Beth Shak has been obsessed with shoes since the age of 13.
The 42-year-old mother of two from Philadelphia owns a staggering 1,200 pairs of designers heels, including 700 pairs of the famous red-soled Christian Louboutins.
Last week her wealthy hedge fund manager ex-husband filed a lawsuit against her for a portion of her extensive shoe collection.
But nothing will come between Beth and her footwear fixation and she has hit back at her ex maintaining that she will vigorously fight the legal suit.
Beth Shak owns a staggering 1,200 collection of designer heels including 700 pairs of Christian Louboutins
Beth and her daughter admiring the collection
Daniel claims Beth hid her collection in a secret room in their house
Daniel Shak, 52, now wants to get his hands on his ex-wife’s pricey pump collection, which he estimates is worth $1million and says he is due at least 35 per cent of, entitling him to hundreds of thousands of dollars more in their divorce settlement.
He claims he knew nothing about the masses of shoes, which he believes his professional poker player ex-wife hid in a secret room in their $7.5million apartment on Fifth Avenue during their marriage, which ended three years ago.
Beth, who is now dating a new partner, 36-year-old policeman Ben Cook, said her ex-husband's decision to take her to court amounts to 'harassment'.
Beth is working on her new shoe website, Shoes R Forever, which was inspired by her new boyfriend Ben
'We're not supposed to talk about the court hearing, so I don't know how the story got out,' she said.
But she intends fight the claim, which could cost her around her $350,000 in shoes, plus thousands more for her collection of designer handbags.
'I'm going to vehemently defend myself,' she insisted. 'I feel this is harassment.'
She was stunned to discover former husband is claiming 35% of her astonishing designer hoard and his claims against his wife are raising eyebrows after it emerged that his ex-wife and her 1,200-strong collection have featured in numerous TV shows, from MTV’s Cribs to the Today Show.
In 2011, Beth Shak brought a film crew from NBC's Today Show into her three cavernous closets to put on display her pricey size-seven acquisitions, sheepishly admitting to a reporter that some of her fancy footwear cost her as much as $4,000 a pair.
Beth and her staggering collection have featured on MTV Cribs and the Today show
Even her Facebook page is plastered with images of her glittering sky-high favourites by Christian Louboutin and in April she launched her own website dedicated to her obsession called Shoes R Forever, where she offers her picks and writes about the hottest trends in footwear.
The New York Post reported that Shak even has an image of a Christian Louboutin stiletto etched on a private area of her body.
Beth wears her heels regularly, but never loans them to her daughter, as Beth is a size 7 (UK size 5), while Lindy is a size 8 (UK size 6).'There are shoes that I don't even remember buying,' she admitted. 'I'm so short of space I had to give a couple of hundred pairs away. Sometimes I pull a pair out that I don't remember and feel like I got a pair of shoes for free.'
Describing how she funds her massive collection, Beth stated: 'When I have poker winnings the first thing I do is treat myself to a pair of shoes. I've done well with my poker. I don't have complaints.'
However, she is no longer playing in regular poker games, and previous estimates of her winnings came to less than $1m.
The famous World Series of Poker player told the Post that her ex-husband would have to have been the most unobservant husband in history to be unaware of her passion for shoes that would have made the fictional ‘Sex & the City’ shoe maven Carrie Bradshaw blush.
Beth Shak with her boyfriend Ben Cook, 36 and part of her shoe collection
Beth's collection features 700 Christian Louboutin heels ranging from $400-$7,000
A glitzy pair of Louboutin heels are one of Beth's favourites
‘I’m shaking my head over this whole thing,’ said Miss Shak.
‘He is saying he didn’t know the closet in our master bedroom existed.’
Daniel Shak, however, insists that he discovered his ex-wife’s ‘secret’ only last year, according to his lawsuit.
‘Dan trusted his wife and was not inspecting his home to try to find inventory or "secret rooms,"' the suit claims.
A source told the Post that Mr Shak is asking a court near their old family home in suburban Philadelphia for an accounting of his ex-wife’s footwear.
Following their divorce, Beth moved to a luxury family home near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, with her two children Lindy, 17, and Austin, 15. She is thought to be a multimillionaire following the end of her marriage.
Daniel Shak believes the value of the collection may entitle him to hundreds of thousands of dollars more in their divorce settlement
Daniel, who is also a professional poker player, paid her a reported $3.25m so he could stay in their Manhattan apartment, as well as an undisclosed amount for their other assets.
He sold the apartment for $7.4m last year, $200,000 more than the couple paid for it 2005. However, Daniel reportedly lost around $7m on the gold market in 2011.
Beth Shak, who also has an elder son Cary, has since concentrated on promoting herself as a designer shoe collector, with the launch of her new shoe website, as well as appearing in newspapers and on TV shows.
Her boyfriend Ben was the one who inspired her to launch her latest online shoe business. 'Ben really inspired me to take my shoe collection and turn it into something,' she said.
Ben added: 'When I first met Beth and she showed me her shoe collection, I couldn't believe it. There were an unbelievable amount of shoes. Then I got to thinking. If she is this passionate about shoes, she should have her own line.'
Beth's luxurious home in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
I dont see where the controversy is... the sum total of value of the shoes is a substantial asset, and he is entitled to it being included in the division of assets. Plan and simple, and she probably won't be successful contesting that.
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