Food Network has produced some incredible shows, including Ten Dollar Dinners, which
features Melissa d'Arabian. D'Arabian famously won the fifth season of Food Network Star,
going on to success as a TV host and cookbook author. But she's had some tough times, too.
Here's what you may not know.
Ten Dollar Dinners is a fairly straightforward concept for a cooking show, providing viewers
with meal ideas for families that wouldn't exceed a $10 budget with a focus on keeping
the meals both healthy and budget-friendly. One detail that wasn't always made public,
however, is d'Arabian's background and her very real experience inspired her to help
families needing cheap, healthy food options.
According to an interview d'Arabian did with HuffPost, the Food Network star's mother was
a single mom pursuing medical school during her childhood. Growing up in Tucson, Arizona,
d'Arabian learned early on that even something simple like putting food on the table for
your children can be difficult, and sometimes altogether impossible, for people facing economic
hardship. According to her, she often came to grade school without any lunch or money
to buy lunch, relying on a pay-back system at the school and consequently racking up
IOUs. Unfortunately, even the cost of the lunches, apparently just 45 cents at the time,
was too much for d'Arabian's mom, and the young girl often had to find new options for
daily meals.
"That school cafeteria can tell you a lot about where you stand in the social pecking
order, and that's where I realized that I was poor."
Thankfully, d'Arabian found a hero in an unlikely place. When a kind receptionist noticed d'Arabian's
situation, she set up a way for the young student to earn her lunch: She could help
serve food to the other kids in exchange for a free lunch. This, d'Arabian told HuffPost,
had a, quote, "huge impact" on where her life was headed. D'Arabian didn't realize it then,
but this one kind gesture made by a school faculty member would stay with her well into
her adult life and would even serve as part of her inspiration for her future career.
In an interview with Coronado Eagle & Journal, d'Arabian stressed how much better she did
in school on a full stomach, and added:
"I am thankful for the people who reached out to me, shared life through food and found
the compassion to put me in a school lunch program."
Being raised by a single mother and having the help of the benevolent receptionist imparted
on d'Arabian a desire to go on to make a difference in the lives of other women. As she shared
with HuffPost,
"My girlfriends were my family, we were each other's support. I love women, and I'll always
try to help any woman achieve her goals!"
As easy as Melissa d'Arabian may make life seem on her cooking show now, her past is
full of obstacles she's had to overcome. In an interview with Parade, Melissa revealed
that when she was just 20, she called home to ask her mom for her credit card number,
but was instead greeted by an officer who informed her of her mom's death. Her mother
had taken her own life, and Melissa was left to fend for herself in her 20s. As she explained
to Parade, this sudden tragedy made life in her 20s, quote, "a mess."
"Sometimes the only way out is through, and I know that even the biggest tragedies have
their gifts in them."
Though this tragic event played a big part in who d'Arabian is today, she also told Parade
that she's learned to cope, and her anger at her mother eventually turned into, quote,
an "imperfect understanding." While it's a painful memory, the TV star acknowledged that
she feels she wouldn't be the wife and mother she is now without having gone through all
the turmoil and struggle that came during that period of her life.
If you or anyone you know is having suicidal thoughts, please call the National Suicide
Prevention Lifeline​ at​ 1-800-273-TALK (8255)​.
While d'Arabian and her mother may have struggled financially during her younger years, the
Ten Dollar Dinners host actually went on to land a successful job working in finance and
strategy for The Walt Disney Company in France. But when she and her husband, Philippe, started
a family, she gave up that particular career, despite earning more than her spouse did at
the time. And, of course, we know she later focused on Ten Dollar Dinners after winning
The Next Food Network Star cooking competition in 2009.
It turns out Philippe does hold a high-ranking position at Microsoft, so we can assume he's
probably making pretty decent money even with his wife's career in mind. Plus, as noted
on Melissa d'Arabian's Food Network bio, her family lives outside San Diego, a pretty expensive
area to own a house. The success of the duo has led some to question whether d'Arabian
is in any position to tell other people how to cook on a budget, but the Food Network
star has a response to that.
In the face of criticism that she no longer needs to budget her meals because she has
a husband supporting her, she joked to HuffPost,
"The idea of some wealthy husband bankrolling anything I do is really, well, kind of a joke!
My husband and I have laughed over what we've read about me, that I'm a 'trophy wife.'"
Sober living
D'Arabian is not often outspoken about her sobriety, but occasionally something pops
up and she will make a comment that sheds some light on her own recovery. For instance,
in a January 2021 Twitter thread, she discussed her choice to remain sober, and noted that
while she feels she's very open about her sobriety, quote, "lots of folks" don't know
about that part of her life.
The topic arose after The Bachelorette star Tayshia Adams ultimately chose to be with
contestant Zac Clark, who is sober. After watching the show, d'Arabian voiced some of
the concerns she had before getting sober herself, and admitted that she'd wondered
things like how it would affect her eventual wedding, and how she'd celebrate without alcohol.
Though she hasn't spoken on why she made the decision to be sober — and she doesn't claim
that it's a right choice for everyone — she has now been sober for more than 22 years.
After two decades without a drink, the Food Network star called her sober life, quote,
"awesome."
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