Giada De Laurentiis may have her daughter, Jade, to thank for helping her say “yes” to Dancing With the Stars.
“I’m now an empty nester,” De Laurentiis, 56, exclusively told Us on Wednesday, September 2, after the full cast for season 35 was revealed on Good Morning America. “I figured my daughter is going on this new adventure, so I’m going on a new adventure with Alan [Bersten].”
Bersten, 32, replied, “What better way to fill your time than on national television dancing in front of millions of people?”
Just last month, De Laurentiis dropped her 18-year-old daughter off at New York University for her freshman year of college. The former Food Network star documented the trip via social media, writing, “It takes a village.. my heart❤️.”
Now that Jade is settled into her dorm, De Laurentiis is getting used to dancing in a ballroom with some stiff competition.
“We can’t compare [ourselves] to other people because we have professional dancers as competition,” she told Us. “Honestly, how could we, right? I would lose my mind if I tried to compete against Jenna Dewan or Harry [Shum Jr.] or even Julia Stiles because they all have background in dance. I do not, so it’s our journey. We’re going to stick to that, and I think I’ll keep my sanity that way.”
Before De Laurentiis and Bersten perform their first dance in front of judges Carrie Ann Inaba, Derek Hough and Bruno Tonioli, the pair have one important task: They need to create a team name.
Before anything is finalized, they are asking their fans and viewers of the show for help.
“We’re waiting for our fans to tell us what the team name is, but we have a few in the running,” De Laurentiis said. “Alan wants ‘Recipe for Disaster.’”
Bersten added, “We have a few in the running, but we really want the fans to help us out.”
Until then, De Laurentiis is simply putting her dancing shoes on and putting her best foot forward as she embarks on a new adventure.
Through every tango, foxtrot and ballroom dance, the Giadzy founder will likely be thinking of her daughter.
“A lot of moms have said it’s kind of like when you have the first child,” De Laurentiis previously told Us when describing her emotions before Jade went off for college. “It’s a shock to the system. … A lot of people have said it’s just another chapter. You’ve got to look at it as you have more freedom too at this point. She has more freedom, but so do you.”
Dancing With the Stars season 35 kicks off with a two-night premiere on ABC and Disney+ Tuesday, September 15, and Wednesday, September 16, at 8 p.m. ET.
