The famous 53-year-old chef revealed why she left the Food Network after more than two decades of partnership.
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After 21 years hosting programs on the Food Network, Giada De Laurentiis announced her departure from the channel in February 2023; at the time, the chef said she was leaving the network in search of new paths for her career, but during Rebecca Minkoff’s Superwomen podcast, she explained the real reason behind her decision.
“It took me a while to make this decision because I was very afraid of leaving the Food Network,” she said. “Because when you’re a big fish in that pond and then you leave, who knows what will happen next? But I really started to be interested in the entrepreneurial journey. And I realized I couldn’t do both.”
De Laurentiis started on the network in 2002 with “Everyday Italian,” a program she hosted for seven years and which earned her an Emmy. The chef also hosted the programs “Giada’s Weekend Getaways,” “Giada at Home,” “Giada Entertains,” “Giada’s Holiday Handbook,” and “Giada in Italy,” and also served as a judge and mentor on “Food Network Star.”
“I really worked so hard for so long,” she said. “I was exhausted and couldn’t see a path that was exciting anymore. I need excitement. I get bored. And if I’m getting bored, my viewers get bored,” she said.
According to De Laurentiis, juggling Todd Thompson’s divorce in 2015, raising her daughter, and her work schedule made her feel “like the world was crumbling around me.”
“So, about two and a half years ago, I finally thought, ‘OK, I’m going to take the leap and put my energy into Giadzy,'” her lifestyle brand. “I’ll still do TV. I have a contract with Amazon, so I still do a bit of that, but it’s definitely not the schedule I used to keep. Definitely not.”
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