John Gidding

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John Gidding

John Gidding (born January 7, 1977) is an American/Turkish architect, television actor and former fashion model.

Gidding was born in Istanbul, Turkey, where he lived until moving to the United States for college after attending Leysin American School in Leysin, Switzerland. He graduated from Yale University in 1999 with a BA in architecture, then the Harvard Graduate School of Design with a Masters in architecture. At Yale he sung a cappella with the The Yale Society of Orpheus and Bacchus, and choral music with the Yale Glee Club, and at Harvard he sung with the Harvard-Radcliffe Collegium Musicum. He was voted one of "Yale's 50 Most Beautiful People" in 1999 by Rumpus Magazine, one of "Boston's 50 Most Eligible Bachelors" by The Improper Bostonian in 2002, one of "Atlanta's 50 Most Beautiful People" by Jezebel Magazine and as one of Atlanta Homes and Lifestyles's "Emerging Talent: Twenty Under 40" in 2008.

Gidding started modeling in 2000 as a graduate student, performing runway shows for Armani, Gucci, and Hugo Boss before being represented by Wilhelmina Models in New York City. Before entering the design profession, Gidding was the spokesmodel for Jhane Barnes in 2004 and 2005. He's also been on the covers of numerous romance novels.

He is currently best known for being one of the designers on the ABC Family TV show Knock First, where he and three other designers took turns making over teenagers' bedrooms. The show was produced by Scout Productions, also known for their hit show Queer Eye for the Straight Guy. Knock First is still running in syndication internationally.

Gidding moved to New York City where he started John Gidding Design after working for two years as a landscape architect for Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates.

He is currently the host/designer HGTV's hit show "Designed to Sell".