How Many Times Has Christopher Kimball Been Married?

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Christopher Kimball — and his signature bow tie — skyrocketed to fame as the creator of Cook's Illustrated magazine in the '90s and the beloved host of "America's Test Kitchen," which has been on air since 2001. In 2016, he branched out to create his own show called "Christopher Kimball's Milk Street," which is still running. On both shows, fans have always been able to count on him to walk home cooks through the finest way to prepare all kinds of recipes that have been tested to perfection.

While Kimball has always been a calm professional on camera, the media has reported several shocking things that were happening behind the scenes. From Kimball's messy "America's Test Kitchen" departure to being sued by one of his ex-wives, fans have a lot of questions about this culinary enigma. If you're curious about his personal life, read on to learn about Kimball's three marriages and how they've impacted his career thus far.

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Being married to a public figure like Christopher Kimball means keeping your personal life private can be quite difficult. However, there's absolutely no public information about his first wife except for the fact that they were married. Her identity and details about their marriage have likely been able to stay hidden from the world due to the fact that they married and divorced well before he joined "America's Test Kitchen."

All we know is that Christopher Kimball was born on June 5, 1951, and he married his second wife in 1987 when he was 36 years old. After factoring in some time to date and get engaged, it's safe to estimate that his first marriage could've happened at any point throughout his 20s or even his early 30s if the marriage was short-lived.

Unfortunately, the internet has no record of her name or how long the two were together. There are also no reports of the couple having kids together, which would've made their split easier.

At some point after his first mysterious marriage ended, Christopher Kimball met his second wife, Adrienne Kimball. While the world doesn't know how long the pair dated, they tied the knot in 1987 and started building a family.

Christopher and Adrienne Kimball have four children together named Caroline, Whitney, Emily, and Charles. There's no information publicly available about when each child was born, but the Kimballs were done having kids by 2001. This was when his book, "These Things I Wish for You: Reflections from a Father's Heart," dedicated to his four children was published. It's also clear all four kids were around during a 2007 interview done at the family's cabin on "NPR Morning Edition," where all children were present. Kimball proudly posts photos of his now-adult children on his social media profiles from time to time.

One of the coolest facts about Christopher Kimball is that he created the popular "Cook's" magazine in 1980 and "Cook's Illustrated" in 1993. While his magazines proved to be a hit, publishing can come with some anonymity. Once he started showing up on millions of Americans' televisions in 2001 as the host of "America's Test Kitchen," that must've changed their family dynamic a great deal. Still, Adrienne stuck with him through all of these new endeavors that would intimidate lots of people.

As the host of "America's Test Kitchen" from 2001 to 2016, Christopher Kimball had to remain accessible to make filming easier. When he was a part of the crew, the show was filmed in Brookline Village, which is just outside of Boston. As a result, Christopher and Adrienne Kimball thought it would be best to set down roots in Boston.

Kimball has always been a country boy at heart, though, since many of his favorite childhood memories took place at his family's farm in Vermont. With this in mind, it comes as no surprise to learn that he wanted to give his children the chance to connect with nature in a nearby area. When Kimball wasn't filming, he and his family drove up to their cabin for a taste of the simple life as often as they could.

Adrienne hasn't shared where she was born, so fans don't know if she had a similar upbringing to Christopher. However, she seemed to thrive in Vermont. Her family gathered farm-fresh chicken eggs, rode horses, and hosted many intimate dinners with neighbors.

When someone marries a talented chef, they tend to either sit back and be pampered or team up in the kitchen to improve their skills. Adrienne Kimball chose the latter option and enthusiastically embraced the culinary world. With their own farm animals, beehives, apple orchard, and strawberry patch, it's clear that she appreciated working hard for the family's ingredients.

For several years, fans of "America's Test Kitchen" got an intimate glimpse of the Kimball family's Thanksgiving dinners due to an "NPR" annual tradition. A reporter from the "Morning Edition" would visit the Kimball's home during the morning to see how the family prepared their feast.

While the focus was on Christopher Kimball since he was the TV star, Adrienne Kimball always played a supporting role in the kitchen. During their 2007 Thanksgiving visit, Adrienne helped serve freshly churned vanilla ice cream and used her muscles to scrub and press organic apples from their orchard into cider. They all toasted to fresh apple cider and Thanksgiving, and Christopher used the extra to make a sweet gravy later.

In another home visit with Boston Magazine, Adrienne gracefully floated around the kitchen, juggling several tasks with her husband while also playing a great host and serving drinks. From beautiful tarts to soup with fresh corn and barbecue pork, neighbors and family were always spoiled when they received a dinner invitation.

Celebrating 25 years of marriage is an impressive feat, but Adrienne and Christopher Kimball weren't meant to be lifelong partners. Fans were surprised to hear that the two separated in 2010. It seems like the couple tried their best to work through the logistics of their family's issues because they waited two years before deciding to divorce.

Christopher reached an impressive level of fame at this point in his career, so his net worth was staggering. This made negotiating a proper settlement tricky. In the end, Adrienne was entitled to 35% of his gross earnings in addition to an 8% ownership stake in "America's Test Kitchen."

Since the two raised four children together, Christopher was also responsible for providing funds to take care of tuition, medical costs, and other childcare expenses. While the divorce cost him a pretty penny, he seemed determined to continue creating high-quality culinary content for fans. He was 61 years old at this point and showed no signs of slowing down.

Christopher Kimball has been through a lot in his life, but the end of 2016 through 2017 was perhaps his most challenging year. At this point, Kimball was in the midst of two lawsuits: one regarding trademark infringement for the title "Milk Street" and an even bigger battle with "America's Test Kitchen" due to his dramatic departure from the show. Adrienne Kimball opened up a third lawsuit because he wasn't upholding his end of the divorce settlement.

Her 2017 lawsuit detailed that he hadn't paid her close to $98,000 in income that she was promised. He also racked up a bill close to $15,000 that was supposed to go toward supporting their children's schooling and healthcare. Having three lawsuits stacked against him was distressing for his fans.

This perfect storm was triggered by leaving "America's Test Kitchen," which seriously impacted his finances. His new show "Christopher Kimball's Milk Street" hadn't had enough time to blossom yet, so it seems like this might be how he fell behind on payments.

If you thought that Christopher Kimball's love life was interesting before, things get even more complicated with his third wife. Melissa Baldino crossed paths with Kimball all the way back in 2002, which was during the early days of "America's Test Kitchen." Kimball was hunting for an assistant, and he actually turned Baldino down at first.

The assistant he selected over her decided to quit only a few months later, which prompted him to give Baldino a call to see if she was still available for the position. Over the years, the two worked closely together, fostering a deep appreciation for each other's work ethic. It only took four years of working as his assistant to get promoted. In 2006, Baldino was put in charge of producing "America's Test Kitchen" shows and the brand's radio programs. Since Adrienne and Christopher Kimball didn't separate until 2010, this gave Baldino and Kimball eight years to work closely as friends and develop a bond.

A major reason why Adrienne and Christopher Kimball decided to finalize their divorce in 2012 after two years of separation is that Melissa Baldino confessed romantic feelings for him a few months after the initial split. In a 2013 interview with The New York Times, Baldino revealed that the emotional floodgates opened for her once she realized he was available. Love was brewing all along, but she only allowed herself to realize it once those feelings became more appropriate.

She even shared the story of her confession. During work hours, she scheduled a meeting with him. She prefaced her confession with the fact that what she was about to say would get her fired, but to her surprise, he said he loved her, too.

Kimball only waited a few months after he finalized his divorce with Adrienne to propose to Melissa Baldino. Afterward, the two got married four months after the engagement. Their whirlwind romance led to a wedding ceremony in Cambridge, Massachusetts, on June 29, 2013. Kimball had recently turned 63, while Baldino was 37 at the time.

As of 2025, Kimball and Baldino are still together and enjoying married life. Fans can spot Baldino on his social media accounts in both silly and heartwarming posts. One fan favorite was back in 2021 when the pair dressed up as Shaggy and Velma from "Scooby Doo" on Halloween.

Nobody can deny that Christopher Kimball's relationship with Melissa Baldino is steamy. Starting as a boss and assistant to confessing romantic feelings only months after Kimball's separation, the couple likely faced a lot of scrutiny. This only increased when the team at "America's Test Kitchen" named Baldino in their lawsuit against Kimball.

"America's Test Kitchen" had so many issues with Kimball that the team thought it was a good idea to create a website called WhyWeAreSuingChristopherKimball.com. Unfortunately, the entire site has been scrubbed from the web. Information was wiped from internet archives as well, so it's impossible to comb through the details. A few news reports still exist, which is how fans nowadays can confirm a few of the allegations.

Since Kimball and Baldino had worked together for many years at that point and were passionate newlyweds, it makes sense that she would want to help Kimball with his new endeavor, "Christopher Kimball's Milk Street." It's unfortunate that the foundation of this project was stained by allegations that the two had stolen from "America's Test Kitchen."

The lawsuit was settled in 2019, and "Milk Street" continues to air new episodes. Even though his departure couldn't have been messier, it seems like "America's Test Kitchen" and Kimball reached some degree of peace.

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Christopher Kimball's three-year legal battle with "America's Test Kitchen" didn't stop him or Melissa Baldino from continuing to build "Christopher Kimball's Milk Street." Kimball used his wife's producing skills for his new show. She holds the title of co-founder and media director.

The two manage over two dozen employees now, which shows that "Milk Street" has grown into a massive success in a short amount of time. As of 2025, the show has eight seasons, with more in the works. Each episode is 30 minutes long, and there are around 23 episodes per season.

Many couples would have an unhealthy dynamic if they decided to try working together, but Kimball and Baldino fell in love on the set of "America's Test Kitchen." They learned how to navigate the stressors of creating a popular TV show without letting any tension boil over. It's understandable why they would want to continue spending their days on set and nights at home together as a team.

Christopher Kimball is living proof that age is just a number. While many men in their 60s would be happy to slow down, Kimball and Melissa Baldino decided to have two children of their own.

The couple have a son named Oliver, who was born in 2017, and a daughter named Rike, who was born in 2019. Kimball loves gushing about them on social media. While his most recent posts focus mostly on food, likely to protect their privacy as they get older, fans can enjoy sweet family photos from a few years ago.

On May 3, 2025, Kimball shared a photo of a birthday cake on Instagram for his son, Oliver Kimball. While Kimball didn't specify that he made the cake himself, the personalization combined with the elevated recipe for chocolate cake with a gelatin-based buttercream frosting seems like something he would whip up. The cake was covered in plastic soccer players because, according to the Instagram caption, his son wants to grow up to be David Beckham.

When starting a family, it's crucial to honor both parents' heritage by teaching the children to appreciate where they came from. Melissa Baldino is half-Austrian and spent her childhood in Belgium. She always looked forward to visiting Austria every summer, which is why she didn't hesitate to get her children more involved with their roots.

In 2020, Kimball and Baldino enrolled both of their children in the German International School in Boston. This school offers classes in English and German, which means that the kids will be bilingual. Even though Kimball doesn't have any Austrian ancestry, he did fall in love with the country during a summer-long stay in the past. After trying Austria's decadent dishes, he must be excited whenever Baldino offers to cook for the family.

Rike Kimball is like most young girls who love playing dress up. She has fun celebrating Oktoberfest because she gets to wear authentic dirndls with her mom. The kids have also been to Austria at least once already to visit Baldino's family.

Melissa Baldino has been busy enough with her work on "Christopher Kimball's Milk Street," but her ambitious nature has pushed her to start her own business selling Austrian-styled aprons and house dresses. Since the two have always admired each other's ambition, there's no doubt that Kimball is proud of his wife's new venture. He shared a photo of Baldino modeling one of her aprons in an Instagram post, encouraging his fans to check out her products.

The business is called Rike & Co., which Baldino explained is named after her daughter Rike and her Austrian mother and grandmother. On her business page, she got sentimental about how this business is a physical tie to her Austrian heritage that she can share with her children.

She also shared that her grandmother always used to wear the same style of aprons that Baldino designed for her business. Without her grandmother, Baldino mused that she might not have ever gotten into the food industry. If this were the case, she might not have ever met her husband and had her kids.

Considering how messy his separation, divorce, and lawsuit with his ex-wife Adrienne Kimball were, fans must wonder how Christopher Kimball's relationships with his children from that marriage are. It's a relief to know that Kimball still posts about his adult children, and they've blended harmoniously with his younger children that he shares with Melissa Baldino.

Kimball continues to escape to rural Vermont whenever he gets the chance, and it's heartwarming that his blended family comes together. Kimball has shared several photos of special events, such as Thanksgiving and birthdays, over the years. One thing that's unclear from the photos is whether his ex-wife, Adrienne Kimball, has any involvement in these blended family events. Either way, it's touching that his children can set aside their parents' differences.

In one Instagram post from 2021, two of Kimball's eldest daughters took turns lifting his youngest children up and twirling them in the air. In another Instagram post from that same year, Kimball shared a photo of the coconut meringue cake that one of his eldest daughters made for his birthday. Cooking for Kimball the TV chef must be intimidating, but as a dad, he appreciated and praised her efforts.