Who Is Restaurant: Impossible Host Robert Irvine’s Wife? All About Gail Kim

Robert Irvine may be known for his no-nonsense attitude on Restaurant: Impossible, but his wife, Gail Kim, says there’s more to him than fans get to see on screen.

The former Food Network host first met the now-retired pro wrestler in 2009 on the set of his series Dinner: Impossible. He proposed two years into the relationship, and the couple married in May 2012.

“He has a sweet, sensitive side,” Kim told PEOPLE shortly after their nuptials. “He’s truly such a softie at heart.”

As for Kim, Irvine described his wife as, “a feisty character. She’s my best friend and soul mate,” he said.

More than a decade after saying ‘I do,’ the couple enjoy quiet nights in and relaxing on the couch together between work obligations.

“We watch TV and we snuggle and we talk about her day, her week, her month,” Irvine told PEOPLE after their 11th wedding anniversary in 2023. “We’re very unusual as a couple because we don’t spend every day together. So every day we spend together is special.”

So who is Robert Irvine’s wife? Here’s everything to know about Gail Kim and her relationship with the TV host.

She is Canadian

Kim was born and raised in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. She attended York Memorial Collegiate Institute for high school where she competed in multiple sports including soccer, track & field, softball, volleyball and basketball, and was even named Athlete of the Year.

She began studying at the University of Toronto after high school and later transferred to Ryerson University where she studied nutrition.

She met Irvine on set

While filming an episode of his show Dinner: Impossible, Irvine met his future wife.

In the 2009 episode titled ‘WWE: A Mission on the Mat,’ the chef was tasked with cooking a meal for 300 VIPs who attended WWE’s SummerSlam event, and one of the guests was Kim.

“We just clicked and that was history,” Kim said on the Story Time with Dutch Mantell podcast in May 2024.

After two years together, he proposed with a naturally brown chocolate diamond. The striking stone is a diamond that is naturally colored brown, rather than a piece of jewelry that is edible.

She is a former pro wrestler

Kim was signed to the World Wrestling Federation, now WWE, in 2002, and originally went by the name La Felina in the ring. On June 30, 2003 she won the Women’s Championship, but by 2004, she had been released by the organization and moved to Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) where she was signed in 2005 and stayed until 2008. The wrestler then returned to the WWE for three years between 2008 and 2011 and before heading back to TNA.

Among the highlights of her successful career was when she was the first woman inducted into the TNA Hall of Fame in 2016. Kim officially retired in 2019 from her career, but has stayed involved by working as a producer for TNA.

“Throughout my 17-year career as an active pro wrestler, I was constantly learning every day,” she wrote in a blog post on Irvine’s website. “Once I felt like I felt comfortable physically in the ring, I strived to become a great leader. If I was a good babyface (a good guy/heroine), I strived to become a great heel, or villain.”

“Even now as I continue my career behind the scenes of a business I truly love and know, I still have my sights on expanding to outside of wrestling. I always thought that all I wanted out of life was to be known as a great wrestler but now I have even bigger goals, to leave behind a greater legacy to remember,” she wrote in the blog post.

As well as making a comeback in the ring in 2023 for iMPACT! 1000 — a special wrestling event to celebrate the 1000th episode of the show, TNA iMPACT! — Kim was announced as one of the cast of The Traitors Canada season 2 in September, 2024. The show premiered on Sept. 23 and airs on CTV in Canada.

She married Irvine in 2012

On May 10, 2012, Irvine and Kim tied the knot in Napa, California at the Charles Krug Winery.

The planning process and special day were documented for a special Restaurant: Impossible episode titled ‘Wedding: Impossible,’ but Kim told PEOPLE after their nuptials that her new husband was primarily the one who brought the day together.

“He wanted to give me the fairy tale wedding,” she said. “I didn’t know the colors of my wedding or what my bouquet would look like! But I trusted his taste.”

Kim was taken on a horse-drawn carriage ride around the vineyard before walking down the aisle in front of 160 family members and friends.

“I cried when she walked down the aisle,” Irvine told PEOPLE. “She was jaw-dropping — this glow of beauty, wearing a dress with a long train. She looked so beautiful.”

Best man and fellow Food Network star Guy Fieri catered the rehearsal dinner, and there was “an amazing mix of characters, with all the wrestlers from TNA and WWE,” also in attendance for the celebrations.

After the ceremony, the couple headed to Greece for their honeymoon.

Over the years, Kim has celebrated her husband on her social media, including celebrating his birthday with an Instagram post in September 2024.

“Had a great time celebrating @chefirvine ‘s bday raising money for the @robertirvinefoundation and having his closest friends and family to celebrate. Couldn’t think of a better way than to celebrate his bday with his first passion which is giving back ❤️,” she wrote in the caption for the post, which was accompanied by a photo of the couple at the Robert Irvine Birthday Bash at the Phillies event at Citizen’s Bank Park on Sept. 24.

“Love you and what you stand for always. You’re an inspiration to so many 💕🥰😇 HAPPY BDAY Babe!,” Kim continued.

They are focused on good communication

Despite busy work schedules, which includes a lot of travel for Irvine, the couple is committed to good communication no matter the distance between them.

“I think it’s really important, the communication,” Irvine told PEOPLE in 2023. “The communication we give and the clear directions that we have is carried through our marriage. If we don’t communicate, it breaks down like a business would. We over-communicate. And she’s the better communicator, believe me or not.”

Their hard work on communication has paid off, and Irvine says they argue “very little.”

“We’re very blessed,” he added. “We both have great jobs, great marriage.”

“I couldn’t do what I do with such a heavy travel schedule without her blessing. Otherwise, I’d never be married, it would never work,” he said. “We are like soul mates. I mean, I couldn’t tell you any other female that could put up with my life and my schedule, or any other male that could put up with her schedule.”

They keep their work lives separate

Kim says she and Irvine prefer to keep their work separate from each other. However, working together could be something they’d consider if the right opportunity presented itself.

“If it was the right project and we both felt like it was great for both of us we would do it, but we haven’t found that yet. So we kind of just kind of stick to our own things,” she told The Hype Magazine in 2019 when asked if they had collaborated on anything aside from their home life.

“I think when Robert steps into the wrestling world he’s, like, ‘Gail Kim’s husband.’ But when I am doing everyday life, to most of the world I’m ‘his wife.’ And so it kind of gives us our own thing and I think we both like that, especially myself, I like to have my own identity,” she said. “Like I said, though, if the right project came along we would do it. Something that works for both of us.”