Ina Garten Says Husband Jeffrey ‘Would Have Been a Great Parent’ but ‘He Wanted Me to Be Happy’

"I had no interest in having children," the Food Network star said on Julia Louis-Dreyfus' podcast, 'Wiser Than Me'

Ina Garten never wanted children — and her husband Jeffrey Garten supported that decision.

During a new episode of Julia Louis-Dreyfus’ podcast, Wiser Than Me from Lemonada Media, the Barefoot Contessa star spoke about their relationship. “I think Jeffrey would have been a great parent. He would have really loved having children,” she told the Seinfeld star. “But, he wanted me to be happy, and it was okay with him.”

As a working woman in the '70s, Ina's choice to not have kids “wasn’t a struggle at all,” she said.

“I had no interest in having children. None. I just had a terrible childhood, and it was nothing I wanted to recreate,” she added.

While the Food Network star doesn’t regret her choice, she said that by seeing her friends with their children, “I understand what it could be.”

Related: Ina Garten Says Her Childhood Is the Reason She Didn’t Want Kids: 'It Was Nothing I Wanted to Recreate'

“But when I was 20, I didn't want to have anything to do with it,” she told Louis-Dreyfus.

Ina and Jeffrey first met in 1963 when she was 15 visiting her brother at Dartmouth College, where Jeffrey was also studying. They married in 1968 in Connecticut. They've enjoyed countless adventures together over the years in places like Paris and Washington, D.C., to their home in East Hampton, New York, of course.

Ina told Louis-Dreyfus that they’re going on two unique trips this year: a journey to the arctic and another on a safari.

In her forthcoming memoir, Be Ready When the Luck Happens (out Oct. 1.), Ina opens up about her 55-year marriage to Jeffrey. During an interview with PEOPLE announcing the book, she shared how integral her long-time partner was in shaping the project.

Related: Ina Garten Was Up at 3 A.M. to Buy Taylor Swift Tickets — Now She’s Planning Her ‘Sparkly’ Outfit (Exclusive)

"Jeffrey used to write letters to me when we first met, when I was in high school. And then through college. And then when he was in the military, he would write to me almost every day," she told PEOPLE. "And I kept all those letters."

Jeffrey also helped by reading Ina’s manuscript. He’s dyslexic so he typically reads for just short periods of time, but with her book, "He sat down after lunch and read it, and he didn't get up until 7:30 at night," Ina said.

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She added: “He read the entire thing in one sitting. And I was like, 'Whoa.' I kept bringing him snacks and coffee. He just loved it."

Be Ready When the Luck Happens, published by Crown, will be released on Oct. 1. An e-book and audio book read by Ina herself will also be available.

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