Ina Garten, 75, reveals REAL reason she never had children: Celebrity chef admits her own painful childhood turned her off becoming a mother - because she didn't want to 'recreate' what she went through

Acclaimed chef Ina Garten has opened up about her decision to not have children, explaining that she made the choice early on because she didn't want to 'recreate' what she went through during her painful childhood.

Ina, 75, who grew up in Stamford, Connecticut, with her surgeon father, Charles, and her dietician mother, Florence, has long been open about how her 'obsessive' mom restricted her eating as a child, and didn't let her cook - despite her falling in love with the activity from a young age.

Now, she has revealed how the negative things that she endured as a kid ultimately led to her not wanting to become a mom herself.

While speaking to Katty Kay during a new BBC interview, the cook - who married her husband, Jeffrey, when she was only 20 - explained that she decided soon after she tied the knot that she didn't want to have any kids.

When asked by the host if the decision stemmed from her feeling like she couldn't be a cook if she started a family, Ina explained that while she knew balancing both would be 'harder' that wasn't the reason.

'I don't think that's why I made the decision,' she shared. 

'I'm actually writing a memoir now and I'm kind of looking back at my childhood - it was nothing I wanted to recreate. 

'Looking back, I realize a lot of my decisions were based on my childhood. That was really the motivating factor. And Jeffrey and I were just so happy together.' 

Over the years, Ina - who taught herself to be a professional cook by studying Julia Child's cookbook - has spoken out about her relationship with her mother on numerous occasions.

Back in 2017, she told Katie Couric on her Next Question podcast that becoming a cook felt like the 'ultimate rebellion' against her 'obsessive' mother, who spent years controlling her diet.

'My mother was obsessive about food,' she shared at the time. 'So we weren't allowed any carbs, we weren't allowed any butter. We had margarine. And her idea of a great dessert was an apple.'

She also reflected on her upbringing once again during an appearance on Al Roker's podcast, Cooking Up A Storm, in 2021, explaining that she turned to cooking because she 'craved connection' as a kid.

She also revealed how her mom never allowed her in the kitchen, despite her passion for cooking being obvious from a young age.

'I don't know, I think my mother just wanted me in my room and she wanted the kitchen to herself,' she explained.

'She said, "It's your job to study, it's my job to cook. Get out of the kitchen." So I kind of always wanted to do it.

'I think what I was craving as a child was connecting with people and I felt that if you feed them, they always show up and you have a good time together. That was the connection I loved so, I kept doing it over and over again.'

In addition, Ina told Eater in 2015 that she had 'nothing in her house from her childhood' and that her 'life began' on the day she got married.

When asked about it, she said, '[My mom] wasn't the warmest, funniest person around.'

Ina and Jeffrey married in 1968, and she started her career off by working as the White House budget analyst, while slowly refining her cooking skills.

In 1978, she left her government job and purchased a food store in New York called Barefoot Contessa.

For more than two decades, Ina grew it into a booming business before releasing her first cookbook in 1999.

It was an immense success and launched her into mega stardom within the culinary world.

She began making frequent appearances on Martha Stewart's show before landing her own Food Network program, called Barefoot Contessa, in 2002.

Since then, Ina has released a whopping 13 cookbooks in total and has embarked on a slew of other business endeavors. Her show went on for 29 seasons before coming to an end in 2021.