Jessica Marotta was having affair with chef Joseph Cerniglia

Joseph Cerniglia, a chef and restaurateur featured in Season 1 of Gordon Ramsay's "Kitchen Nightmares" who recently committed suicide by jumping off the George Washington Bridge, is revealed to have been having an affair with his pastry chef Jessica Marotta, reports the New York Post. The two are pictured together above, left.

Cerniglia had three sons with his wife Melissa, but sources tell the Post that the Cerniglias had been separated "for a long time."

"I assumed [Cerniglia and Marotta were romantically involved] because of . . . the way they interacted with each other," says Gary Polina, owner of a store near Cerniglia's restaurant Campania. "They were very close, and when the rest of the people went home, they would stay behind alone to clean up."

Gordon Ramsay also released a statement about the suicide: "Joe was a brilliant chef, and our thoughts go out to his family, friends and staff."

This is not the first contestant from a Gordon Ramsay show to take his or her own life. Rachel Brown, a chef from "Hell's Kitchen" Season 2, shot herself in 2007 at her family home in Dallas.

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Photo credit: Ted Axelrod, 201 Magazine