Giada de Laurentiis is an Italian American chef, writer, television personality, and the current host of the Food Network programs
Everyday Italian,
Behind the Bash,
Giada's Weekend Getaways,
Giada in Paradise, and
Giada at Home. She also appears regularly as a contributor and guest co-host on NBC's
Today. De Laurentiis is the founder of the catering business GDL Foods.
De Laurentiis was born Giada Pamela De Laurentiis in Rome, Italy, the eldest child of actress Veronica De Laurentiis and her first husband, actor-producer Alex De Benedetti, who was a close associate of his wife's father, the film producer Dino De Laurentiis. Her parents were married in February 1970. After their parents' divorce, De Laurentiis and her siblings moved to Southern California, where Giada and her siblings took their mother's surname.
Her grandparents are producer Dino De Laurentiis and Italian film star Silvana Mangano. Her siblings include sister Eloisa, a makeup artist, and brothers Dino Alexander, a Hollywood film editor, and Igor. Her stepfather is producer Ivan Kavalsky.
De Laurentiis graduated from Marymount High School and holds a bachelor's degree in social anthropology from UCLA (1996).
In 2003, she married Todd Thompson, a fashion designer for Anthropologie. The two had been dating since 1991. The couple's first child, Jade Marie De Laurentiis Thompson, was born on March 29, 2008.
