'Restaurant''s Rocco Splits with Fiancee

By Rebecca Paley

Friday April 09, 2004 04:07 PM EDT

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Things haven't been going well lately for celebrity chef Rocco DiSpirito, star of NBC's "The Restaurant." His flagship restaurant Union Pacific lost a star in its ratings and restaurant magnate Jeffrey Chodorow is suing him for mismanagement. And now on top of it all, DiSpirito has lost his girlfriend.

He and his fiancee, actress Yvonne Scio, have split up, a source close to the chef confirms to PEOPLE.

"Rocco is single again," the source says, adding that despite the breakup DiSpirito isn't down in the dumps. "He is doing great."

It's not clear why they split or who initiated the breakup. While DiSpirito has been under a tremendous amount of pressure at work, a friend of the couple doesn't believe that was the reason. "She was very supportive. She would pick him up at the restaurant all the time," the friend says.

"He is a huge, huge flirt," the friend says of DiSpirito. "That is the way he relates to women. He hams it up." Scio has an entirely different temperament. "She is very reserved and quiet," says the friend, adding, "She never seemed jealous. She is really beautiful."

Even if the couple have parted ways amicably, there is certainly one person who will be left heartbroken: DiSpirito's mother, otherwise known on "The Restaurant" as Mama. The friend says, "His mother really loved her."