Celebrity chef’s wife opens up about the explosive REAL truth behind the gossip surrounding her marriage – and the devastating phone call that wrecked her life

EXCLUSIVE

The heartbroken wife of celebrity chef Opel Khan has spectacularly backtracked on comments about the state of her marriage and admitted the couple are divorcing.

Khan – who ran a string of high-class diners across Sydney until he suddenly closed his empire down late last year – insisted over the weekend that his marriage was fine.

His wife Julie even appeared in a FaceTime interview with Daily Mail Australia to deny ‘gossip’ that the couple had split and not spoken in a year.

But on Monday, Ms Khan dramatically admitted: ‘We are not together and are divorcing.’

Last week, Mr Khan vehemently denied the couple had separated ‘some time ago’ and claimed a mystery woman got in touch with his wife claiming to be his secret lover.

‘A woman contacted my wife claiming to be my mistress,’ he told Daily Mail Australia as he furiously denied the allegations.

‘I was at a dinner with five or six females and a photo was sent to my wife insinuating things.

‘Now people are making up all kinds of rumours that there is a baby on the way. None of this is true.’

He added: ‘People in the Bangladeshi community are against me.’

But on Monday Ms Khan insisted on setting the record straight about her relationship with the celebrity chef.

And she admitted she was told details of the allegations against her estranged husband by a mystery informant.

‘I got contacted by someone I didn’t know, it wasn’t a female though,’ she told Daily Mail Australia on Monday. ‘No female has contacted me as far as I know.’

Despite joining her estranged husband for a video call to Daily Mail Australia to say they were still together’, she insists they have split for good.

‘We are not together,’ she said.

The split follows Mr Khan’s mass restaurant closure of French-themed Metisse and pasta diner Acqua E Farina in Potts Point, as well his Bistronomie diner in Surry Hills.

He confirmed the closures last year, insisting rising wages and soaring food costs meant ‘you just can’t make money’ any longer in Sydney’s hospitality industry.

Daily Mail Australia revealed a string of debt collectors have been trying to track him down at previous addresses listed on company files.

The Fair Work Ombudsman has also launched legal action against Khan and his company over allegations of wage theft affecting some of his restaurant staff.

The cook was also allegedly not paid personal leave entitlements, and didn’t get payment-in-lieu-of-notice and annual leave entitlements when his job was axed.

A beverages supervisor also missed out on his paid annual leave entitlements, the ombudsman alleged, and the company failed to calculate and backpay the workers.

Mr Khan strongly denied the claims and said he paid back both workers and provided receipts for bank transfers. The matter is currently still before the court.

Daily Mail Australia can now reveal he is also being pursued over other alleged outstanding debts.

A current tenant at a former residential rental property where Khan and family once lived at has revealed how alleged unpaid bills have filled his mailbox since moving in.

He said debt collectors have continually turned up on his doorstep looking for Khan over the last 10 months after he moved into the Beecroft home in Sydney’s north.

‘Lots of different people and companies have come here looking for him – about half a dozen since February,’ the tenant said.

‘A lot of different people from different companies want to know where he is.’