Chef Charles Withers who ghosted his pregnant wife had run up $55,000 on Amex, spending hundreds on Ralph Lauren clothing and trips to Madame Tussauds - before taking off for Texas to work for Yellowstone creator Taylor Sheridan

The Massachusetts chef who ghosted his pregnant wife and took off to another state had racked up tens of thousands of dollars in debts after blowing his money on Ralph Lauren clothes and restaurants.

Charles Withers, who turned up in Texas working as personal chef for Yellowstone cretor Taylor Sheridan and his wife Nicole after skipping out on Ashley McGuire, was sued by American Express in November for $55,000 he ran up on the credit card for his restaurant in Falmouth, Massachusetts.

Amex filed his credit card statements to the court which showed him spending $816 on Ralph Lauren clothing and hundreds of dollars at a Mexican restaurant in Falmouth.

He also blew $143 on tickets to Madame Tussauds in New York and $247 at a surf and skate shop.

Massachusetts mom Ashley McGuire, 32, (left) took to Facebook's popular 'Are We Dating The Same Guy?' group claiming her husband Charles Withers (pictured) had picked up and left their family 

DailyMail.com can reveal Withers had racked up over $55,000 in debt  

Charles, who had previously appeared on an episode of Food Network's Chopped in 2022, had been a rising star in the culinary world. He is said to have abandoned his restaurant C Salt Wine Bar and Grille (pictured) in Falmouth, last summer after 'driving it into the ground' 

Withers's other debts included a $13,167 tax lien from the state of Massachusetts which was filed in January and another in March for $15,393.  

The revelations shed new light on Withers's financial troubles and why he may have fled his family and moved 1,800 miles away to start a new life.

Furious customers at the C Salt Wine Bar and Grille, Withers's restaurant, complained in online forums that they had purchased gift cards for the establishment only for them to become worthless when it closed down late last year.

Withers, 29, was forced into the spotlight this week when McGuire, 32, posted about him on the Facebook group 'Are We Dating the Same Guy?' after being unable to contact him for months.

Within hours women in the Dallas area responded saying they had seen him there, with some even saying he had matched with them on dating apps.

After the story went viral McGuire told a local radio station that Withers, who is British, had finally gotten in touch and was prepared to talk to her.

Earlier this week DailyMail.com reported that Withers abandoned C Salt Wine Bar and Grille last summer after 'driving it into the ground' and then abruptly took off to Dallas, where he worked for Sheridan, 54.

But the lawsuit filed by Amex shows that Withers had been struggling financially for months before that.

The complaint, filed in November last year, states that as of May 2023 – around the time he disappeared – he owed a total of $55,463.98 on his business credit card.

Ashley McGuire appeared on a Boston radio station this week after her story went viral and revealed her husband had gotten in touch with her 

Mom-of-two Ashley claimed that he was 'gone without a trace' and said that she now wants to harness the 'power' of social media to track him and finalize a divorce 

'Single moms are a special breed, and I know a lot of you have gone through the same situation I have,' she shared

A statement covering December 2022 states that Withers spent $816.09 on Ralph Lauren clothing.

He spent hundreds of dollars at Casa Vallarta, a Mexican restaurant in Falmouth, including one visit where he paid $123.98 for a meal.

Another $143.67 went on tickets to Madame Tussauds in New York.

Some entries do appear to be legitimate restaurant expenses such as $2,088.75 from The Clam Man, a local seafood seller.

But other spendiing is more questionable for a business card, like $25 to a company called 'Tumble Time Gymnastics', which appears to be a children's gym.

Withers kept in touch with news back in the UK with his subscription to the Daily Telegraph, a British newspaper, for $12.99.

Another $247.45 went to Board Stiff, a surf and skate shop in Falmouth which appears to have no connection to the culinary industry.

The annual membership fee for the Business Platinum card was a stiff $595.

The statement indicates that Withers had accumulated 552,754 reward points which would have required substantial spending and would have been worth $5,000 if he spent it on flights.

Furious customers of C Salt Bar and Grille vented their rage on its TripAdvisor page last year when the restaurant closed down.

Withers has surfaced in Texas where he's working as a celebrity chef for Taylor Sheridan, the co-creator of Yellowstone, DailyMail.com can reveal

Taylor and Nicole Sheridan will not comment on whether Withers is still working for them and have not even confirmed that he ever was. They are pictured with their son Gus, 13

The current status of Charles' restaurant is officially unconfirmed but the eatery is listed as 'permanently closed' on Google and it has come under heavy fire on TripAdvisor

One reviewer named Diane, wrote: 'My daughter gave us a gift card and we booked our table for August 2. The reservation was confirmed by Open Table'

One reviewer, named Bill, said he was 'disgusted' with Withers and slammed him as being a 'classless owner.'

Discussing his gift card, the disgruntled customer wrote: 'I went to use it this November 2023 only to find out the restaurant has closed and stealing my gift card dollars! That should be illegal, stealing customers' unused dollars.'

He said 'Charles Withers does not deserve any patronage for his deceit.'

Another, named Diane, wrote: 'My daughter gave us a gift card and we booked our table for August 2. The reservation was confirmed by OpenTable.

'We were really looking forward to the dinner but we arrived there and it was closed. I don't know why we weren't notified. I had provided my contact information. Since we were on vacation to Falmouth, there will be no opportunity to visit this restaurant again.

'My daughter gave me a generous gift card for my birthday. It was very unfortunate and costly for her and for us.'

McGuire's hunt for her husband turned him into one of the most loathed men in the country.

Jennifer Shuskha, who posts on TikTok under the name Jay Megan, and calls herself an 'internet sleuth' posted on Monday: 'Would you look at that? It's Charles Withers, America's scumbag'.

The Amex case against Withers was voluntarily dismissed last month.

The debt collection agency representing Amex did not respond to requests for comment.

Withers's family did not respond to requests for comment and numbers for Withers himself did not work.

Sheridan's spokesman would not say whether the chef is still working form – or even confirm that he ever did.