The Untold Truth Of Jimmy Kimmel’s Ex-Wife

Ginna Maddy, formerly known as Ginna Kimmel, is a costume designer and former TV personality, born on 13 December 1964, in Hoffman Estates, Illinois USA. She’s best known to the public for being TV host Jimmy Kimmel’s now ex-wife.

Early Life and Education

There’s no information about Gina’s childhood – the only information about her family is that her father’s name was James Maddy. She graduated from Northern Illinois University in 1983, and then studied Journalism and Communications in Arizona State University. She continued her education in 2002, when she studied Fashion at Harper College.

A drive-up interview with internet yogi and Roastmaster @RealJeffreyRoss… #Carantine https://t.co/8vtnuCkjJB pic.twitter.com/ztsm53sZDa

— Jimmy Kimmel (@jimmykimmel) June 18, 2020

Career

TV Shows

Gina’s first appearance in on TV was in “The Man Show”, broadcast on Comedy Central, and hosted by Gina’s husband at the time Jimmy Kimmel. Through 1999 to 2002, Gina appeared in 17 episodes of the show as Jimmy’s wife. The comedy talk show, directed to a masculine audience, was very popular, and lasted 15 years on air.

It wasn’t until 2012 that Gina appeared in another production – she formed part of “Party Like…”, a documentary movie-series directed by Philip Day and Aaron McAdams, which narrates the different ways human societies party from ancient history to modernity. In this series, she appeared as an expert, offering insights and comments on historical fashion trends as the movies’ stories took course, plus formed part of the Wardrobe Department as a costume designer.

Gina was credited in two movies of this series: “Party Like the Queen of France” starring Jean Louise O’Sullivan as Queen Marie Antoinette, which focused on the story of Masquerades and its origins in France. The second was “Party Like the Rich and Famous”, which recreates the most expensive party ever celebrated in America, held at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York City in 1987. The event was attended by the wealthiest people in the city at that time, but the excess and extravagance of the party faced a public backlash as it was held during one of the worst economic depressions in the US.

Costume Designer

Gina’s main career is as a costume designer.

After she finished her studies in fashion, she started her own independent projects, however, it wasn’t until 2014 when she opened a campaign on Kickstarter to start her own business “Maddy James Inc. Vintage Loungewear”, which specializes in bedroom wardrobes inspired by the 1920s to 1960s.

Gina’s reason for creating this business was the need for glamorous sleepwear for women, made of durable and modern fabrics: ‘I’ve been buying vintage loungewear for years, but it’s 80-year-old silk and very fragile, so you can’t really sleep in it’. She continues: ‘You can put it on and go: ‘Look, honey — but don’t touch it!’. The campaign gathered contributions from 153 donors, who provided over $16,000 for the project’s realization. The name of the business is in honor of Gina’s father, James Maddy.

Gina has a Facebook page named “Maddy James”, on which she promotes her clothes, though her shop’s web page maddyjames.com is currently inactive.

Personal Life

Famous Ex-Spouse

Famous TV host Jimmy Kimmel is Gina’s ex-husband. The pair met when they studied at Arizona State University, and married on 25 June 1998. Kimmel, who was very shy around girls during high school, declared that he was thrilled when he met Gina, and ‘felt like he should do anything in his power to keep her’.

The couple had two kids together: Katherine born in 1991, and Kevin in 1993. After 14 years of marriage, the couple separated in 2002 and officially filed for divorce in 2003 for unknown reasons, with shared custody of their kids. Kimmel started dating comedian Sara Silverman in 2002, while Gina and the kids moved from Los Angeles to Chicago.

Who’s Jimmy Kimmel?

Jimmy Kimmel was born in 1967 in New York. Although he’s known for being the host and producer of the show “Jimmy Kimmel Live!”, he actually started his career in radio, hosting various independent shows. It wasn’t until 1989 that he obtained his first paid job with “The Me and Him Show”, but he and his co-host were soon fired.

A few years later, he finally landed a job in Los Angeles as the host of “Jimmy The Sports Guy” on KROQ-FM. However, even if the show was very popular, he was still struggling economically. In an interview with Vulture, he revealed the economic difficulties he and his then wife Gina lived with after the birth of their daughter: ‘I’d pick Katie up from day care as quickly as I could, because we couldn’t afford the $5 an hour to keep her there longer’.

Later Kimmel hosted “Win Ben Stein’s Money”, a game show on Comedy Central which won him an Emmy Award in the category “Best Game Show Host” in 1997. In 1999 Kimmel started co-hosting “The Man Show” along with Adam Carolla, the success of which allowed Jimmy to start his own productions, such as “Crank Yankers” and “The Andy Milonakis Show”, and from then on, his success as a TV host and producer grew steadily.

Children

Gina and Jimmy’s daughter Katherine, is currently an artist, and graduated from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 2015; her works can be found on her website. She specializes in ceramics, and has many ongoing design projects.

GTheir younger child Kevin, has found himself a place in entertainment industry. He has worked as a production assistant and sound mixer on various productions, such as “Survivor”, “Last Comic Standing”, “The Meltdown with Jonah and Kumail”, and others. Currently he works with his father on “Jimmy Kimmel Live!”, as part of its staff.

During their childhood, both Katherine and Kevin appeared as actors in some of their father’s projects, from 2001 to 2003 in Jimmy’s show “The Man Show”, and 2003 through 2004 in “Crank Yankers”, produced by Kimmel.

New Boyfriend

Gina Maddy is currently dating Chris Jones, of Chicago.

There’s no information about Jones’s life or career, only that he has a daughter named Emily-Kate, and a son named Caleb. Chris also owns various cats, and frequently shares photos of them on Instagram.

When the relationship between Chris and Gina started is unknown. However, her son Kevin shared a photo with the caption: ‘#HappyFathersDay to the men who have fathered me’, tagging Chris and his father Jimmy.

Kathie also shared a photo in 2015 in which she and her step-siblings are still visibly young kids, along with a younger Gina and Chris. This makes it safe to assume they have been together for some years and that Gina’s children consider Chris as their second father.

The couple often share photos of themselves together, on Instagram.

Net Worth

Gina Maddy net worth is estimated at close to $1 million, as of 2020, as a result of her work as a fashion designer and for being the owner of “Maddy James Inc”, as well as from the divorce settlement, although that remains undisclosed.

Appearance

Gina is a woman of white ethnicity, with blue eyes and blonde hair. She wears glasses and reputedly has gorgeous features. However, her stature and current weight are unknown.

Interesting Facts

Gina is very active on her Instagram account.

On 20 March 2020, she shared a picture of herself sewing face masks for a Washington hospital, as her contribution to stop the Coronavirus spread.

She has a good relationship with her step-children, Caleb and Emily.

She married Kimmy Kimmel when she was 24 years old, which means she was older than him by 4 years.