The Truth About Bill And Giuliana Rancic's Relationship
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America first knew the Rancics separately when Giuliana DePandi was an E! News host and Bill Rancic was the first winner of Donald Trump's "The Apprentice." Then, in 2007, we got our first look at them together as budding sweethearts, who later merged as prominent business partners, and then one of Chicago's most celebrated power couples.
And while they've always been widely acknowledged and appreciated for their robust careers and entrepreneurial ventures, fans began celebrating the pair for their fun-loving banter, magnetic chemistry, and long-lasting relationship. A reality television series, Giuliana & Bill, following the newlyweds ensued, and journalists and anchors alike turned their attention towards the couple's magnetic bond with questions regarding tips, tricks, and secrets.
As the beaming couple always gleefully responds to this conversation, the answers have never veered: "At the end of the day, Bill and I actually like being together. We are husband and wife, but we're best friends too," Giuliana admitted on the "Beyond Speaking Podcast." "We like to hang out and be around each other, so that's definitely a key to it, too. You've got to really enjoy spending a lot of time together."
Here's a look inside Giuliana and Bill's super sweet journey to domestic bliss.
Bill Rancic was Giuliana's celeb crush
In 2004, a young and tenacious entrepreneur strolled onto America's television screens for NBC's "The Apprentice." The hopeful was Bill Rancic, a Chicago native who was running a cigar company out of his garage. "It was a cigar of the month club where we'd send out cigars to your home," Bill told E! News. "So during the holiday times I would go out and go on some local shows to try to promote, you know what a great gift it would make for Christmas."
While Bill had his eyes on the opportunity to work under Donald Trump himself, E! News co-anchor, Giuliana DePandi, gushed to Larry King that she had her eyes on him. "And I'd tuned in like millions did that first night, and I'm not kidding, the first time I saw him ... I told my friend I go, 'Oh my God, that guy's amazing ... something about that guy' ... It was love at first sight for me."
When the two later found themselves at the same NBC party, Giuliana told Us Weekly, "I freaked out." Thing is, it was Giuliana's now ex-boyfriend who introduced her to her future hubby. "He came up to me, and he said, 'I'd like to introduce you to my girlfriend, but I'm afraid the two of you would run off together," Bill added. Neither Giuliana nor Bill were single at the time, so the two went their separate ways.
Giuliana Rancic stole her co-worker's assignment to go interview Bill
Years after their initial introduction, we got our first glimpse of romantic sparks between the two when Guiliana DePandi, the resourceful reporter that she is, sideswiped a colleague's assignment when she found out it involved Bill Rancic. "So when the opportunity at E! News came to go interview Bill Rancic — he was doing some work at the boys and girls club," DePandi blushed to Larry King. "They were going to hand the assignment out to some young reporter, I said 'No, no, no, no, no, I'm going to do this interview.'"
During DePandi's conversation with Rancic, she wasted no time catching up on his romantic situation. "What's your life like, as far as romance and love, have you...?" DePandi pried, catching Rancic off-guard and blushing up a storm, "It's been...how 'bout yours? Let's turn this around." DePandi didn't hesitate. Having recently penned a dating self-help book, "Think Like A Guy," she used a tip from her book: "Sound busy. Don't tell him you're sitting in your car twirling your hair in traffic."
"Okay, honest, I'm very busy," DePandi explained to Rancic. "I work a lot, so I haven't found any time." Bill agreed, stating that dating can be tough with a busy work schedule, and teased her about all the California surfers she must go after. "No," she smiled. "I like a businessman." You clever thing, you.
Bill Rancic's first date plans weren't exactly what Giuliana had in mind
Speaking with Scoopla, Bill Rancic defended his unconventional dating approach, explaining he's the youngest of four children with three older sisters. This shaped him to be deliberate and careful to not come off as a creep when asking a woman out. "So at the end of the interview, I asked her ... 'Hey Giuliana would like to go jogging sometime?' And she looked at me a little strange, and she said, 'How about dinner instead?' I said, 'That sounds like a much better idea.'" Giuliana added that sweating in Spandex without a lick of makeup is just not her first-date M.O. "I need a lot of makeup. I need dim lighting, sushi, alcohol, let's be honest," she said.
Well, what's a smitten queen to do? Schedule a dinner at Malibu's most quaint and unassuming Nobu. "I didn't know California at all, and I thought she was trying to take me to a place off the beaten path because she was embarrassed," Bill told Us Weekly. "Little did I know it was paparazzi heaven, and she was walking me into the shark tank." Turns out, the pair were scheduling their next three months together over dinner. "We had our phones out, and we were like, 'In July, I gotta go here, maybe you can meet me,'" Bill recalled per ABC News. "And this was in March two hours into the first date," Bill added. "It was the craziest thing ever."
The flighty marriage proposal that involved broken glass
Eight months later, Bill Rancic went to great lengths to plan a romantic evening, only to be rudely interrupted by a pesky champagne glass. "I had a helicopter waiting and told her we were going to look at the Christmas lights, which Chicago is known for, ” Bill recalled to ABC News. "We got up there and were drinking champagne and had Michael Bublé playing in the background, then we flew over Michigan Avenue. That's when I got down on one knee." But Bill had a run-in with his champagne glass on the way down, shattering the thing, rattling an already nervous Bill. But he forged on and proposed. "It's a little bit like sensory overload — you know, you are beginning a new life. It's pretty exciting. I was thrilled. I had no question. 'Life together is going to be an adventure, just like tonight,' I told her. That was it. She said, 'Yes.'"
The thing is, the Chicago night sky was dim just to Giuliana Rancic's liking, which prevented her from evaluating her future husband's taste in diamonds. "It was really dark in the helicopter, and of course I said yes and everything, but it wasn't until really the next morning ... I went into the bathroom and not even thinking I'm like, 'Oh my God, and I realized how gorgeous [the ring] was," Giuliana explained to She Knows. Atta boy, Bill!
What Giuliana Rancic did upon hearing Donald Trump's prenup recommendation
Upon the engagement congratulatory phase, Bill Rancic shared that he received a call from charming Casanova himself, Donald Trump, via ABC News. "Bill, congratulations. Great girl, I love her on E!, she's great," Trump said. "Get a prenup." So unexpected! Bill boldly made the call to his fiancée to share Trump's romantic, unsolicited advice. To Bill's surprise, Giuliana Rancic agreed the prenup was a great idea.
But Giuliana isn't just some interchangeably pretty face. Negotiations between the lover's legal teams went back and forth a few weeks before Bill's lawyer informed him that Giuliana's people insisted on adding a cheating clause. "If you get caught cheating, Giuliana wants 110 percent of your net worth," Bill's lawyer added. "Not 100. 110." Bill went along with the proposal, knowing he isn't a cheater. Two weeks before the wedding, Bill asked Giuliana why she still hadn't signed the prenup. "Didn't I tell you? My lawyer told me to tell you Italian girls don't sign prenups," Giuliana replied. Bill later found out that Giuliana's "legal team" was her older brother, who'd never once opened a law textbook.
Bill and Giuliana Rancic's Naples wedding turned into a reality show
In 2007, Bill and Giuliana Rancic tied the knot off the Italian island of Capri. According to People, the bride wore a white strapless Monique Lhuillier dress, while Papa DePandi custom-tailored Bill's tuxedo from DePandi's menswear store in Maryland. The traditional Catholic ceremony included 190 guests, minus Bill's former boss, Donald Trump, due to scheduling issues. That being said, the Style Network was in attendance to capture the celebration, so Trump was able to view the ceremony on television along with the rest of America, which was a hit!
TV big-wig Ted Harbert, who was the head of E! News and Style Network at the time suggested Bill and Giuliana start a reality show based on their marriage. "And the first thing was no way, Ted," Giuliana told Larry King. "We're not flipping tables over, we don't curse each other out. We don't have drama in our lives." But Harper proposed a new spin on traditional reality TV. "Maybe we could do something with like a positive couple, a positive reality show. And no one thought it would ever last," Giuliana said, recalling higher-ups not believing people would watch a reality show about a healthy, loving marriage. But according to The Hollywood Reporter, ratings showed otherwise. "Everyone who watches our show loves love," Bill said. "Whether it's something that they see in their own relationships, [or] something that they aspire to have one day."
Was Bill the reason Giuliana Rancic left E! News?
Even after marriage, Giuliana and Bill Rancic continued to split their time between Los Angeles and Chicago, which understandably seemed to cause a wisp of tension. "We make it work," Bill told Larry King, while Giuliana sat noticeably quiet. Bill has long championed Chicago as a prized city, citing it as "a hard-working town" with "good values, good morals." He told King he wanted to raise a family where his parents, childhood friends, and businesses are.
Eventually, Giuliana packed her bags and took one for the team. "I stopped doing it like three years ago, and people think there's like drama behind [it] ... and there really wasn't," she shared during an appearance on "On Air with Ryan Seacrest" about leaving E! News for her family. "I just wanted to step away for a little and move to Chicago where Bill is from, and be near our family and friends." But Giuliana explained she was optimistic about the future. "When I left, I had to say there was a little piece of me that wondered, 'Hmm, I wonder if I'll ever be back here.'"
Three years later, that question was answered, as the network welcomed the E! News vet back. "Being gone [for] three years... I had time to really watch as a viewer watches," Giuliana explained her exciting E! News return to Us Weekly. "I have had just so many ideas ... especially for the past year of just different ways we could be doing stuff."
How Giuliana Rancic's cancer diagnosis changed their relationship for the better
In 2011, Giuliana Rancic was diagnosed with breast cancer after a fertility doctor required a mammogram during routine IVF treatments. With no family history of cancer, Giuliana explained her shock to Elmhurst College. "It felt like the floor disappeared, and I was just falling. My great amazing life changed just like that." During such a traumatic event, Bill Rancic told Parade that he focused on staying level-headed and presenting Giuliana with the facts when it came to decisions on moving forward. Giuliana recalled Bill saying, "'I don't care what you look like, I just need you around for the next 50 years.' And that right there was the positivity and encouragement I needed to move on and decide on my next surgery."
Giuliana had a successful double mastectomy and has been cancer-free ever since. Moved from the experience, Giuliana and Bill were inspired to lend their attention to cancer-related causes including FAB-U-WISH, which grants wishes like makeovers, new wardrobes, vacations, and home makeovers to women in treatment for breast cancer. Additionally, Bill partners with Astellas Oncology on its annual C3 Prize, a contest that funds innovative ideas outside medicine in cancer care. "When Giuliana finished treatment, we both vowed that we would do all we can to make treatment easier for those following in our footsteps," Bill told CBS News.
This is what annoys the lovebirds most about each other
However large the level of compatibility or how infatuated two people claim to be with each other, there are bound to be grounds for annoyance. Giuliana Rancic admitted to Larry King that she feels defeated when it comes to Bill Rancic's animosity towards the towel rack. The "Live From the Red Carpet" host said Bill dries off outside of the shower, leaving behind a wet bathroom floor, then shuns the towel rack, tossing his damp towel aimlessly into the air. In a quick turn of events, Giuliana also claimed that Bill's a little too perfect. "He always has to be so perfect," Giuliana teased. "I'd like him to be a little more flawed."
Bill also had a few critical observations of his wife handy. "She's messy as hell," he said with a smile. "I mean her car — I call her car 'the dirty diaper.' It is — it's not normal, Larry." But Bill wasn't done. "She collects things. She has twelve strollers. She's on the borderline of being a hoarder." But Giuliana sees things differently, claiming to be a collector, not a hoarder, per HuffPost. Her fondness for tangibles was addressed on the couple's reality show, "Giuliana & Bill," for which she gets hypnotized in hopes of turning her habits around. "Currently, you have some very strong emotional attachments to collecting certain things," Tom the hypnotist told her. "All I want to do is remove the habit."
They co-authored a of book of advice on how they stay a madly in love
Bill and Giuliana Rancic have been together for over a decade — a milestone in Hollywood, indeed. But beyond that, their chemistry is undeniably palpable to others around them. Whether they're boasting about each other's triumphs during an interview or teasing each other over witty banter seen on their reality show, people have taken notice of Bill and Giuliana's whirlwind romance.
Well investigators, rejoice! Because in 2010, the power couple went and co-wrote a tell-all about what makes their relationship successful, answering the age-old conundrum: Relationships — what the frick? In the forward of, "I Do, Now What: Secrets, Stories, and Advice from a Madly-in-Love Couple," Giuliana wrote, "Our marital success stems from small but significant efforts we've made to improve our relationship ... The result is a bond built on a foundation of shared values that allow our marriage to thrive." Oh! Why didn't we think of that?
The efforts Giuliana refers to are adjustments, like the phone rule. "The minute we come home, all our phones go in there," Bill explained to People. "That way, we're not texting or emailing people at work. We're interacting with each other. It was hard at first, but we got used to it." Speaking with Closer Weekly, Bill added the bottom line is making their relationship a priority. "I think we have one rule, and that's family first. We don't compromise [that] and don't break the rule."
Why Bill and Giuliana Rancic say they put their marriage before their son
Bill and Giuliana Rancic had son Edward Duke through gestational surrogacy in 2012. And while they told Closer Weekly that they makes weekly family resolutions and activities – like game nights and cooking dinner together — the parents admitted that their marriage comes first. "We definitely put our marriage first," Giuliana explained the couple's theory to Larry King. "I think that for Duke, that will ultimately benefit him the most to see us happy, in love, to know that mommy and daddy love each other and adore each other, and are going to be together, makes him feel safe."
Bill agreed with his wife, adding that successful ventures start with a solid infrastructure. "You got to have a good foundation." Speaking with Splash News, Giuliana playfully admitted to giving Bill twice the amount for attention. "When I work, it gives it 100%, and when I'm with Duke, I give that 100%. And Bill, I give 200%," to which the happy husband replied, "Good answer."
And it seems the loving couple knows what they're talking about! "It's all about Duke," Bill told E!. "Everywhere he goes, people say he's the happiest baby they've ever met. And he's always smiling, he's always laughing, he loves giving people hugs."
Bill and Giuliana Rancic are also business partners
In a plot twist that shocks no one, Bill and Giuliana Rancic spend all of their day time together, too! The power couple teamed up as business partners for several companies, primarily RPM Restaurants, serving up steak, Italian cuisine, and seafood. "We love working together," Giuliana shared on the "Beyond Speaking Podcast." "And actually every business opportunity that comes our way as individuals, we think to ourselves, 'Hmm, could Bill add value to this?' and Bill wonders if I can add value ... It's a way for us to spend even more time together."
Bill agreed, speaking with Us Weekly, "We have fun together, that's it. I mean, we do everything together. We don't do his and her vacations ... We genuinely like each other, which I think is pretty important. You love each other, yeah, but we love spending time with each other."
Their formula is certainly working, and as Bill told Open Table, they've attracted some pretty big names, too. "Barack Obama came in for his boys' night out," he revealed, with Giuliana adding, "It was cool. Lady Gaga came in, and Michelle Obama came in with friends ... It's been a lot of fun." With business booming, the pair have a combined net worth of $30 million, per Celebrity Net Worth – proving to be a power couple both personally and professionally.
How does the power couple spend their downtime off camera?
Giuliana and Bill Rancic are busy people. Outside their line of restaurants, Bill is a motivational speaker on the finesse of business, an author, and is involved in real estate developments, while Giuliana has developed her HSN clothing line 'G by Giuliana,' her Fountain of Truth skincare products, Giuliana Prosecco, and has returned to E! News.
But what do these two do when they're not making it rain? "Walk up and down Michigan Avenue in Chicago," Giuliana told LA Travel Magazine. "I love the energy of the city, as well as the architecture, variety of restaurants, and great shopping Chicago has to offer." Bill chimed in reminding everyone that he's still a Chicago native. "Chicago is my hometown, so whenever I have time off, I too love to be in the city, and nothing beats a five-mile run on the lakefront." Giuliana confessed even their date nights are low-key. "Our date night is, 'Let's get in bed early, watch TV, get a bottle of wine.' That's how we connect," Giuliana told the Splash Magazine (via Radar).
Of course, son Duke obtains a lot of their attention as well. "We are lucky we started a little later," Bill explained to Splash Magazine. "If we had a child in our 20s ... I wouldn't have been able to enjoy it as much, because I would have been working all of the time. Now, we spend a lot of time with Duke."
Are Bill and Giuliana Rancic reviving their reality show?
The E! News series "Giuliana and Bill" was a hit from the beginning, as the couple took an innovative approach to reality TV. "It makes being married cool," Bill told the Los Angeles Times. "There is no flipping tables or cursing at each other. It's very positive." As executive producers, the couple was adamant about not cutting anything from the show. "We knew it was all or nothing," Giuliana told PR.com. "Either show this real side or don't show anything."
Bill told Good Morning America (via ABC News) that fans always approach them, explaining how the show has inspired positivity in their own lives. "We can't make it through an airport without someone coming up and saying, 'Thank you. My wife finally got a mammogram.'"
After welcoming TV crews and viewers into their lives for seven seasons, Giuliana and Bill decided to call it quits in 2104. "We needed to pull back a little bit just because our son is four ... I don't know if I would've wanted to show cameras at his preschool or him going through certain milestones," Giuliana told HuffPost. But Giuliana has admitted to flirting with the idea of bringing the show back. "I have to say, a lot of people ask us about it, and we're so proud of it. I wonder if there's a version of it ...now that Duke is a little older," Giuliana told "On Air with Ryan Seacrest." "Maybe we will have to revisit it."