Key Takeaways
A simple answer
Some famous people hire chefs who live in the home. Some hire chefs who visit. Some still cook, at least sometimes.
A “chef” can mean many jobs
A live-in chef is not the same as a personal chef who comes a few days a week. Catering is different again.
Food is a system, not just a meal
Shopping, planning, cooking, serving, and cleaning all take time. A chef can remove most of that load.
Story & Details
What this article is about
This article is about a common question in January 2026: do famous people have a chef living in the house, or do they cook for themselves?
Why wealth changes the kitchen
In many homes, cooking is a daily chain of tasks. First comes menu planning. Then shopping. Then cooking. Then cleaning. For a person with heavy travel, long workdays, or strict diet needs, that chain can feel endless. Money can turn that chain into a service.
The science piece is simple: choices cost energy. When a day is full of decisions, food decisions often get worse. A chef reduces choice load by building routines: the same breakfast base, planned snacks, and a rotating set of dinners. That can also help health goals, because the plan is steady.
Bill Gates as a clear example
Bill Gates, born October twenty-eighth, nineteen fifty-five, has been quoted saying he does not cook. In the same quote, he also says he does not make his own bed. That is a blunt snapshot of how some extremely wealthy people live in the United States (North America).
It also sits next to a second detail: one of his main homes has multiple kitchens. A house can have many kitchens for many reasons. It can host events. It can support staff. It can separate everyday meals from formal meals. A big home can work like a small hotel.
Yet “does not cook” does not always mean “never touches food.” In a widely shared moment from a trip in India (Asia), he was shown making roti with chef and creator Eitan Bernath. In that story, he even jokes that heating soup is the kind of cooking he does more often. It is a reminder that cooking can show up as a one-off experience, even when it is not a daily habit.
When the chef lives in the house
A live-in chef is the strongest form of help. It can look like a full-time job with a private kitchen, fixed hours, and food tailored to the home’s rules.
A classic public example is the royal household in the United Kingdom (Europe). A royal chef role can be tied to palace life and formal service. In that setting, cooking is not only about taste. It is also about timing, tradition, and large-scale planning.
A modern social-media-era example comes from a celebrity home tour that described a live-in private chef and a nanny for the household of Austin McBroom and Catherine Paiz, known as the ACE Family, in the United States (North America). This kind of setup is often framed as comfort, but it is also logistics: filming days, travel days, and constant schedule shifts.
A different kind of example appears in reports about actor Matt Damon in Ireland (Europe) during a period when he was living there with his family and was described as having a live-in chef. This points to a common pattern: when a family relocates for months, the “temporary” home can still run like a staffed home.
Sports can be even more intense. In the United States (North America), an allegation reported in national coverage described Antonio Brown’s former live-in chef speaking to media about him. Whatever the wider story is, the detail matters for this article: some high-level athletes do have chefs living in the home, at least for stretches of time, because training and recovery can demand tight food control.
The middle ground that is more common than “live-in”
Most wealthy households that hire cooking help do not need a chef living in the house.
A personal chef can come on set days, cook several meals, label containers, and leave. This is often called meal prep. It is less expensive than live-in staffing and it protects privacy. It also gives the home more control: the family can keep its own kitchen habits while still saving time.
Catering is another option. It is common for events, shoots, and large gatherings. Catering solves scale. A private chef solves routine.
A practical lesson lands here: a “chef household” is not one single thing. It is a spectrum of services. The right point on that spectrum depends on schedule, diet needs, privacy needs, and how much cooking the person actually enjoys.
A tiny Dutch mini-lesson for food talk
Dutch is spoken in the Netherlands (Europe). These short lines are useful in kitchens and at the table.
Dutch: Eet smakelijk.
Simple meaning: Enjoy your meal.
Word-by-word: eet = eat; smakelijk = tasty.
Use: polite, common, said before eating.
Dutch: Zullen we koken?
Simple meaning: Shall we cook?
Word-by-word: zullen = shall; we = we; koken = cook.
Use: friendly, planning a meal together.
Dutch: Ik kook niet.
Simple meaning: I do not cook.
Word-by-word: ik = I; kook = cook; niet = not.
Use: plain, direct, everyday speech.
Conclusions
So, do famous people cook?
Both answers can be true. Some famous people keep cooking as a real hobby. Others hand cooking over to staff. Many do a mix: everyday food is handled by help, while special moments bring them back into the kitchen.
The best way to read a celebrity food story
A single quote or clip is not the whole lifestyle. The real signal is the system behind it: time, routine, staff, and the kind of food control a person wants.
Selected References
[1] Architectural Digest — Bill Gates’s Houses: Exploring Xanadu 2.0 and the Rest of the Tech Titan’s Massive Real Estate Portfolio — https://www.architecturaldigest.com/story/bill-gatess-house-exploring-the-tech-titans-massive-real-estate-portfolio
[2] Encyclopaedia Britannica — Bill Gates Facts — https://www.britannica.com/facts/Bill-Gates
[3] NDTV Food — Watch: Bill Gates Makes Roti From Scratch, Delights Indian Foodies — https://food.ndtv.com/news/watch-bill-gates-makes-roti-from-scratch-delights-indian-foodies-3749142
[4] Business Insider — Inside the Ace Family’s California Mansion (home tour notes include a live-in private chef) — https://www.businessinsider.com/austin-mcbroom-catherine-paiz-ace-family-house-tour-photos-2020-11
[5] People — NFL Says It’s Reviewing Allegation Antonio Brown Used Fake COVID Vaccination Card (mentions a former live-in chef) — https://people.com/sports/nfl-says-its-reviewing-allegation-antonio-brown-used-fake-covid-vaccination-card/
[6] Irish Independent — Profile describing Matt Damon at home in Ireland, including a live-in chef — https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/this-is-matt-damon-at-home-in-ireland-gardening-and-with-his-live-in-chef/a1899903330.html
[7] The Wall Street Journal (YouTube) — A report on home cooking and professional chefs — https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kptow8AgOX0
Appendix
Catering
Food service for events or large groups, usually delivered or served by a team. It focuses on scale and timing.
Decision fatigue
A drop in mental energy after making many choices, which can make simple choices—like food choices—harder later in the day.
Live-in chef
A chef who lives in the home and cooks as part of a full-time household staff role.
Meal prep
Cooking food in advance so meals are ready later, often stored in containers for the week.
Personal chef
A chef hired by a person or family, often visiting on set days to cook planned meals for the home.
Roti
A flatbread made from dough, commonly cooked on a hot pan, and eaten with many meals in South Asia.
Satiety
The feeling of being full after eating, influenced by factors like protein, fiber, and overall meal structure.
My Diary - Leonardo Cardillo 