This article was originally published on Crafting Your Home. A human contributor also wrote and edited the post.
Martha Stewart is not waiting for romance to make her life feel complete. At 85, the lifestyle entrepreneur says companionship matters less to her than it once did, and she appears comfortable with the independence she has built over more than three decades of single life.
Her comments offer a noticeably different perspective from the one she shared in the mid-1990s, when she admitted that she sometimes envied friends with happy marriages.
In a new interview with People, Stewart looked back on her divorce, her dating life, and the routines that now fill her days. She said age has changed what she expects from relationships, explaining that a mate no longer feels essential to her happiness. Rather than describing herself as isolated, she presented a life crowded with friends, work, animals, gardens, business ideas, and social invitations.
The remarks came as Stewart recreated her 1995 People cover at her Bedford, New York, farm shortly before her 85th birthday. That setting made the comparison especially striking because the earlier story captured a woman still adjusting to life after divorce. At the same time, the new interview showed someone far more settled in her choices. Stewart did not reject connection, but she made clear that marriage is no longer the measure of whether her life feels full.
A Very Different Answer From 1995
Stewart divorced her former husband, Andy Stewart, in 1990 after a long marriage. Five years later, she told People that she sometimes envied friends who appeared to have loving, stable marriages. Revisiting that comment in 2026, she said the feeling had faded and that having a partner had become less important with age.
Her clearest explanation was simple: “The older you get, the less you really need a mate.” She also said she would not want the responsibility of being tied to an older partner in poor health, a remark that reflected her preference for freedom and self-direction. The comment was blunt, but it matched the practical tone Stewart has long brought to decisions about work, home, and daily life.
That shift does not mean Stewart believes relationships have no value. Instead, she appears to have separated emotional fulfillment from the expectation that every adult needs a spouse or long-term partner. Her view is less about rejecting love and more about refusing to treat single life as a problem that still needs to be solved.
Her Calendar Leaves Little Room for Loneliness
Stewart said she has many friends and does not consider herself lonely. She still goes out, although she is not always sure whether those outings should be called dates, and she remains active enough that her schedule may be fuller than she would prefer. Her comments suggest that social connection now comes through a wider network rather than one central romantic relationship.
Life at her 156-acre Bedford farm also gives her days a strong rhythm. She wakes around 3 a.m., works on puzzles, handles a demanding schedule, and starts her mornings with green juice and cappuccino rather than the blueberry muffins associated with her 1995 profile. The property includes gardens, animals, studios, and workspaces that support both her private routines and her growing business interests.
Even her approach to parties reflects how firmly she protects her time. Friends call her “LIFO,” meaning last in and first out, because she prefers arriving near dinner and leaving soon after dessert instead of lingering through a long cocktail hour. She enjoys herself, but she does not appear willing to surrender an evening simply because convention says a guest should stay longer.
Dating Is Possible, but Partnership Is Not the Goal
Stewart did not say she had closed the door on dating. When asked about younger men, she acknowledged that she had already explored that possibility, while also noting that she continues to go out and maintain an active social life. What she resisted was the idea that those encounters must lead toward a conventional partnership.
That distinction matters because her comments were not framed as disappointment or resignation. She spoke like someone who has weighed the benefits of companionship against the independence she values and decided that being unattached currently suits her better. The absence of a husband is not presented as a space, but as room she can use for friendships, work, and personal interests.
Her position also challenges the familiar assumption that older single women must secretly be searching for someone. Stewart is one of the most visible women of her generation, and her answer was not built around apology, regret, or a promise that the right man might eventually appear. She described the life she has and made it clear that she already considers it complete.
At 85, She Is Still Building What Comes Next
Romance is only one small part of a much larger picture for Stewart. She has authored over 100 cookbooks, opened restaurants, developed a skincare line, maintained major brand partnerships, and continued working on an autobiography.
She also discussed learning about artificial intelligence and developing Hint, a home intelligence app that adds another project to her already packed schedule.
Her pace helps explain why she sees no need to organize her life around finding a partner. Stewart said she has almost no free time, and even when discussing what she has already achieved, she quickly moved toward what she still wants to create or acquire. The woman who built a career around improving the home now appears equally focused on protecting the independence inside her own.
Turning 85 did not prompt a dramatic reassessment of age, either. Stewart described the milestone as just a number and pointed to healthy eating, exercise, horseback riding, limited alcohol, and regular skincare as parts of her routine.
Her outlook remains future-focused, which makes her comments about single life feel less like a final verdict on love and more like a statement about where her priorities stand today.
For Stewart, being single does not seem to mean living without intimacy, friendship, or excitement. It means choosing a life that does not require a permanent romantic partner at its center, even while leaving space for dinners, outings, attraction, and companionship.
More than 30 years after admitting she envied married friends, she now sounds far less interested in what marriage represents and far more satisfied with what freedom allows.
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