Giada De Laurentiis

Giada De Laurentiis (born Giada Pamela De Benedetti) is an Italian American chef, television personality, author and restaurateur best known for her popular Food Network shows, including Everyday Italian, Giada at Home and Giada Entertains. De Laurentiis is the daughter of actress Veronica De Laurentiis and the granddaughter of film producer Dino De Laurentiis. After her parents’ divorce, she moved with her mother and siblings to Southern California. De Laurentiis attended Marymount High School in Los Angeles before enrolling at the University of California, Los Angeles, where in 1996 she earned a bachelor’s degree in social anthropology. She later studied at Le Cordon Bleu in Paris with plans to become a pastry chef.

After returning to Los Angeles, De Laurentiis worked at various restaurants, including Wolfgang Puck’s famed eatery Spago, before starting her own catering company. Her stylish food led to a 2002 feature in Food & Wine magazine, which caught the attention of Food Network executives. She made her television debut with Everyday Italian in 2003 and went on to host Giada’s Weekend Getaways, Giada at Home, Giada in Paradise, Giada in Italy and Giada Entertains. She won a Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lifestyle Host in 2008 and another Daytime Emmy for Outstanding Culinary Host in 2020.

De Laurentiis has authored multiple cookbooks, including Everyday Italian (2005), Giada’s Family Dinners (2006) and Giada’s Italy (2018), with several becoming New York Times bestsellers. She has also opened restaurants in Las Vegas and Baltimore and launched the Italian food and lifestyle brand Giadzy.

De Laurentiis married fashion designer Todd Thompson in 2003. They welcomed daughter Jade Marie in 2008 before their divorce in 2015. She began dating television producer Shane Farley in 2015.