Chef Mario Batali jokes he's Gwyneth Paltrow's 'Frenemy'

Washington, Apr 23 (ANI): American chef Mario Batali has joked that when actress Gwyneth Paltrow wrote about a "frenemy" who was once "hell-bent" on taking her down, she was not referring to actress Winona Ryder.

Batali, 48, said Paltrow was referring to him, her co-host on the PBS show "Spain ... On the Road Again".

The chef also joked at the NYC Food Bank's Can-Do Awards on April 21 about the rumours that Ryder and Paltrow's friendship soured after Paltrow went after Ryder's part in 1998's Shakespeare in Love.

"Well, I wanted the part as well, too, I must point out," Us magazine quoted him as joking.

"And I said some very nasty things about both those girls in the bathroom one day. And thank God there were no blogs yet at that time because no one was able to write it down!" he added. (ANI)