Barefoot Contessa Ina Garten Reveals Harrowing Childhood Abuse

Beloved culinary star Ina Garten is opening up about a painful chapter from her past. In the East Hampton resident’s upcoming memoir, Be Ready When the Luck Happens, set for release on Tuesday, October 1, Garten shares the emotional and physical abuse she endured from her late parents, Charles and Florence Rosenberg.

“I was terrified,” the celebrity chef exclusively told People magazine, describing her father, who often hit her and pulled her hair when displeased. Garten’s mother also played a role in her “very lonely” childhood. “I was physically afraid of my dad. I literally remember thinking he would kill me if I did something. I was physically afraid of him. And my mother just was unsupportive.”

The kitchen extraordinaire, known as the Barefoot Contessa, recalls spending countless hours locked in her bedroom for safety.

“If there’s a threat of violence, you’re always afraid, even when it’s not happening. So I basically spent my entire childhood in my bedroom with a door closed,” Garten said of her self-imposed solitude.

She also told People that her life started looking up when she met her future husband Jeffery at age 16. “Everything changed when I met Jeffrey,” she said, noting that they married in 1968 after four years of dating.

People also notes that Garten eventually made her peace with her father but remained estranged from her mother.

After at least a year of delays, Garten’s much anticipated memoir, Be Ready When the Luck Happens, is available for preorder now and will be at your local bookshop starting October 1.