Marcela Valladolid Biography

Marcela Valladolid was born Marcela Luz Valladolid-Rodriguez, on July 19, 1978, in San Diego, California, U.S., to Maria Rodriguez Valladolid and Antonio Valladolid.

Her father was a successful entrepreneur from Tijuana, Baja California. Marcela follows the Latin naming tradition and uses a combination of her father's last name, “Valladolid,” and her mother's maiden name, “Rodriguez.”

Marcela grew up with an older brother, Antonio, and an older sister, Karina. She showed her interest in becoming a chef quite early in her life, when she started working at the cooking school of her aunt in Tijuana, Mexico. Marcela spent most of her childhood there.

At 19, Marcela moved to California. She later graduated as a “certified cook” from the Los Angeles Culinary Institute. She then graduated from the Ritz-Escoffier Cooking School in Paris, France, as a classical pastry chef.

After becoming a certified French pastry chef, Marcela Valladolid went back to Tijuana and established her own catering company. She also taught cooking to batches of 40 students at her home.

She also worked as an editor and recipe stylist of the magazine named Bon Appétit. In 2004, she appeared as a contestant on the show That's Too Much and won a car. She was also a competitor in the 2005 series The Apprentice: Martha Stewart and secured the fourth place.

Marcela’s first cooking show, Relatos con Sabor, was aired on Discovery en Español. It was later aired in the U.S. and Latin America. The show focused on traditional cuisines made in Hispanic homes.

However, she began gaining real fame in the U.S. in January 2010, when she started hosting the Food Network culinary show Mexican Made Easy, her second cooking show. The show was aired till 2013 and was filmed at her family home in San Diego.

By then, she was already a celebrity chef in Mexico and had written her first cookbook, Fresh Mexico: 100 Simple Recipes for True Mexican Flavor, which was published by Clarkson Potter in August 2009.

In September 2011, Marcela’s second cookbook, Mexican Made Easy, hit the stands. It was a companion book to the show of the same name and was published by Clarkson Potter.

In 2012, she appeared as a contestant in a celebrity edition of the cooking contest Chopped. She finished in the second place (out of the four contestants). The same year, she appeared as a contestant in a New Year's special episode of Iron Chef America.

The following year, Marcela Valladolid appeared as a judge on the show Guy's Grocery Games. Over the years, Marcela has appeared as a co-host, a judge, or a competitor on several Food Network shows, such as The Kitchen (2014–2017) and Throwdown! with Bobby Flay (where she was appeared as a judge for a fish taco-themed contest). She also co-judged the CBS cooking reality show The American Baking Competition.

On November 27, 2013, Marcela appeared as a guest model on the Thanksgiving special episode of the show The Price Is Right.

In 2017, she came up with another book, Casa Marcela: Recipes and Food Stories of My Life in the Californias, which was published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. Her fourth cookbook, Fiestas: Tidbits, Margaritas and More, featuring 75 cocktails and appetizers, was released by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt in 2019. All the food photos in the book had been photographed at her house.

Marcela was a judge and a host on the show Best Baker in America in 2017, 2018 and 2019. She was seen on the food chat show The Dish on Oz on CW. She also manages the food and lifestyle blog titled Delaluz by Marcela. Her personal website, casamarcela.com, is a storehouse of countless Mexican recipes.

Marcela Valladolid now stays with her fiancé, talent agent Philip Button, and her three children, in an ancient Chula Vista (California) mansion that dates back to 1912.

She has two children with Philip, a son named David (born on April 9, 2015) and a daughter named Anna Carina (born on December 5, 2016). She has another son, Fausto, from her previous marriage. The family owns a springer spaniel/retriever mix named Kongo.

Marcela Valladolid had first met Philip at a nightclub in Los Angeles, when she had just moved to the city to attend the Los Angeles Culinary Institute. Back then, Philip worked at the William Morris Agency.

Marcela and Philip dated while she obtained a culinary degree in Paris and worked for Bon Appétit magazine. However, they lost touch when Marcela went back to Tijuana to start her own catering company and culinary school.

Marcela then married Fausto Gallard, a Mexican environment political activist. The couple had a son, Fausto, on April 27, 2004. However, they divorced in around 2008-2009.

Marcela and Fausto were quite close to getting back together in 2012, before she went to work on The American Baking Competition in the U.S. In fact, some tabloids even reported that the couple had remarried in 2012 (and then divorced again in 2013).

By then, Marcela Valladolid was also back in touch with Philip, her old friend. They had reportedly reunited when they had both gotten divorced from their respective partners. This time around, Philip turned into a good friend and advisor.

By the time she went back from the U.S. to Tijuana in 2013, Marcela had begun an affair with Paul Hollywood, her The American Baking Competition co-host. The affair fizzled out soon after.

Later, Marcela and Philip realized they were falling for each other again and thus made their relationship official.

In April 2020, Marcela celebrated the fifth birthday of her son David, with an Egypt-themed party and thanked Philip and his family for their efforts.

Marcela Valladolid was the first Latina host of a prime-time cookery show on Food Network.

She has a massive organic garden, designed by the California Farm and Garden, in her backyard.

Marcela named her daughter Anna Carina inspired by her favorite novel, Anna Karenina.