Giada De Laurentiis

Giada de Laurentiis was born in Rome, Italy on 22nd August 1970 as the eldest child of actress Veronica De Laurentiis and her husband Alex De Benedetti, an actor and producer. As a child, she used to work in her family’s kitchen as well as in her grandfather’s restaurant. Her parents divorced when Giada was young, following which she and her siblings moved to Southern California with their mother.

She attended the Marymount High School in Los Angeles. She later attended the University of California in Los Angeles and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in social anthropology.

She was married to fashion designer Todd Thompson from 2003 to 2015. Their only child was born on 29th March 2008. After she divorced Thompson, she started dating TV producer Shane Farley.

After completing her education, Giada de Laurentiis worked for multiple restaurants in Los Angeles. She then started her own catering company called GDL Foods, and landed some famous clients such as director Ron Howard. Meanwhile, she also worked as a food stylist.

She was asked by a friend at the ‘Food & Wine’ magazine to write about her family’s Sunday meal traditions. After an executive at the Food Network saw her article, she was invited to the channel to launch her own cooking show. Laurentiis had never wanted to be on camera and that’s why she initially felt uncomfortable during the show. The show and the channel were criticized for hiring an actress or model, rather than an actual chef. Despite the criticism, she continued the show and eventually won the Emmy Award in 2008 for ‘Outstanding Lifestyle Host’.

She started a new show in 2007 named ‘Giada’s Weekend Getaways’. She also wrote the books ‘Giada’s Family Dinners’ and ‘Everyday Pasta’, which became best-sellers. She became a judge and mentor on the show ‘Next Food Network Star’ as well.

She launched a new cooking program ‘Giada at Home’ in 2008 and a cookbook of the same name in 2010. Both of them were enormously successful. The show has been nominated for the Emmy Awards twice and has won the Gracie Award as well.

She opened her first restaurant called GIADA in 2014, in Las Vegas, Nevada. It serves items such as lemon spaghetti, rosemary focaccia, and lemon flatbread. It has family-style, vegan, and gluten-free options as well.