Nicole Kidman Was Not Impressed with Giada De Laurentiis’s Cooking on Ellen

Promoting the upcoming season of her hit cooking competition show Food Network Star, Giada De Laurentiis brought two of her favourite recipes to teach Ellen DeGeneres and Nicole Kidman how to cook, or at least that was the plan.

After a hasty intro, the chef wasted no time in getting the talk show host and the actress to help demonstrate how to make arancini di riso (fried risotto balls), which set the stage for a number of sexual innuendos, and clementine focaccia. But given that both DeGeneres and Kidman do not and cannot cook, this was a recipe for disaster.

It’s clear that taking the two non-cooks through a couple of her famous (and supposedly simple) recipes is no easy feat. But the reason why the professional chef looked frazzled and stressed out throughout the show likely had something to do with the Big Little Lies actress standing by her side criticizing the process and even the results. At one point the chef even said, “Why do I even do a cooking segment? I don’t even know why I bother.” Poor Giada. We feel you.

Although Kidman looked eager to learn (so many questions!), she was not afraid to say what was on her mind, especially when it came to the subpar results. “It’s a little tough,” said the 49-year-old actress after taking a bite of the clementine focaccia. “I know you’re not meant to criticize, but it’s a little tough.” She then discreetly took it out of her mouth. To be fair, it had been sitting out for five hours, which De Laurentiis heavily emphasized.

Watch the hilarious banter between the chef, the talk show host and the A-list actress in the cooking segment below.