Ayesha Curry
Ayesha Disa Curry (née Alexander; born March 23, 1989) is a Canadian-American actress, cookbook author, and cooking television personality. After guest roles in several television shows and movies, she began hosting her own show, Ayesha's Homemade (a.k.a. Ayesha's Home Kitchen), on Food Network. Despite not having any professional chef training, her culinary career started in 2014, when she prepared her first meal as a YouTube demonstration on her channel Little Lights of Mine. Curry is the author of several videos on her channel Little Lights of Mine and has written one cookbook, The Seasoned Life, published in 2016.[1][2]
Ayesha Curry | |
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Curry in November 2017 | |
Born | Ayesha Disa Alexander March 23, 1989 Markham, Ontario, Canada |
Citizenship | Canadian • American |
Occupation |
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Years active | 2008–present |
Television |
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Spouse(s) | |
Children | 3 |
Career
At age 12, Curry acted as the love interest in the music video for "Too Young for Love" by Suga Prince (now known as Sevn Thomas).[3]
After graduating from Weddington High School, Curry moved to Los Angeles to become an actress, appearing in mostly in bit parts. She was in a film short Underground Street Flippers (2009), The TV movie Dan's Detour of Life (2008), was Girl #1 in the direct to DVD movie Love for Sale (2008).[4] After her marriage she started a food blog, and then a YouTube channel. This led to a short lived Food Network show Ayesha's Homemade that was canceled after 13 episodes.[5] Her company Little Lights of Mine sells its own brand of extra virgin olive oil, and 10% of all proceeds are donated to the charity No Kid Hungry.[6] In addition to her written recipes, Curry often posts instructional cooking videos on her YouTube channel.[7]
In 2016, Curry collaborated with chef Michael Mina in The Mina Test Kitchen of International Smoke, a Bay Area pop-up restaurant,[8] and released her cookbook "The Seasoned Life." She also began starring in Ayesha's Homemade, which follows her professional and personal life with cameos from her husband and two daughters.[9] The first season ran for six episodes.[10] A second season of six episodes, named Ayesha's Home Kitchen premiered on Food Network on April 30, 2017.[11][12]
On September 20, 2017, Curry was named as a spokesperson for CoverGirl, becoming the first spokesperson for the brand who is not an actress or singer.[13] She was announced on September 21, 2017 as one of the new hosts of The Great American Baking Show, an American adaptation of The Great British Bake Off, on ABC.[14] She also revealed to Deidre Behar, from Entertainment Tonight, that she was approached to join the next season of Dancing With The Stars.[15][16] Only two episodes of the third season of Baking Show, however, aired on television due to sexual harassment allegations against one of the show's judges outside the series.[17] While the show was renewed for a fourth season, Curry did not return as a host and was succeeded by former Spice Girls member Emma Bunton.[18]
The Mina/Curry International Smoke restaurant is to open another location in 2019 at One Paseo in Carmel Valley, San Diego.[19] More recently, she launched Sweet July Productions with a first-look deal at Entertainment One.[20]
Personal life
Ayesha is the daughter of John and Carol Alexander (née Chin) and has four siblings: Maria, Janiece, Jaz and Chad. Her mother is of Afro-Jamaican and Chinese-Jamaican descent while her father is of mixed African-American and Polish descent. She was born and raised in Toronto until the age of 14, when she moved to Charlotte, North Carolina. She first gained an interest in cooking at a young age. With her mother operating a salon in the basement of their home, Ayesha would watch as her babysitter cooked Trinidadian curry and roti and brought it down to customers.[21]
On July 30, 2011, she married NBA player Stephen Curry. The two met in a church youth group in Charlotte when they were 15 and 14 years old.[22][23][24] It wasn't until years later when Ayesha was pursuing her acting career in Hollywood and Stephen was visiting for an awards show, that the two started dating. Ayesha soon moved back to Charlotte close to where Stephen was playing college basketball at Davidson College.[21] Together, they have three children.[25][26][27] As of 2016, they reside in Walnut Creek, California.[28]
Curry is a Christian; of her faith, she said: "It's the foundation for everything that I do, really. … With my relationship with my husband, it's what it's founded on."[29] She added that "[W]hen Steph decided to play basketball, I had the same conversation with him that he had with me. 'Whatever you do, do it well, but do it for God.' I think that's what has kept us grounded. When I started my blog called 'Little Lights of Mine,' my whole goal was to do the things I wanted to do, but all while being a light for Him."[30]
Filmography
Acting
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
2008 | Dan's Detour of Life | Cassie Stevens | TV Movie |
10 Items or Less | Girl in Bathroom | Episode: "Forever Young" | |
Whittaker Bay | Keeley Hawkins | 8 episodes | |
Love for Sale | Girl #1 | Film | |
2009 | Hannah Montana | Andrea | Episode: "Come Fail Away" |
2010 | Good Luck Charlie | Beautiful Girl | Episode: Kwikki Chick |
2014 | The Little Ghost | Marie | Voice |
2018 | Charming | Dainty Dish Chef | Voice |
As herself
Year | Title | Role | Notes | Refs |
---|---|---|---|---|
2016 | Guy's Grocery Games | Judge | Guest | [31] |
2016 | Chopped Junior | Judge | Episode "The Big Stink" | [31] |
2016–present | Ayesha's Homemade (a.k.a. Ayesha's Home Kitchen (season 2)) |
Host | Television series, 2 seasons | [11][12] |
2017 | The Great American Baking Show | Host | Television series | [32] |
2019–present | Family Food Fight | Host, judge, executive producer | Television series | [33] |
References
- Spence, Shay (July 7, 2016). "Ayesha Curry on Her Budding Culinary Career and Why She Considers Herself a 'Relaxed Lifestyle Expert'". People.
- Barnes, Katie (July 7, 2016). "Food Network picks up show starring Ayesha Curry". ESPN.
- Oh Canada! Archived 2017-01-27 at the Wayback Machine AyeshaCurrycom. Accessed on October 24, 2016.
- Regna, Michelle (August 15, 2016). "Ayesha Curry Had Some Seriously Random Acting Roles Back In The Day". BuzzFeed.
- "Ayesha's Home Kitchen". IMDb.com. Retrieved 14 August 2019.
- "Extra Virgin Olive Oil". ayeshacurry.com. November 24, 2014. Archived from the original on June 13, 2017. Retrieved June 5, 2017.
- "Ayesha Curry". Youtube. Retrieved 15 February 2018.
- Fritsche, Sarah (June 3, 2016). "International Smoke: Ayesha Curry's BBQ pop-up opens this weekend". SFGate.
- Jhaveri, Hemal (July 6, 2016). "Ayesha Curry is getting her own cooking show and yes, it will feature Riley". For The Win. Retrieved June 5, 2017.
- "Steph Curry and family: 7 things we learned from 'Ayesha's Homemade'". Mercurynews.com. November 30, 2016. Retrieved July 7, 2017.
- "Food Network to Premiere New Season of AYESHA'S HOME KITCHEN, 4/30". Broadwayworld.com. Retrieved July 7, 2017.
- "Food Network to Premiere New Season of AYESHA'S HOME KITCHEN, 4/30". Broadwayworld.com. Retrieved July 7, 2017.
- Nussbaum, Rachel. "CoverGirl Just Chose Its Most Unexpected Spokesperson Yet: Homecook Ayesha Curry". Glamour. Retrieved 2017-09-21.
- Barney, Chuck (September 21, 2017). "Ayesha Curry lands another big TV gig — this time with ABC". The Mercury News. Bay Area News Group. Retrieved October 13, 2017.
- "Ayesha Curry Says She's Been 'Approached' to Join 'Dancing With the Stars' (Exclusive)". Entertainment Tonight. Retrieved 2017-10-21.
- "Ayesha Curry Says She's Been 'Approached' To Join 'Dancing With the Stars'". Retrieved 2017-10-21.
- "ABC Pulls 'Great American Baking Show' Amid Johnny Iuzzini Sexual Harassment Claims". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2017-12-14.
- O'Connell, Michael (October 18, 2018). "'Great American Baking Show' Returning at ABC With Emma Bunton". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved November 9, 2018.
Gone are season-three co-host Ayesha Curry and judge Johnny Iuzzini. In their place, Spice Girl Emma Bunton will be joining Anthony Adams as co-host, and pastry chef Sherry Yard is taking over the judging table with Paul Hollywood.
- "One Paseo: one month out". Archived from the original on 2019-02-07. Retrieved 2019-03-18.
- N'Duka, Amanda (2020-09-16). "Ayesha Curry Launches Sweet July Productions; Inks First-Look Deal With eOne". Deadline. Retrieved 2020-09-19.
- "Ayesha Curry". Biograph.comy. Retrieved 2019-03-31.
- "Northern Touch: Steph Curry's Toronto connection". Sportsnet.ca. Retrieved February 27, 2015.
- "Curry's path to NBA stardom forged in Toronto". Sportsnet.ca. Retrieved January 25, 2016.
- "Oh Canada!". ayeshacurry.com. July 22, 2013. Archived from the original on January 28, 2016. Retrieved January 23, 2016.
- Dorsey, Patrick (August 1, 2012). "Fans draw for Stephen Curry's daughter". Espn.go.com. Retrieved August 3, 2012.
- "Golden State Warriors' Steph Curry's wife announces birth of baby girl". Retrieved July 12, 2015.
- Vulpo, Mike (July 4, 2018). "Ayesha and Stephen Curry Welcome Baby No. 3—Find Out the Name Of Their Son". E! Online. Retrieved July 5, 2018.
- Vongs, Pueng (November 25, 2015). "Photos: Warriors star Stephen Curry buys mansion in Walnut Creek". The Mercury News. Retrieved May 17, 2016.
- "Ayesha Curry On Faith In Her Marriage To Steph: 'It's The Foundation Of Everything'". Hellobeautiful.com. June 15, 2015.
- Czarina Ong. "Stephen Curry\'s Wife Ayesha Tackles Misconceptions About Christianity As She Launches New Cookbook, \'The Seasoned Life\'". Christiantoday.com. Retrieved 14 August 2019.
- "Steph and Ayesha Curry Battle Over Buns on 'Ayesha's Homemade'— Exclusive". Ew.com. October 19, 2016. Retrieved July 7, 2017.
- "Ayesha Curry and Anthony 'Spice' Adams to Host Third Season of 'The Great American Baking Show'". Abc.com. October 27, 2017. Archived from the original on December 7, 2017. Retrieved December 7, 2017.
- O'Connell, Michael (June 4, 2018). "Ayesha Curry to Host 'Family Food Fight' for ABC". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on June 20, 2019. Retrieved June 20, 2019.