UPDATE: November 15, 2015 at 6:25 p.m.
Giada de Laurentiis may not have officially said she's dating FabLife executive producer Shane Farley, but new photos on TMZ suggest that things are heating up between the two. De Laurentiis and Farley were caught kissing at La Grange bar in Houston, TX. She had been in town for a book signing earlier in the day, and the website reports the Food Network star was "all over Shane, and he was more than a willing participant."
UPDATE: November 9, 2015 at 9:38 p.m.
After denying rumors of a relationship with her co-star Bobby Flay and admitting that she "kind of" has a boyfriend, we now know exactly who Giada de Laurentiis is dating.
E! news reports that the chef's new man is Shane Farley, executive producer of FabLife starring Tyra Banks. Farley is also the former producer of The Rachael Ray Show. Apparently they met when he was in talks to produce her talk show—which also stars Flay—back in 2013. A source tells E! that she is definitely "in love." Aww.
ORIGINAL POST: November 8, 2015 at 12:30 PM
She may be the queen of easy entertaining and simple diet tricks, but Giada de Laurentiis seems to be having a hard time in the love department. Nearly a year ago, the Food Network star filed for divorce from her husband of 11 years, Todd Thompson (the split was made final just two months ago). Since then, she's been at the center of the drama surrounding her fellow host and chef Bobby Flay: When he and his wife, actress Stephanie March, went through their own divorce about 5 months ago, many claimed that it was an affair with de Laurentiis that split them up.
Although de Laurentiis has continually denied that she and Flay are an item (she has also been rumored to be dating "Today" host Matt Lauer), the chef has never gone into detail—until now. Last week, she appeared on Watch What Happens Live, where the host Andy Cohen left no stone unturned, including the Flay 411.
Cohen says, "I feel like everyone wants you and Bobby Flay to get together." But De Laurentiis didn't hesitate. "We're very good friends," she said, "and we've worked together a very long time." (The two are cohosts of The Next Food Network Star, and have both been the center of the channel for nearly 20 years.) "But I don't think that's ever going to happen—because I'm smarter than that. I know better."
*Cue the entire crew going, "OOOooooohhhhhh...."*
Watch it all go down here.
Some would argue that Flay deserves the jab: When his divorce proceedings became public, those who didn't think de Laurentiis was at the center of the scandal believed Flay had been hooking up with his 28-year-old assistant Elyse Tirrell behind his wife's back. (Flay's marriage to March was also his third—but reportedly not the first one to end in an ugly way.)
De Laurentiis doesn't tend to reveal much during interviews—but later that week, she appeared on The Wendy Williams Show, where she started letting her guard down again. Williams also brings up the Flay rumors, but then asks her if she has a boyfriend, to which she replies, "I'm going to say kind of…And I will tell you this is the first time I've actually said that."
Williams continued and asked her if she was in love—to which she giddily answered, "God!" Check it out.
[youtube ]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KIgIIlMKhmM&feature=youtu.be[/youtube]
