TV chef ‘ghosts own wife and kids’ after changing name and disappearing without a trace-Tori Brazier-Entertainment – Metro

Chef Charles Withers is said to have moved state and changed his name, with his wife claiming he’s ‘ghosted’ her and their two children (Picture: Discovery/TikTok)

A TV chef has reportedly been located after his wife claimed he had ‘ghosted’ her and their two young children a year ago, disappearing without a trace.

In what seems like a truly wild turn of events, the woman explained she was trying to track him down after he allegedly moved states and changed his phone number and name while she was pregnant with their second child.

Ashley McGuire shared her request for help tracking down her husband – a British chef named Charles Withers – on Facebook, after he abandoned them last year.

Remarkably, after her post went viral across social media, it appeared that Withers had been located after less than 24 hours.

Massachusetts-based McGuire explained in her original post, alongside a photo of Withers: ‘Last year, when I was pregnant with our youngest baby he decided being a husband and a dad wasn’t the lifestyle he wanted anymore and he ghosted, like gone without a trace.

‘He has one baby he hasn’t seen in over a year, and one he’s never met. He’s moved somewhere out of state and changed his phone number.’

Ashleigh McGuire took to Facebook to share a plea for information on her husband’s whereabouts, which quickly went viral (Picture: TikTok)

Withers, who his wife believes has adjusted his name to ‘Charlie’, appeared on TV cookery show Chopped in 2022 (Picture: Discovery/Disney)

McGuire went on to add that she wanted to track Withers down to obtain his signature on a few documents to formally divorce him ‘so I can finally close this chapter and move on with my life’.

Withers, who was born in London, previously appeared on TV show Chopped on The Food Network in 2022.

McGuire said that she believed he was ‘going by ‘Charlie’ now’.

‘He’s British and charming as f**k. He’s a chef and probably never mentioned having a wife of kids back in Massachusetts,’ she added.

‘If you know him, if you’re working with him, if you’re dating him or friends with him, can you please have him get in touch with me or let me know where I can find him.’ 

With millions of people viewing the story after it spread like wildfire on TikTok, with Mary Katherine Samples’ video garnering 4.1million views alone, social media sleuths were then seemingly able to locate Withers for his estranged wife.

McGuire had initially posted her plea for help in the Facebook group Are We Dating the Same Guy? and it’s been claimed that he has been traced in Texas.

Just hours after her initial post, the mum-of-two returned to Facebook to share her thanks.

‘I’ve gotten MORE than enough information to locate him. I have literally hundreds of messages to sort through, some with information and some with support and I appreciate all of them,’ she wrote.

McGuire also stressed that she ‘truly’ did not ‘wish him any type of ill will’.

The mother-of-two, who was stunned by the internet’s sleuthing, insisted that she wished the chef, who also appears to have shuttered his restaurant as well, ‘[no] type of ill will’ (Picture: Yelp)

‘I sincerely appreciate all of your support, but please do not make threats, spread hate, or try to go out and locate him. Truly I only want to see this situation resolved so me and my children can restart our lives and fix the damage done’.

In Mary Katherine Samples’ video, the TikTokker also claimed that Withers had absconded from town having closed his restaurant C Salt, leaving customers and staff in the lurch with ‘unpaid wages and unusable gift cards’.

(Picture: Facebook)

Although her claims have yet to be substantiated, the Falmouth-based bar and grille is listed as closed on Tripadvisor.

Two would-be diners have also left frustrated one-star reviews, alleging that they were unable to use their gift cards due to the restaurant abruptly shutting up shop, one of which names Withers as owner and claims he ‘does not deserve any patronage’.

Withers is yet to respond to any of the allegations.

Metro.co.uk has contacted Withers and McGuire for comment.

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