Ina Garten Explains Why She’s “Always Said No” To A Biopic: “It’s My Story”

After sharing her story in her 2024 memoir Be Ready When The Luck Happens, Ina Garten is reluctant to trust a filmmaker with the adaptation.

The Barefoot Contessa celebrity chef recently explained why she’s “never been willing” to make a biopic about her life, despite being “approached” to adapt Be Ready for the big screen.

“It’s funny, I don’t make long-term plans. I do what I do as well as I can, and things come along, and I say no to most of them,” she told People.

Garten added, “I’ve been approached to do a movie of my memoir, but I know that when a producer or director gets ahold of a story, they want to make it work on film and they’re going to change it. So I’ve never been willing to do that. It’s my story. I get to keep it. And I don’t want people making up things just for dramatic effect. And so I’ve always said no.”

The 2024 memoir came after Garten ended the nearly 20-year run of her Food Network cooking show Barefoot Contessa, which ran from 2002 to 2021.

Since 2022, Garten has hosted her followup Food Network show Be My Guest, inviting friends to her dinner table in her East Hampton, New York home.