What You Need To Know About Giada De Laurentiis' Daughter Jade

Giada De Laurentiis' daughter, Jade Thompson, might not have her own solo show on Food Network, but she is a mini celebrity in her own right; she makes frequent cameo appearances in her mom's various shows. Over the years, fans of De Laurentiis have watched Jade grow from just a toddler eating sugar cookies in season 1 of Giada at Home, to a 12-year-old girl helping her mom bake pizza in season 9. From the glimpses that we've seen of Jade in De Laurentiis' shows and social media posts, we also know that she grew up liking chocolates, slumber parties, dancing, and singing, like most other kids (via Food Network).

As any other pre-teen, Jade seems to keep up with all of the latest TikTok trends, bringing De Laurentiis along in the goofiest of videos, much to the delight of the celebrity's fans. Jade's parents, De Laurentiis and her ex-husband, Todd Thompson, are no longer together (via People). But as parents to their daughter, the duo seems to be discharging its role to perfection. Seeing the honeyed words about little Jade and swoon-worthy photos of a happy family on both her mom's and dad's social media accounts, one can safely assume that Jade is living her best life. Not to mention she's had the opportunity of being her mom's frequent travel partner — be it to her ancestral city, Rome, or a star-studded event like the Daytime Emmy Awards.

Jade Thompson was born the year her mother, Giada De Laurentiis, bagged her first Emmy Award for Everyday Italian in 2008 (via IMDb). The program, which launched in 2003, was Laurentiis' first show on Food Network. The series' success paved the path to Laurentiis hosting shows like Giada's Weekend Getaways and Giada in Paradise, in addition to making appearances in shows like Iron Chef America and The Next Food Network Star – all in the five years since her debut. In short, De Laurentiis was famous. Her calendar was still choc-a-bloc with travel and shooting for television when she and her ex-husband Todd Thompson, a clothing designer (now retired), brought Jade Marie De Laurentiis Thompson into the world in March 2008 (via the Baltimore Sun). 

De Laurentiis, though a new mom, had to keep up with work. Oftentimes, she had to leave her toddler in the care of her husband and a nanny. And while it wasn't easy for De Laurentiis, Jade didn't seem to mind her mother's absence. "Jade gets very attached to her nanny and Todd when I go away, and that can hurt. She's at the age where she'll say to me, 'Go away, Mommy, I don't want you.' Is it painful? Yes, very painful. But I tell myself she's making me pay for not being home and for missing moments that were important to her," De Laurentiis told Redbook in an interview.

Giada De Laurentiis and her ex-husband, Todd Thompson, never planned to have kids; they'd been together for 18 years and married for five when De Laurentiis found that she was pregnant — and she was 37 years old. "It was a complete surprise — not planned at all. It was never that we didn't want children; it was more like, 'If we have them someday, great. If not, that's fine too,'" De Laurentiis told People in a 2007 interview, soon after announcing her pregnancy.

De Laurentiis was, in fact, apprehensive about having a child after losing her younger brother to cancer in 2003; the loss had affected her deeply. "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," she explained in an interview with Parade. But then, Jade was born, and all of De Laurentiis' apprehensions fell away. With Jade's presence, De Laurentiis was again able to truly love, just the way she had loved her younger brother. Talk about a happy ending.

As a kid, Jade Thompson preferred to give her mom, Giada De Laurentiis, company in the kitchen. Lego, cartoons, and slime didn't stand a chance when Jade could watch her mom making balls of pizza dough. "I've gained a partner in the kitchen, as little as she is. It warms [my] heart like nothing else," De Laurentiis told Today, when Jade was all of three months. Fast forward to when Jade turned five years old: "I thought maybe she wouldn't want to cook like me because she'd want to do her own thing, but she's so into what I do and wants to be by my side every day," Laurentiis revealed in a chat with Parade. The truth is, Jade never stopped being Laurentiis' kitchen partner.

While there's no doubt the mother and daughter bond over food, their friendship goes beyond the walls of the kitchen to include movie nights, travel, making DIY masks, and so much more. "I know I'm her mother, but she's become my best friend," Di Laurentiis continued. "We have so much fun together. I never realized I could have so much fun with a 5 year old! I didn't think it was possible, but we laugh so much, and she's so inquisitive."

Jade Thompson was just a little over 6 when Giada De Laurentiis and Todd Thompson decided to go their separate ways in 2014 (via People). They'd been married for 11 years and in a relationship for over two decades. De Laurentiis announced the news of their split on her Facebook page. "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," she wrote in the post.

It came as a shocker to De Laurentiis' fans who were used to seeing a picture-perfect family. And as with every divorce, the immediate concern seems to be: what about the kid? It was decided that the couple, though they'd live separately, would co-parent Jade. And that, they continue to do. "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," Laurentiis explained to People in a 2017 interview. Indeed. the three were spotted celebrating Thompson's 10th birthday at Benihana in NYC and her graduation in Malibu. "Getting along with my ex-husband really helps as well," De Laurentiis added. "We're supportive of each other and, in turn, supportive of Jade."

It's never too soon to learn to cope with stress — at least, Giada De Laurentiis thinks so. While the divorce from her ex-husband ended amicably, she also wanted to make sure that it didn't have a negative impact on her daughter, Jade Thompson. "Her dad and I got divorced when she was 5," De Laurentiis shared in an interview with Parade. "Although she doesn't remember a lot, and she does pretty well, there's still a lot of stress that builds up over time."

And De Laurentiis is right to be wary about it. According to a study, it's important that parents help their kids process their feelings, especially after life-altering situations such as a divorce. To that end, De Laurentiis was on top of it, teaching Jade to take deep breaths to manage stress, besides "teaching her to speak up for herself and tell us what she needs and not being a people pleaser, which is what a lot of girls learn to be." 

Additionally, De Laurentiis, who meditates everyday and has a set skincare routine, is laying a foundation for Jade to be more aware of her well-being. Jade, as most kids are, is constantly reminded to wash her face, floss, brush her teeth — do all the basic self-care practices.

Jade Thompson's favorite bedtime story was once the one written by her mom, Giada De Laurentiis — not many parents can say that. But again, Jade has her meals made by a Cordon Bleu graduate and a Food Network star (as if you needed more reasons to be jealous of this kid). But thanks to Jade, fans of De Laurentiis got to see a whole new side of her: she's a children's book author. De Laurentiis had wanted to read her daughter books that blended the adventure of traveling, building new friendships, and exploring new cuisines. 

Additionally, De Laurentiis wanted to recreate stories that she'd grown up listening to from her parents and grandparents, who were all in show business. "They told us the most fantastic stories about the places they made movies," she told the The Washington Post. And they narrated these tales during get-togethers where the family passed around plates and plates of food. De Laurentiis didn't find any books that would match her family's stories, so she decided to create them herself.

Recipe for Adventure, as the book series is called, follows the adventures of the Bertolizzi siblings as they explore different parts of the world (via Penguin Random House). "Sometimes I think kids become a little fearful of the unknown," De Laurentiis continued. "I want them to know that it's fun to open your mind to all of that."

Jade Thompson is no master chef junior, but seeing her make cookies out of a cake mix can inspire you to fix your evening tea snack. "Jade loves baking over cooking — it's more mixing and measuring and cracking eggs than slicing and dicing (which can be BOR-ing for a nine-year-old!) — and brownies are high up on our list of treats to make together," Thompson's mom, Giada De Laurentiis, wrote on her blog, Giadzy.

Now, there aren't many videos on De Laurentiis' YouTube channel, Giadzy, that show Jade cooking solo, but we believe her mom when she says that Jade likes to help around in the kitchen. De Laurentiis told People in a 2018 interview, "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."

Jade, who started cooking at the age of 3, also loves to make pancakes, and not any pancakes: nice and fluffy buttermilk pancakes, with a dash of lemon zest, and a truckload of chocolate chips. And though just over 10 at the time, she did have the confidence to whip up a strawberry tart for Todd Thompson's 57th birthday. Not many children can flaunt that in their resume, can they?

As an expecting mother, Giada De Laurentiis feared that her child might not have an iota of interest in cooking. When she was still pregnant with Jade Thompson, she said in an interview with Redbook (via People), "I will probably end up with a child who not only doesn't care about food but doesn't ever want to set foot in a kitchen!" But De Laurentiis got lucky, for in Jade she found her cutest sous chef.

Though Jade likes to cook, she doesn't see herself following her mom's footsteps. "There's not one single part of her that's like, 'I'm going to be a cook like my mom,'" De Laurentiis told People. "No it's like, 'That's my mom and I am my own person.'" Jade has a ton of other interests, as it turns out. "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," De Laurentiis continued. "It changes everyday. Cooking is never on that list."

There's no telling as to what Jade will grow up to be. Her maternal grandparents and great grandparents were all part of the entertainment industry. And while she does have cinema in her DNA, she's also as comfortable riding a horse or moving around on a paddle board as she is helping her mother out in the kitchen. 

Not surprisingly, being the child of a world-famous chef comes with its fair share of delicious and mouthwatering perks; all of the gooey cakes and exotic pies made in the name of work by your mom, after all, land on your plate. For Jade Thompson, who definitely has a sweet tooth, it really doesn't get any better. 

Indeed, De Laurentiis likes making desserts, and well, Jade of course enjoys eating them. In fact, when De Laurentiis was working on her ninth book, Giada's Italy: My recipes for La Dolce Vita: A Cookbook, she had to recreate several traditional Italian recipes such as Sartu Di Riso and orzo with clams, in addition to a range of desserts. And to Jade's luck, her mom chose her to taste the sweet, decadent spread. "Jade was happy to lend a hand as my unofficial taste tester, especially when the desserts rolled around," De Laurentiis revealed in a chat with People. "Brownies are her favorite right now, so between those and the brownie ice cream cake, she was a happy camper." Yum.

As it turns out, Jade adopted the role of De Laurentiis' taste tester early on in her life. She would "stick her finger in everything and taste it as she goes along," (via People).

Jade Thompson doesn't have a TikTok handle of her own, but she's been all over her mother Giada De Laurentiis' TikTok page. Jade, just like pretty much every other young adult, seems to be at ease with the most complex of TikTok dance moves. And thanks to her, we get to see the otherwise flawless chef De Laurentiis' goofy side. Sometimes, the duo has company, while other times, Jade and De Laurentiis are just having fun shaking a leg to a hip number like Kesha's Cannibal. The videos are funny, authentic, and a whole world apart from the posh kitchen set up that we're used to seeing De Laurentiis in. 

Jade, as it turns out, is not only comfortable in front of the camera, but also behind it as well. In fact, she's shot and edited many of the videos that are posted on De Laurentiis' TikTok page. Besides dancing, the two also find joy in activities such as making a blueberry face mask, a gingerbread house, pancake cereals, and more. 

While De Laurentiis and her daughter may be on their way to becoming one of the coolest pair of content creators on TikTok, De Laurentiis' other social media pages confirm that Jade is a lively travel partner too. Be it De Laurentiis' visit to Capri, Costa Rica, or Florence, Jade is by her side, as interested in the cuisine and culture of different countries as her mother.