“The way that she is going on a new journey, it’s time for mom to also do the same,” she said of Jade, who is starting college
Credit: Andrew Eccles/Disney
Giada De Laurentiis is trading the kitchen for the ballroom.
The cast for season 35 of Dancing with the Stars was officially announced on Wednesday, Sept. 2, and the celebrity chef is one of the 16 competitors, joining a lineup of actors, athletes, former dancers and reality stars.
The Food Network alum, 56, tells PEOPLE she was inspired by her 18-year-old daughter, Jade, to do the show.
“I’ve been asked several times over the years, and I think that this time I said yes because my daughter basically forced me to say yes,” she admits. “And also because I just dropped her off at college, and I think that she felt and I felt that I needed to push myself out of my comfort zone and do something totally different.”
“The way that she is going on a new journey, it’s time for mom to also do the same,” she added of Jade, who is beginning her first year at New York University.
Asked whether Jade will come cheer her on, she says, “I hope so if I last. She goes to school in New York, so I’m hoping that if I can hang in there a few weeks, she’ll come visit me.”
De Laurentiis says the most surprising part of the journey so far has been “finding muscles I didn’t know I had.”
“I mean, who knew that my quad muscles were so weak?” she asks. “After the first day of rehearsal, the security guard who walked me to my car was like, ‘Do you want to hold onto me going down the stairs? You look like you might fall over.’ I said, “I didn’t realize how much pain I’m in.”
Credit: Andrew Eccles/Disney
The culinary star says she’s watched previous seasons of the show, including season 14, in which her friend Maria Menounos competed.
“That’s probably why I said no over all these years, because I knew what she was going through, but she loved it,” she shares. “All my friends who’ve done it in the past have all said the same thing. It is an unbelievable experience, but it’s a lot on your body, so be prepared.”
Laurentiis says Menounos advised her to continue to practice her dance moves on her own in addition to the show’s rehearsals.
“What I didn’t realize beside the body is the mind, like how tired mentally I would be from learning something so foreign that, literally, I would go home and just want to veg out,” she says. “It was kind of crazy, and it’s so out of who I am. I’m always go, go, go no matter what. But with this, it’s like it just made my brain like mush. I couldn’t think straight.”
De Laurentiis first announced the DWTS news in an Instagram post Wednesday morning.
The Giadzy founder shared a photo with her partner, pro Alan Bersten, writing, “The rumors are true… I’m on season 35 of @dancingwiththestars w/ the amazing @alanbersten!! Let’s do this 💃 🕺 🪩”
Other big names from the food world commented to cheer her on. “OMG Giada!!! 😍🙌💪,” wrote Pioneer Woman host Ree Drummond.
Credit: Giada De Laurentiis/Instagram
“Giada for the win!!! 💃,” Katie Lee Biegel commented.
During a Good Morning America segment on the cast announcement, De Laurentiis was asked if dancing is as tough as cooking for a room full of chefs.
She replied, it’s “a lot rougher than I thought it would be! I figured my grandmother was a dancer, and I thought maybe I got some of those genes. Definitely not.”
De Laurentiis also shared a playful Instagram video of her daughter meeting Bersten.
“My first order of business – getting @jademarie_dlt ‘s approval 🪩😂,” she wrote.
Last week, the proud mom shared a sweet video sending Jade off to NYU.
In the Aug. 28 post, De Laurentiis shared an image of Jade sitting in her new dorm room holding Radiohead’s In Rainbows record and smiling.
Another image showed De Laurentiis, her boyfriend Shane Farley and her ex-husband Todd Thompson posing for a photo with the college freshman.
“It takes a village.. my heart❤️,” De Laurentiis captioned the post.
In January, De Laurentiis told PEOPLE it felt “really weird” to be the mother of a soon-to-be college student.
“It’s really exciting, but I think it’s also incredibly emotional because everything I do with her I feel like is one of the last times I’m going to do it in this way,” she said. “I know people are like, ‘Yeah, but they come home for the holidays.’ But it’s different. They don’t live in your house anymore.”
“She may never live in my house again,” she added. “And even if she does, she’ll be in her 20s. It’ll be a totally different experience. And I only have one kid, so I’m one and done. So I think it’s emotional, exciting, all wrapped up in one, and it’s a lot to navigate through.”
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