Giada De Laurentiis is participating in Dancing With the Stars season 35.
The celebrity chef revealed that her daughter, Jade Thompson, played a big role in her joining the competition.
Giada previously opened up about her relationship with Jade over the years.
Giada De Laurentiis is revealing the inspiration behind her latest career move.
The celebrity chef will appear on Dancing With the Stars season 35 with pro Alan Bersten, marking a big step outside the culinary world. The season premieres September 15, 2026, on ABC and Disney+.
The star recently got personal about how her daughter, Jade Thompson, whom she shares with ex-husband Todd Thompson, encouraged her to take the gig.
“You know, my daughter inspired me to do it,” she explained to Decider in a September 3 Instagram video. “I think, you know, dropping her off in college and now being an empty nester and really wanting to do something completely out of my comfort zone—she was like, ‘You need to do this. I’m going to go do my thing. I think you need an adventure of your own. Something that really will push you.’ And I found it.”
This isn’t the first time Jade has influenced Giada’s career. When the star spoke to Good Housekeeping on behalf of Peroni Nastro Azzurro in January 2026, she gave even more context.
“What people don’t know is that I’m actually a shy person,” she told us at the time. “I find that my daughter has been so helpful in pushing the boundaries for me and making me take more risks in a way that I don’t think I ever would have before. If she wasn’t around, I may have ended my career a long time ago.”
Giada has been documenting all the fun she’s had during DWTS rehearsals—and Jade’s also gotten in on the social media excitement.
“My first order of business—getting @jademarie_dlt ’s approval 🪩😂,” she wrote on Instagram on September 2.
How special!
