Giada De Laurentiis is joining Dancing With the Stars season 35 after turning it down about 10 times over the years. The Food Network star said her daughter Jade pushed her to say yes, and that season 35 felt like the right moment to try something new.
“Funny enough, Dancing With the Stars has come to me maybe 10 times over the years,” De Laurentiis said after the DWTS cast reveal on Sept. 2. Her earlier answer was blunt: “No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no.”
Jade pushed the decision
De Laurentiis said her 18-year-old daughter made the difference this time, especially after moving out of the house. “This time, I thought, with my daughter pushing me and with my daughter out of my house, This is a really good time for me to go on a new adventure and push myself to do something I've never done,” she said. She added, “And hopefully, I won't regret it!”
That family shift is the real trigger here. De Laurentiis was not sold on the idea until Jade nudged her toward it, which turns her season 35 move into a late-career stretch outside the format she has built on for years.
Alan Bersten and the dance floor
De Laurentiis will be paired with Alan Bersten, who placed fifth with Elaine Hendrix last season. That gives her a pro with a recent run deep enough to know how to manage the pace, and it puts her in a season where the cast reveal already set the lineup in motion at Disney HQ in New York City on Sept. 2.
“It’s totally different,” De Laurentiis said of the shift from her usual work. “I do not have a stove. I do not have any of my tricks and any of my tools in my toolbox. So this is way, way out of my comfort zone.”
Sore muscles before Sept. 15
De Laurentiis said training has already changed her body. “I already learned a lot and I already have a lot of sore muscles, muscles I didn't even know I did,” she said, which is the practical preview of what comes before the live competition starts. Alan Bersten told her, “You're gonna learn so much. It's gonna be amazing.”
Dancing With the Stars season 35 begins with a two-night premiere on Sept. 15 and 16 at 8 p.m. ET on ABC. De Laurentiis has already shown the one thing that matters before the first step: she tried to back out, then stayed in, and that makes her one of the season’s more interesting test cases once the music starts.
