Level 1 — Absolute Beginner
Giada De Laurentiis is a famous chef. She is on TV. She cooks Italian food. Now she is doing something new. She is on a dance show.
The show is called Dancing With the Stars. It starts on Tuesday, September 15, 2026. Giada dances with a partner. His name is Alan Bersten.
On September 6, Giada shared a video. She hurt her toe. She was practicing dancing. She said, 'I had a great day at rehearsals today, but sadly, I busted my toe.'
Her toe is purple. It looks very sore. But Giada is not giving up. She keeps practicing. She wants to dance on the show.
- chef
- a person whose job is cooking, often in a restaurant or on TV
- dance
- to move your body to music
- partner
- a person you work or do an activity with
- injury
- damage to a part of the body
- toe
- one of the small parts at the end of your foot
- purple
- a color made from mixing red and blue
- rehearsal
- a practice session before a real performance
- show
- a program on TV
Level 2 — Elementary
Giada De Laurentiis is well known as a celebrity chef on Food Network, where she has hosted shows such as Everyday Italian and Giada at Home. This fall, she is trying something completely different. She is joining the new season of ABC's Dancing With the Stars.
The 35th season of the show premieres on Tuesday, September 15, 2026. Giada is competing with professional dancer Alan Bersten, who will help teach her the routines. Fans are excited to see the cooking star try a brand new skill.
Just days before the premiere, on September 6, Giada posted a video on Instagram showing an injury. She explained, 'I had a great day at rehearsals today, but sadly, I busted my toe.' In the video, she showed her middle toe, which had turned dark purple.
Giada joked that the bruise wraps all the way around her toe and said she might even lose the toenail. Even so, she has kept sharing rehearsal videos and appears determined to compete when the show begins.
- celebrity
- a famous person, often known from TV, movies, or music
- host
- the person who leads or presents a TV show
- premiere
- the first showing of a TV program or movie
- competing
- taking part in a contest against others
- professional
- someone who does something as a paid job, done to a high skill level
- routine
- a planned sequence of dance steps
- bruise
- a colored mark on skin caused by an injury
- determined
- having a strong will to keep trying and not give up
Level 3 — Intermediate
Celebrity chef Giada De Laurentiis, long recognized for her Food Network programs including Everyday Italian and Giada at Home, is now stepping into an entirely different spotlight as a contestant on the 35th season of ABC's Dancing With the Stars, which premieres Tuesday, September 15, 2026. For fans who associate her primarily with the kitchen, watching her take on the ballroom floor represents an unexpected and much anticipated change of pace.
Paired with professional dancer Alan Bersten, De Laurentiis has spent recent weeks preparing intensively for the demands of televised competitive dance. That preparation, however, came with a setback. On September 6, she posted a video to Instagram revealing that she had injured herself during a weekend rehearsal session, telling followers, 'I had a great day at rehearsals today, but sadly, I busted my toe.'
In the clip, De Laurentiis displayed her visibly bruised middle toe, describing it as 'quite purple, and it wraps all the way around.' She added, with characteristic humor, that she was 'for sure going to lose a toenail.' The lighthearted tone suggested she was not overly alarmed by the injury, even as it arrived at a particularly inconvenient moment, just over a week before the show's debut.
Despite the setback, De Laurentiis has continued posting rehearsal content on social media, signaling her intent to compete as planned. Her willingness to push through a painful injury has only added to the buildup around her season 35 debut, as fans wait to see whether the chef can translate her discipline in the kitchen into success on the dance floor.
- contestant
- a person who takes part in a competition
- spotlight
- the center of public attention
- anticipated
- expected with interest or excitement
- intensively
- in a thorough, concentrated, and demanding way
- setback
- a problem that delays or interrupts progress
- visibly
- in a way that can clearly be seen
- characteristic
- typical of a particular person's usual behavior
- discipline
- controlled behavior and effort used to achieve a goal
Level 4 — Advanced
Giada De Laurentiis has built a career on precision and composure, qualities honed over years as a Food Network fixture through programs such as Everyday Italian and Giada at Home. That reputation is about to be tested in an unfamiliar arena: the chef is among the contestants set to compete on the 35th season of ABC's Dancing With the Stars, which premieres Tuesday, September 15, 2026, paired with professional dancer Alan Bersten.
The transition from studio kitchen to ballroom floor is rarely seamless, and De Laurentiis's preparation has already exacted a physical toll. On September 6, she disclosed via Instagram that she had sustained an injury during weekend rehearsals, writing candidly, 'I had a great day at rehearsals today, but sadly, I busted my toe.' The accompanying footage revealed a middle toe rendered 'quite purple,' with bruising that, in her words, 'wraps all the way around.'
Notably, De Laurentiis met the setback with self-deprecating humor rather than concern, remarking that she was 'for sure going to lose a toenail.' That reaction, disclosed roughly a week before the season's debut, has become part of the broader narrative surrounding her run on the show, a reminder that competitive ballroom dance demands a physical resilience quite distinct from the discipline of a television kitchen.
What has drawn particular attention, however, is her response in the days since: rather than retreating from rehearsals, De Laurentiis has continued to document her preparation on social media, a signal that she intends to appear as scheduled. For a public figure whose brand has long rested on approachable expertise, the willingness to visibly push through injury ahead of an unproven performance venue offers its own kind of narrative, one that entertainment outlets covering the story have been quick to frame as a test of resolve as much as of dance ability.
- composure
- a calm and controlled state, especially under pressure
- fixture
- a person or thing firmly established in a particular role or place
- seamless
- smooth and without noticeable interruption or difficulty
- sustained
- experienced or suffered, often referring to an injury
- candidly
- in an open and honest manner, without holding back
- self-deprecating
- downplaying or making light of one's own faults or misfortunes
- resilience
- the ability to recover quickly from difficulty
- resolve
- firm determination to do something despite difficulty
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