Jeff Lewis Says He's 'Stepping Back' from His Relationship with Boyfriend Amid Custody Battle
Jeff Lewis is taking a break from his new relationship.
The Flipping Out star, 49, revealed on Thursday’s episode of his SiriusXM show Jeff Lewis Live that he and his boyfriend of three months have put their relationship on pause.
His news comes as Lewis and his ex partner Gage Edward are amidst what he called an “ugly” custody battle over their 2½-year-old daughter, Monroe. Lewis is also currently feuding with one of his brothers, he told his listeners, over their deceased grandmother’s estate.
“I got a lot of personal problems right now,” Lewis said on Thursday’s SiriusXM. “This is a young, young relationship, We’re talking about three months. The last thing I want to do is burden him with my problems. I don’t want to sabotage this. I’m stepping back. There’s just too much going on right now.”
He added: “I don’t have time to date, it’s overwhelming. I’m trying to protect him. I like him. I don’t want this to be a burden on him. You can image dating someone like this for three months, and you have my drama? You would run. This is too much for him. He’s a quiet guy from Portland, Oregon.”
Lewis went on to explain that he and his boyfriend Scott (Lewis has not revealed his last name thus far) hadn’t seen one another for over a week, but were still remaining in contact and would be spending some time together over the weekend. “We’re not committed,” Lewis said, adding that Scott was “really sweet.”
RELATED: Jeff Lewis ‘Dumped’ By Chiropractor, 3 Days After Announcing They’re Dating
But it wasn’t just Lewis’ legal issues preventing him from wanting to commit further to Scott.
Later on Jeff Lewis Live, the house flipper revealed that his breakup with Edward had left him never wanting to get married again or have a child with another man.
“This is a guy who wants kids and a family and to get married,” Lewis said. “I told him that I don’t want to get married… and I also told him that I would never have another child with someone else. That’s not what you want to hear. You want to get married and you believe in the fairytale and you want to have kids together, and the guy you’re with says, ‘I’m never going to get married and the kids I have won’t be with you’? That could probably be a little bit of an issue…”
Lewis and Edward split five months ago after 10 years together.
On Tuesday’s Jeff Lewis Live, Lewis revealed that he and Edward had been involved in a back-and-forth battle over custody of Monroe with their attorneys.
Previously, Lewis had said that Edward had an open door policy when it came to spending time with Monroe, who lives at Lewis’s home. However, the former Bravo star claimed that things took a turn when, after an argument, Edward “locked himself” in Lewis’s guest room.
“He was coming in the home once or twice a day, until recently, when something happened last week where it made me very nervous and scared,” Lewis said on his radio show. “He said that he wasn’t going to come out until I left. And that made me feel very unsafe in my own home.”
After the alleged incident, Lewis said he approached Edward and told him he shouldn’t be coming to the house for visitation with Monroe anymore, but claimed he wasn’t attempting to limit Edward’s access to their daughter. “I will allow you complete access to Monroe, but I think you should just do visitation outside the house,” Lewis claimed he said to Edward.
That’s when, Lewis claimed, he received a “very nasty, nasty letter” from Edward’s attorney filled with “a slew of mischaracterizations, mistruths, accusations and demands” and asking for 50/50 custody of Monroe that would allow Edward to see her three-and-a-half days per week.
“Unfortunately, during breakups you see people for who they really are,” Lewis said. “The problem is, when you hurt each other this way, it’s very hard to get through it. Sometimes people do such terrible things and say such terrible things.” He also alleged that the “events of the last five months” laid out by Edward’s attorney were “drastically different than what happened.”
Edward had no comment on the situation to PEOPLE.
Despite all of these disputes, Lewis still maintained on Jeff Lewis Live that he is not fighting Edward for full parental rights, but instead wants to make sure Monroe is comfortable with the transition. “I don’t dispute his rights as her parent,” he said. “What I dispute is how we do it. She’s two and a half years old. This is her home. Ease her into it.”
Jeff Lewis Live airs Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays (11 a.m. ET) on SiriusXM’s Radio Andy (Ch. 102).
