Marcela Valladolid is a Mexican–American celebrity chef, cookbook author, culinary show host, reality TV star, and food blogger. She was born in San Diego, but her ancestral home was in Tijuana, Mexico. Marcela spent most of childhood learning cooking at her aunt’s culinary school in Mexico. Marcela later obtained culinary degrees from the Los Angeles Culinary Institute and the Ritz-Escoffier Cooking School in Paris. She then went back to Mexico and started a cooking school of her own. After participating in some cooking contests, she got her own cooking show, Relatos con Sabor (Spanish). However, she became a household name in the U.S. with her second show, Mexican Made Easy, on Food Network. Over the years, she has written many cookbooks, such as Fresh Mexico: 100 Simple Recipes for True Mexican Flavor and Casa Marcela: Recipes and Food Stories of My Life in the Californias. She has also been part of numerous culinary shows, such as The Kitchen, Best Baker in America, and The American Baking Competition. She has been married and divorced once and now lives in California, with her partner and her three children.