Christine Diane Teigen[2][3] (born November 30, 1985)[4] is an American model and television personality. She made her professional modeling debut in the annual
Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue in 2010 and appeared on the 50th-anniversary cover alongside
Nina Agdal and
Lily Aldridge in 2014. She formerly appeared as a panelist on the syndicated daytime talk show FABLife (2015–2016). She co-hosted the musical competition series Lip Sync Battle (2015–2019) with
LL Cool J and was a judge on the comedy competition series Bring the Funny (2019). Teigen has also authored three cookbooks.
Early life
Christine Diane Teigen was born on November 30, 1985, in
Delta, Utah.[5] Her mother, Vilailuck, is from
Thailand, while her father, Ron, is an American of
Norwegian descent.[5][6] Her surname is usually pronounced /ˈtiːɡən/; despite this, she stated that she prefers the pronunciation /ˈtaɪɡən/.[3] After she was born, she and her family relocated to
Snohomish, Washington, where her parents ran a
tavern.[5]
When Teigen was 15, her father relocated them to
Huntington Beach, California, after her mother returned to Thailand. During this time, she worked at a surf shop, where she landed a modeling campaign with clothing company
Billabong through the shop's clients, and was discovered by a photographer.[5] In her early modeling career, Teigen lived in Miami, Florida, "for four years, six months out of the year".[7]
Two years later, Teigen was the host of the competition series Model Employee on
VH1.[13] She was also featured on another Cooking Channel special, titled Chrissy Teigen's Hungry, detailing her wedding menu tasting with then-fiancé,
John Legend.[14] In October 2013, she appeared in Legend's music video for the song "
All of Me", which also features footage from their wedding.[15] In April 2014, Teigen played a fictionalized version of herself as a relationship counselor in an Inside Amy Schumer sketch.[16] That same year, she appeared on the 50th anniversary cover of the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue with
Nina Agdal and
Lily Aldridge.[17][18] In January 2015, Teigen guest starred on the sitcom The Mindy Project as the girlfriend of the man who was the main character's first sexual partner.[19] In April, she became a co-host of the musical competition series Lip Sync Battle alongside
LL Cool J.[20] She co-hosted the
2015 Billboard Music Awards with
Ludacris.[21]
From September 2015 until June 2016, Teigen was a food stylist and panelist on
Tyra Banks's syndicated daytime talk show, FABLife.[22] In February 2016, she published a book titled Cravings: Recipes for All of the Food You Want to Eat, which went on to become a
New York Times bestseller and the second-best selling cookbook of the year.[23][24] The following year, Teigen released a clothing line in collaboration with the fashion company Revolve.[25] In September 2018, she released her second book, titled Cravings: Hungry For More.[26] Simultaneously, she released a line of
cookware through
Target.[27] In 2019, she was included on Time's
list of the 100 most influential people in the world.[28]
The following year, Teigen appeared as a judge for the comedy competition series Bring the Funny.[29] In November, she launched a cooking website, Cravings by Chrissy Teigen, which features recipes as well as restaurant and entertaining tips.[30]Chrissy's Court, a courtroom-style series starring Teigen, debuted in April 2020 on
Quibi. Teigen also serves as executive producer for the series.[31] The series survived the platform's demise later that year, moving to
The Roku Channel in May 2021 and premiering its second season in June 2022.[32] It was the platform's most watched unscripted premiere ever. The third season is scheduled to premiere on October 21, 2022.[33]
As of May 2021, Target had stopped carrying her cookware line, which a company spokesperson said was a "mutual decision".[34]
Teigen is a vocal critic of former U.S. President
Donald Trump.[41] To commemorate Trump's 72nd birthday in June 2018, she donated $72,000 to the
American Civil Liberties Union, a nonprofit organization.[42] In September 2019, Teigen and Trump exchanged insulting
tweets. During a
House Oversight Committee hearing in February 2023, it was revealed that Trump was upset with Teigen's insults and had White House staff contact Twitter to demand that Twitter delete Teigen's tweet which he found objectionable. Twitter refused the request.[43]
Teigen became engaged to singer
John Legend in December 2011, after four years of dating.[46] The couple first met while filming his 2006 music video for the song "
Stereo", in which she played his love interest.[47] They married in September 2013,[47] celebrating their wedding on September 14 in
Como, Italy.[1] Legend's song "All of Me" was dedicated to her.[48] They reside in
Beverly Hills, California.[5] On September 16, 2023, Teigen and Legend celebrated ten years of marriage and renewed their vows by
Lake Como, Italy.[49]
Teigen and Legend have four children.[50] Their first two children, a daughter born in 2016 and a son born in 2018, were conceived via
in vitro fertilization (IVF).[51][52] While the couple was expecting a third child in 2020, Teigen experienced pregnancy loss at 20 weeks due to a complication, initially described as a miscarriage. She clarified in 2022 that the loss was "an abortion to save my life for a baby that had absolutely no chance."[53][54][55][56] In 2023, Teigen gave birth to a third child,[57] a daughter conceived via IVF.[58] Their fourth child, a son, was born via
surrogacy later in the year.[59]
In May 2021, television personality
Courtney Stodden said that in 2011, during her marriage as a
minor to actor
Doug Hutchison, Teigen tweeted and privately messaged her urging her to kill herself.[60][61] Teigen subsequently apologized to Stodden, saying she was sad and mortified at her past self, whom she described as "an insecure, attention seeking troll."[62] Stodden accepted her apology but deemed it an attempt to save her business partnerships.[62] A month later, Teigen released another apology in a lengthy blog post admitting to
cyberbullying.[63] Fashion designer
Michael Costello and television personality
Farrah Abraham then respectively spoke out about being targets of her attacks, with Costello posting
screenshots of taunting messages from Teigen.[64] In response to Costello, Teigen stated that his screenshots had been faked and shared screenshots of praiseful messages from Costello, after which the designer said he had evidence to verify his claims.[65][66]
On July 18, 2022, Teigen celebrated one year of alcohol sobriety.[67]