Born on May 19, 1976, in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, Gail Simmons grew up in a food-loving household. Her mother, Renee, wrote a cooking column for the Globe and Mail and ran a cooking school from the family’s home. She attended McGill University in Montreal, where she began writing restaurant reviews for the McGill Tribune during her final year.

After graduating, Simmons returned to Toronto to write for Toronto Life and the National Post. She then moved to New York City in 1999 to attend the Institute of Culinary Education. She went on to assist Vogue magazine’s food critic Jeffrey Steingarten for two years before joining Food & Wine as Special Projects Director — a role she held until 2019.

In 2006, Simmons became a permanent judge on Bravo’s Top Chef, a position she still holds today. Over the years, she has also hosted Top Chef: Just Desserts (Bravo, 2010–2011), served as head critic on Top Chef Masters, hosted Top Chef Amateurs, and hosted Iron Chef Canada. In addition to TV hosting, Gail Simmons has published two books: her memoir, Talking With My Mouth Full (2012) and her cookbook Bringing It Home (2017).