Giada De Laurentiis is one of the most recognizable personalities on the Food Network. The Italian-born chef is host of Food Network’s Giada at Home, is a mentor on The Next Food Network Star, and also makes appearances on NBC’s Today. Born in Rome, Italy, De Laurentiis was inducted into the Culinary Hall of Fame and is a Daytime Emmy Award winner for Outstanding Lifestyle Host.
De Laurentis studied at the famed Le Cordon Bleu in Paris and had dreamed of becoming a pastry chef, but after working in several high-profile restaurants and finding herself in front of the camera more, it was clear that the 47-year-old was destined to be a television star.
Along with Giada at Home, De Laurentiis has hosted Everyday Italian, Giada’s Weekend Getaways, and Giada in Paradise among others.
She is the daughter of actress Veronica De Laurentiis and actor-producer Alex De Benedtti. Her grandmother was Dino De Laurentiis, a film producer, which explains why she was a natural in front of the camera.
Despite the family history in the movie business, De Laurentiis never had any interest in film. In fact, she turned down a job on a movie to pursue her culinary dreams despite her family feeling different about her passion for the culinary world.
“The summer before I went to culinary school, my family wanted me to take a job on a movie to make sure that I was making the right decision. I think they hoped I would change my mind about culinary school. They felt that being a woman, I didn’t know what I wanted. They thought that cooking professionally was for men, not women. Being a traditional Italian family, I think they just wanted me to get married and have kids,” she said in an interview with TIME.
“But I went to the set, which was a movie my grandfather was producing with my aunt. She moved me everywhere, from costume design to set design, and nothing clicked for me. I hated it. Nothing about it made me want to get up and work — except for the catering truck. It was interesting for me to see how they did so much from such a little truck.”
Giada was married to fashion designer Todd Thompson and has one daughter, Jade Marie De Laurentiis-Thompson. Jade is named after Giada, which is the Italian rendition of the name. After ending their marriage in 2015, she began dating TV producer Shane Farley.