Who are Chrissy Teigen’s parents, Ron and Vilailuck ‘Pepper’ Teigen? Her mum has almost 400,000 Instagram followers and her own Thai recipe cookbook

Sep 13 , 2024

Model and presenter Chrissy Teigen’s parents didn’t always have it easy, but the family remains tight knit. Photos: @pepperthai2, @chrissyteigen/Instagram

Life hasn’t always been easy for Chrissy Teigen’s Thai-born mum and American electrician dad – here’s what you need to know about the pair

We all know that Chrissy Teigen is a former model, queen of the Lip Sync Battle and wife of singer John Legend – but very few will be familiar with her parents’ story. For instance, did you know that Teigen’s mother Vilailuck Teigen – affectionately known as Pepper – is celebrated online for her delicious Thai recipes? Or that her father proudly sports a tattoo of Chrissy on his arm?

Read on to find out how they met, how Pepper made the move from Thailand to the US, and what they did while Chrissy Teigen was growing up …

Chrissy Teigen’s mum, Vilailuck “Pepper” Teigen, hails from Thailand

Pepper Teigen, her youngest daughter Chrissy Teigen, Chrissy’s husband, musician John Legend, and their children. Photo: @pepperthai2/Instagram

Chrissy’s mum Pepper hails from Nakhon Ratchasima in Thailand, where her grandparents worked as rice farmers. Pepper’s mother worked in a school cafeteria, and Pepper began helping with food preparation when she was around eight or nine, per News 24.

“I started going to the market with my mum and came back at about five or six in the morning and just started preparations,” Pepper wrote in her 2021 cookbook. “I was the sous chef for my mother before I could leave for school. At lunchtime, I had to come down and help her sell, like a food vendor.”

How did Chrissy Teigen’s parents meet?

A photo of Chrissy Teigen’s father, Ron Teigen, in his youth. He was an electrician. Photo: @pepperthai2/Instagram

In 1982, while Pepper was a single mother to her two-year-old daughter Tina – Chrissy’s older half-sister – she met Ron Teigen. At the time, Ron was an American electrician travelling between his company’s office in Thailand and Saudi Arabia for work.

Soon after they began dating, Ron invited Pepper to meet his family in Washington. After consulting an immigration officer, they realised that marrying would be the easiest way to secure a visa, per News 24. They were married in May of the following year.

“Next thing I know, I’m on my first airplane ride,” Pepper recalled. “I think the in-flight meal was the first American food I ever ate – pepper steak, of course.”

What did Ron and Pepper Teigen do for work when Chrissy Teigen was a child?

Chrissy Teigen with her father Ron Teigen on his birthday this August. Photo: @pepperthai2/Instagram