Whether or not you're a fan of the Food Network, you probably know Giada de Laurentiis. While the
celebrity chef made a name for herself thanks to her signature Italian cooking,
her daughter Jade Thompson quickly captured the hearts of fans as well.
From navigating her parents' divorce, to her future aspirations, here's the truth about Jade.
While some people might always dream of having children, that wasn't the case for De Laurentiis
and her husband at the time, Todd Thompson. In fact, it turns out that the arrival of
their daughter wasn't exactly planned. The chef explained that the couple had
previously decided they were fine not having any children at all, but as she told Redbook,
"Then Jade came along, and I was very afraid, and so was Todd. What would happen to this
life we had created, where we'd just take off for Santa Barbara for the weekend?"
"Twinkle, twinkle little star."
While the couple may have had to switch things up a bit,
it's clear that little Jade was a welcome addition to the family.
Two peas in a pod It's no secret that
Giada's Italian heritage is extremely important to her. After all, her cooking largely revolves
around Italian dishes, and her deep passion for pasta is clear. De Laurentiis was born in Rome,
and lived there until she was 7 years old. But she's keeping her Italian roots alive
by passing the traditions on to fans, as well as her family.
"I wanna show you my Italy so let's go. Andiamo."
It turns out, the name "Giada" is actually Italian for "Jade." That means De Laurentiis
and her daughter technically have the same first name, just in two different languages. Not only
do they share a name, but with a quick glance at a picture of the mother-daughter duo, you'll see
that they share the family genes as well. Clearly, De Laurentiis and Jade are two peas in a pod.
As the child of a celebrity chef, you might think Jade would have been born into the good life.
But even so, she was just a child when her parents made a life-altering decision.
In 2014, when Jade was just 6 years old, her parents filed for divorce.
They had been married for 11 years, and together for decades, but ultimately came to the difficult
decision that they were better off apart. The chef shared on Facebook at the time,
"Although our decision to separate comes with a great deal of sadness,
our focus on the future and overwhelming desire for our family's happiness has given us the
strength to move forward on separate, yet always connected paths. Todd and I share a beautiful
daughter and a lifetime of great memories that we both treasure more than anything."
Thankfully, Jade's comfort and happiness remained the top priority as the family
endured that challenging time. It appeared that the family made
a smooth transition into living within two separate homes. As E! News reported,
shortly after Thompson and De Laurentiis divorced, court records indicated that the
couple would have joint custody of their daughter, meaning she divided her time between both of her
parents' homes. De Laurentiis explained how they were working out co-parenting, telling People,
"We live a stone's throw away from each other, like five minutes,
which has really helped keep Jade stable and just keep her environment as similar
as possible at both places. Getting along with my ex-husband really helps
as well. We're supportive of each other and, in turn, supportive of Jade."
Even though De Laurentiis wasn't originally planning on becoming a mother, finding a way to
continue her career and remain a devoted mom for her daughter meant learning to cultivate balance.
And for a while, little Jade got to travel the world with her mom. De Laurentiis explained
that after having her daughter, her work life didn't slow down much at all, telling Redbook,
"Jade knows her mother works and travels, and she travels with me."
"You like it? Thanks pal!"
But the chef also admitted that she sometimes had to hustle in order to
balance her job with parenting. She told People,
"It's tricky but I take it day by day. I try to schedule my time so if I do come to New York for
something, I bang it out and then I go home." Luckily for Jade, De Laurentiis has always strived
to be a solid role model for her daughter. Not only does De Laurentiis have her own successful
career, with plenty of shows, cookbooks, and social media followers to prove it,
but she also has the confidence to match, living as a daily inspiration to her daughter.
"It's sort of a way to be a little creative and to do something really fun."
The chef also explained that while she might be considered one of the most beautiful faces
of the Food Network, she's learned to embrace the status, telling Redbook,
"It's only been the last five years that I've become comfortable with that. A lot of it has come
with age and being a mom. I felt like I had to show Jade that her mom is proud of who she is."
Immediately after Jade was born, plenty of media buzz revolved around
whether De Laurentiis would have more children. But it appeared that she was
perfectly happy with one child — and even that was a big step to take. She shared with Parade,
"When my brother died, I was so close to him that I became very vulnerable and I was afraid
to open my heart up again. I didn't want to experience that kind of loss and pain
any more in my life, and it took me a while to really think about a child."
"I think that my brother sort of, I feel like he's around me all the
time. But I think that here, I might be more in tune to feeling his presence."
As PopSugar reported, De Laurentiis doesn't plan on adding any more kids to the family.
Already busy navigating a jam-packed schedule when her daughter was born,
she told the outlet at the time,
"You don't really know what it's like to have kids until you have one of your own."
When you're the daughter of an iconic celebrity chef, it's only natural that people might wonder
whether you wanted to continue in your mother's footsteps. But while Jade might
like to sample her mom's gourmet cooking, she's not exactly eager to crank up the oven herself.
"Jade's doing all of the artwork over there."
"It's a very small crew but hopefully you guys will love the show."
De Laurentiis told People,
"There's not one single part of [Jade] that's like, 'I'm going to be a cook like my mom.'
She likes to do other things. One day she wants to be a professional horseback rider,
the next day she wants to be a gymnast in the Olympics, and the next day she wants to sing.
It changes every day. Cooking is never on that list."
It looks like when it comes to this girl, the world is her oyster.
While we're all vaguely familiar with the typical celebrity nanny situation,
Jade was yet another A-list offspring who required additional staff. With a mother
who was working as much as De Laurentiis was, it was certainly all hands on deck.
But the chef revealed the challenges of raising her daughter with outside help, telling Redbook,
"Jade gets very attached to her nanny and Todd when I go away, and that can hurt."
De Laurentiis also noted that Jade would sometimes prefer her nanny over her own mom,
but that she also understood. She said,
"I tell myself she's making me pay for not being home
and for missing moments that were important to her."
Even so, the chef acknowledged that she was grateful that Jade and her caretaker
had formed such a loving, trusting relationship. Jade has likely grown up with a wide variety of
delicious food readily available on the table. But even though her mom could easily whip up
anything her heart desired, that doesn't mean Jade has no interest in learning to cook those foods
for herself. As a surprise to perhaps no one, Jade actually does enjoy dabbling in cooking,
"Jade helped me do all of the dishes, which was really our favorite part, of course."
and appears to want to learn at least a little more about it.
De Laurentiis told People,
"I bought Jade a little purple ceramic knife and she just loves it. She's like 'What can I
chop? What can I cut?' It makes her excited about what she's going to make, and then she's more apt
to actually try new things and eat her dinner." While De Laurentiis has been hard at work on the
celebrity chef circuit for years, she has still put in plenty of effort in order to be available
to her daughter as much as possible. Sometimes that looked different than your typical family,
but Jade still had a mom looking out for her. De Laurentiis explained that she
really tried to leave work at work when she could, telling Redbook,
"When I'm home, I work very hard to be […] Jade's mother.
I have no problem going back to those traditional roles."
“So I make Jade a snack and lunch a lot of times during the week."
"I don’t know, It's, I guess it’s just saying 'hi Jade' for lunch, when I can't be with her."
One way De Laurentiis showed Jade she was never too far away, was through her cooking. She said,
"Even when I'm not in town, I'll prepare menus for [Todd] and Jade so he can just heat meals up."
Though there are some obvious advantages to growing up with a celebrity chef as your mom,
it appears that there's a bit of a downside as well. Even though her
mom could cook up a gourmet pasta with a delicious tomato sauce,
it seems as though Jade has turned into somewhat of a picky eater. Well, a kind of-picky eater.
De Laurentiis explained the one thing her daughter won't eat, telling People,
"My daughter hates it when it looks like someone just chewed her toast."
Apparently, Jade is very particular when it comes to her breakfast routine,
so De Laurentiis has had to learn to grate the butter on warm toast so it melts more easily,
and doesn't change the texture or break the crumb of the bread. You have to admire the irony that
a gourmet chef like De Laurentiis has a daughter whose biggest pet peeve with food is how butter is
melted on toast. But of course, Giada has her own dislikes of foods like coconut and green peppers,
according to People…so maybe the apple doesn't fall too far from the tree!
Jade might enjoy a few more luxuries than most kids her age, but at the end of the day,
she deals with many of the same issues as any other teen surely does.
During the pandemic of 2020, while everyone was spending more time at home, De Laurentiis
learned a lot more about her daughter's daily life. She explained to People,
"I thought I knew a lot about my daughter and who she is,
but I felt like I learned a lot more about who she was and what was going on in her world.
She's 12, so I find that for 12 year olds, there's a lot going on.
She had a lot of friend stuff going on. It changes daily. It's a very emotional time."
It appears that — even though your mom may be worth a cool $30 million — no amount of money
can make those teenage years any easier. As the child of divorced parents, Jade has
definitely learned how to quickly adjust to new things in her life.
For instance, it seems she's grown accustomed to splitting her time between her dad and her
mom's houses — but it also appears as though she's taken quite well to her mom's boyfriend.
"After I got divorced, I spent about a year and a half alone,
not dating and not — just sort of figuring things out."
It wasn't too long before De Laurentiis started dating TV producer and writer,
Shane Farley, and in an interview with People, the trio explained how far they
had come as a blended family. For his part, Farley explained to the outlet,
"Jade has got two amazing parents,
so I can be a part of her life without any pressure. I really enjoy hanging out with her."
And as for De Laurentiis, establishing family time
with Farley and her daughter remains her top priority. The chef shared,
"When we sit down to dinner, it is our time as a family to sit and chat.
I believe in no distractions, no television, no getting up, no phones, no nothing. It's just us."
As far as Jade is concerned, it looks like she's feeling the love from everyone around her,
and growing up with as much stability as possible. Considering that her dad Todd has
also linked up with a girlfriend of several years, as well as her kids, we're hoping
that as this family continues to grow, their lives will only get happier by the minute.
[High-five]
"Brava!"
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