Food Network favorite Antonia Lofaso is known for her fierce culinary chops, her competitive spirit and her commanding presence on shows like Top Chef, Guy’s Grocery Games and Tournament of Champions — but behind that drive is a story of profound love and loss.
In a new interview with People, the Los Angeles–based chef opened up about losing her longtime partner, the late rapper Dwight “Heavy D” Myers, and how that loss shaped both her and their daughter, Xea Myers, over the past 14 years since his sudden death from a pulmonary embolism in November 2011.
“Every birthday, every holiday,” Lofaso said. “There isn’t a second that goes by, no matter how many years ago [that he died], that there isn’t something that’s remembered or talked about.”
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Lofaso, 48, said Xea continues to keep her father’s memory close, even in her day-to-day life.
“My daughter’s moving right now and she has all of his furniture,” Lofaso shared. “She still sleeps in his old bed that we had in our house. And she has all of his artwork hung.”
A Lesson in Loss and Love
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While the Tournament of Champions winner has rarely spoken about her partner’s death, she told People that navigating grief together taught her and her daughter hard-won lessons about resilience and perspective.
“Unfortunately, death is the most natural part of our lives, and unfortunately, my daughter had to learn that at a very, very young age," said the famous chef, adding, "But I also think it has shaped her. When you experience death of that magnitude at a young age, it changes you in a way that you can't really explain. But it also forever teaches you the lesson of how precious life is, how precious our relationships are — and that is sort of the gift it leaves behind, you know? I know that sounds crazy to say that, but it's the only way to look at it."
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Now a young adult, Xea has forged her own path outside the culinary spotlight.
“She does not want anything to do with the culinary world other than good reservations and a proper meal cooked for her at home,” Lofaso quipped. “She is actually a phenomenal home cook herself.”
Food Network fans may remember seeing Xea cook with her mother during the quarantine episodes of Guy's Grocery Games. Lofaso said that her daughter’s independence is a reflection of the balance she tried to strike between career and motherhood.
"That was a priority for me to have a career. It was a priority for me to be a good mother as well as someone who served herself as a woman who had ideals and goals and ran after them," said Lofaso. "And did that always look pretty growing up? No. There was a ton of hardship and missing a lot of things. A hundred percent. Does my daughter have one of the strongest disciplines and the thought process that 'I can get anything done' ... yeah."
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A Hard-Fought Victory
Earlier this year, Lofaso finally won Tournament of Champions after six seasons of competing. Her daughter was watching — and the reaction was pure emotion.
“She called me and she was like, ‘I’m hysterically crying,’” Lofaso said. “She’s just like, ‘I’m so happy that you finally won.’”
“That’s my proudest moment,” she added. “That’s how I raised her — independent, strong and full of life.”
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