Giada De Laurentiis

Born in Rome, Italy in 1970, Giada De Laurentiis is the granddaughter of legendary film producer Dino De Laurentiis. De Laurentiis and her family moved from Italy and settled in Los Angeles when she was a child. Instead of pursuing a career in film, she earned a degree in social anthropology from UCLA, then went on to study cooking at Le Cordon Bleu in Paris, intending to be a pastry chef.

She worked as a chef at a number of Los Angeles restaurants, including Wolfgang Puck's Spago. De Laurentiis also worked as a food stylist, arranging settings for media shoots, which brought her to the attention of the Food Network. "Everyday Italian" (Food Network, 2003-2011) premiered in 2003, and was clear that she was destined to be a Food Network star. It was followed by her first two cookbooks.

In 2006, De Laurentiis premiered her next venture with the Food Network, "Behind the Bash" (Food Network, 2005-06), in addition to making the first of her many appearances on "Today" (NBC, 1952-). The next year she premiered "Giada's Weekend Getaways" (Food Network, 2007-08) as well as "Giada in Paradise" (Food Network, 2007-2013) and yet another cookbook. In 2008, De Laurentiis premiered "Giada at Home" (Food Network, 2008-2015) and won a Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lifestyle Host for her work on "Everyday Italian."

She made her first appearance on "The Next Food Network Star" (Food Network, 2005-) in 2009 and also began appearing on "The Best Thing I Ever Ate" (Food Network, 2009-).