Food Network stars Bobby Flay and Giada De Laurentiis are two of the most well-known chefs on TV. They’ve known each other for nearly two decades, and they’ve collaborated numerous times. Their on-screen chemistry is hard to ignore, leading many fans to believe the two have hooked up. Have Flay and De Laurentiis ever dated?
Bobby Flay and Giada De Laurentiis met in 2004
Flay was a well-established chef starring on Boy Meets Grill when he met De Laurentiis at a food expo in Philadelphia back in 2004. She had just started hosting her first Food Network series Everyday Italian, and the pair instantly hit it off. They’ve been close friends ever since.
De Laurentiis describes Flay as a loyal friend who “has your back forever” and someone who “will stand up for you.”
“He’s one of those guys you can call in a pinch and he will get you out of it. He’s special in that sense,” De Laurentiis said, per Suggest.
Not long after they met, Flay and De Laurentiis started teaming up on screen. They competed against Mario Batali and Rachael Ray on Iron Chef America. Then, they co-hosted 14 seasons of Food Network Star together.
Last year, the pair went on a month-long tour of Tuscany and Rome — eating their way through Italy together — for their Discovery+ series Bobby and Giada in Italy.
Why Food Network fans think they hooked up
Rumors started swirling in 2015 that Flay and De Laurentiis were dating when they both went through divorces around the same time. Flay split from his second wife, Stephanie March, not long after De Laurentiis’ marriage to fashion designer Todd Thomas ended.
Just days before she announced the end of her 11-year marriage, De Laurentiis was spotted having drinks and partying with Flay at the the private Soho Beach House in Miami. They were in town working an event together. But Flay and De Laurentiis were never romantically involved, despite the internet frenzy they caused.
He dated actress Heléne Yorke for three years starting in 2016. Not long after their breakup, Flay began a relationship with writer Christina Pérez. They’ve been together ever since.
As for De Laurentiis, she started dating TV producer Shane Farley about a year after her marriage ended and they are still in a relationship today. The couple met when Farley was hired to produce a show for Flay and De Laurentiis that never made it to air.
Food Network fans are still shipping Bobby Flay and Giada De Laurentiis
Despite the fact that Flay and De Laurentiis are both in long-term relationships with other people, many Food Network fans still ship the duo online — especially after watching them tour Italy together last year.
The romantic rumors continue to follow them, too, because they are such good friends and spend a lot of time together both on and off camera. They’ve even been spotted holding hands.
But fans shouldn’t read too much into that.
De Laurentiis has repeatedly denied these rumors. And she even told Andy Cohen on Watch What Happens Live why hooking up with Flay would never happen.
“We do get together on Food Network Star. Well, we’re really good friends. We’ve worked for many years together, but I don’t think that’s ever going to happen because I’m smarter than that,” she said.
Beat Bobby Flay and Simply Giada air weekly on the Food Network.
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