Giada De Laurentiis Shares Rare Photo from Her Childhood in Italy — and She Looks 'Identical' to Daughter Jade! (2024)

• Lifestyle
• Food

Giada De Laurentiis is throwing it back to her childhood.

The Italian-born chef shared a picture on Instagram of her time in Rome as a young girl. De Laurentiis, 53, lived in Italy until the age of 7 before moving to America.

"My mom sent me this photo last night — me at 6 years old, in Rome, right before I moved to the States," she captioned the black and white photo.

De Laurentiis is seen standing in a garden accompanied by three co*cker Spaniel puppies. "I’ve always been happiest surrounded by animals ❤️," added the chef, who now has three dogs and a cat.

The former Food Network star's mother Veronica De Laurentiis still lives and works in Rome — and Giada often visits her native country for work. Giada's lifestyle website Giadzy sources gourmet food items from Italy.

Her cookbook Giada’s Italy was filled with pictures taken on location — and her daughter Jade and Veronica even tagged along for the trip. In 2021, Giada also released afour-episode discovery+ series, Bobby and Giada in Italy, with her good friend Bobby Flay.

"I think you're going to see an inherent happiness in both of us just being there," Flay said of Giada. "You know when you go to a place that you really love being, your whole demeanor is different. We were just so much more relaxed and just smiling a lot and just enjoying our surroundings."

Giada now lives in Los Angeles with Jade, 15, (whom she shares with ex-husband Todd Thompson) and her boyfriend Shane Farley.

In the comments of the throwback photo, followers were quick to point out the resemblance to her daughter. "Oh wow. I thought it was a photo of your daughter jade….she looks just like you," said one fan.

Added another: "Wow, you and Jade are identical. It’s amazing!!"