laughed watching her,” he added, “just know—that laugh was real. And if you ever felt braver because of her, that’s because she gave you a piece of her strength.”
Fans across the world have shared their grief, but hearing it from Sánchez—a man who knew Anne beyond the camera—brought the reality home. This wasn’t just a public loss. It was deeply personal.
As he left the stage, Sánchez turned back one last time and said, “This one’s for you, Anne. I’ll keep cooking loud, just like you taught me.”
And in that moment, it was clear:
Anne Burrell may be gone, but the fire she lit in the hearts of those who loved her will never go out.