Duff Goldman Didn’t Want to Get Married After His Parents’ Divorce but Now Has a ‘One-in-a-Million Relationship’

Marriage and family were no let-up for Duff Goldman.

“My parents had a really bad divorce, and I was like, ‘Cool. I never want any of that, so I won’t get married.’ I said, ‘I don’t like that,'” says the 48-year-old Food Network star, whose new show Elf on the Shelf: Sweet Showdown airing now.

But then Duff met his now-wife Johnna, 30, online in 2016. “I thought, ‘Oh, that’s how you’re supposed to feel about people,'” he tells PEOPLE in this week’s issue, on newsstands now.

Despite the fact that “none of us were looking for anything serious,” says Duff, the couple talked for seven hours on their first date. Two weeks later, they took a spontaneous trip to Hawaii together. “It was obvious very quickly that we were really in love with each other,” he recalls.

Duff Goldman with his wife John and daughter Josephine.

Chris McPherson

Joanna’s first impression of Duff was that he was “really sweet and sweet,” she says. “He’s just a kind, gentle soul. And he’s been consistent about that.”

As a writer, artist and flautist, Johnna shares Duff’s passion for creativity. At home in Los Angeles, Duff makes toys for their daughter Josephine (2) and practices guitar for her band Foie Grock (playing “foie gras” and “rock and roll”).

Enter Duff Goldman’s unique LA home where he makes toys, plays music and ‘constantly builds’

“I’m a bit of a big kid,” he says. “I’m noisy. I’m messy. I’m always building something.”

After tying the knot in 2019 at the Natural History Museum in LA (where they had three wedding cakes!), Duff and Johnna have built an amazing life together.

“We have a one-in-a-million ratio,” says Duff. “I never thought I would have such a capacity for love.”

Duff and Johnna said “I do” at the Natural History Museum in LA on January 19, 2019. Photo by Amy and Stuart via Martha Stewart Weddings

Their daughter only opened his heart even more. “When you have a kid, you realize, ‘Wow, I didn’t know that was in there,'” he says. “It’s wonderful.”

More children are not off the table. “It could happen. It could,” he adds. “If it happens, what a blessing. If not, we are in bliss.”

For more on Duff Goldman, pick up the latest issue of PEOPLE, on newsstands now.

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Source: HIS Education