Rishia Haas is an American professional known for her quiet personality, family-centered life, and work in supportive roles. Born in Minnesota, she built her own career while choosing to remain mostly outside public attention.
She became widely known through her marriage to Andrew Zimmern, the chef, writer, and television personality famous for Bizarre Foods. Their long relationship, family life, and eventual divorce brought greater public interest to Rishia.
Beyond her famous marriage, Rishia has an interesting personal journey of her own. Her story covers her Minnesota childhood, education, professional career, motherhood, beekeeping interests, marriage, divorce, finances, and private life today.
Quick Bio
| Category | Details |
|---|---|
| Full Name | Rishia Anne Haas |
| Popular Name | Rishia Haas |
| Date of Birth | July 29, 1973 |
| Age | 53 years old in 2026 |
| Birthplace | Anoka, Minnesota, USA |
| Nationality | American |
| Ethnicity | White |
| Height | Around 5 feet 5 inches (165–167 cm) |
| Education | Anoka High School, Augsburg College |
| Profession | Administrative professional, recovery support worker, beekeeper |
| Famous For | Former wife of Andrew Zimmern |
| Father | Robert Haas |
| Mother | Karen Haas |
| Siblings | Jennifer Haas and John Haas |
| Ex-Husband | Andrew Zimmern |
| Marriage | 2002–2020 |
| Separation | 2018 |
| Child | Noah Zimmern |
| Current Residence | Minnesota, USA |
| Net Worth | Estimated around $5 million |
| Interests | Beekeeping, nature, cooking, gardening |
| Social Media | No major public presence |
Who Is Rishia Haas?
Rishia Haas is an American woman whose name became familiar because of her relationship with celebrity chef Andrew Zimmern. However, she developed a professional and personal identity separate from her former husband’s television career.
She has worked in administrative positions and in organizations connected with addiction recovery. Her professional experience includes The Retreat and the Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation, where her responsibilities involved helping people and supporting daily operations.
Rishia has also developed an interest in beekeeping and nature. Unlike Andrew, she never built a career around fame. She has generally preferred family responsibilities, meaningful work, and a peaceful lifestyle over regular public appearances.
Her Childhood in Minnesota
Rishia Haas was born on July 29, 1973, in Minnesota and spent her younger years in the state. Her childhood gave her a strong connection to the communities and lifestyle that would remain important throughout adulthood.
Her parents are Robert Haas and Karen Haas. She grew up alongside her siblings, Jennifer Haas and John Haas. Her family environment helped shape the calm, responsible, and family-focused personality associated with her later life.
Minnesota remained an important part of Rishia’s story even after she became connected with a nationally recognized television personality. Rather than moving toward a celebrity-centered lifestyle, she continued building her home, career, and family life there.
Rishia Haas Age and Appearance
Rishia Haas was born on July 29, 1973. Based on this birth date, she is 53 years old in 2026. Her age difference with Andrew Zimmern was one feature of their relationship, although it did not prevent their early connection.
She is around 5 feet 5 inches tall, with some descriptions placing her height close to 167 centimeters. She has generally maintained a natural and simple appearance instead of adopting the highly visible style associated with celebrity culture.
Her appearance has never been the main focus of her public identity. Rishia is better known for her reserved personality, supportive nature, professional background, and decision to keep much of her everyday life away from cameras and entertainment media.
School Years and College Education
Rishia attended Anoka High School in Minnesota. Her school years formed part of the local upbringing that kept her closely connected with her home state. After finishing high school, she decided to continue her studies at college.
She later attended Augsburg College in Minneapolis. Her college education helped her develop communication, organization, and interpersonal skills that became useful when she entered administrative and support-based professional roles later in her working life.
Her education was followed by a career that involved working closely with people. Instead of pursuing entertainment or television, Rishia followed a more traditional professional path centered on administration, recovery services, practical responsibilities, and helping people through challenging situations.
Building Her Own Professional Career
Before becoming widely recognized as Andrew Zimmern’s wife, Rishia had her own working life. One of her professional roles was as an Admissions Coordinator at The Retreat, an organization associated with helping people dealing with addiction and recovery.
She later worked as an administrative assistant at the Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation. This type of work required organization, patience, communication, and an understanding of people facing difficult circumstances. It also connected closely with the broader field of addiction recovery.
Her professional history shows a different side of Rishia from the celebrity-related stories surrounding her. Her career was largely built behind the scenes, where steady administrative work and helping others mattered more than receiving attention or building a public reputation.
Rishia Haas and Her Passion for Beekeeping
One of the more unusual parts of Rishia Haas’s life is her connection with beekeeping. She has been associated with the Minnesota Bee Lab, adding a nature-focused area of interest to her administrative and recovery-support background.
Working around bees requires patience, careful observation, and consistency. These qualities fit naturally with the calm lifestyle Rishia has maintained. Beekeeping also gave her an activity far removed from television production, celebrity events, and the pressures surrounding public recognition.
Her interest in bees also reflects her wider appreciation for simple outdoor activities. Gardening, nature, cooking, and peaceful routines have all been connected with descriptions of her lifestyle, particularly as she moved toward greater privacy in later years.
How Rishia Haas Met Andrew Zimmern
Rishia Haas and Andrew Zimmern met in 1999 in Minnesota. Andrew was teaching cooking classes at the time, while Rishia was working within the same cooking-school environment. Their regular contact eventually developed into a personal relationship.
Andrew was rebuilding his personal and professional life during this period after experiencing serious addiction problems. Rishia’s experience around recovery services gave her an understanding of the challenges connected with addiction, personal change, and rebuilding stability.
Their friendship gradually became romantic, and they continued dating before deciding to marry. The relationship brought together two people living very different public lives: Andrew eventually became an international television personality, while Rishia continued preferring privacy and a quieter routine.
Marriage to Andrew Zimmern
Rishia and Andrew married on December 26, 2002. Their legal ceremony took place in Minnesota at Judge Roseanne Nathanson’s chambers. They later held a larger celebration where relatives and friends could share the occasion with them.
The early years of their marriage came during an important stage of Andrew’s professional development. He was rebuilding his career and eventually moved toward television, while Rishia provided stability and continued managing her own responsibilities away from entertainment.
Their marriage lasted for many years and went through major changes as Andrew became increasingly famous. What began as a relationship before his biggest television success eventually had to adjust to international travel, demanding production schedules, and growing public attention.
Becoming Parents to Noah Zimmern
Rishia and Andrew welcomed their son, Noah Zimmern, in February 2005. Becoming parents introduced a major new responsibility into their marriage and gave Rishia another important role that would remain central to her life.
Rishia focused heavily on creating a stable home environment for Noah. As Andrew’s television career expanded and required frequent travel, she carried many everyday family responsibilities while keeping their son relatively protected from excessive celebrity attention.
Motherhood remained important even when her marriage later experienced difficulties. Following the separation, Rishia and Andrew continued sharing responsibility for their son. Their approach centered on Noah’s well-being and maintaining meaningful relationships with both of his parents.
Life Beside a Famous Television Chef
Andrew Zimmern’s television success dramatically changed the family’s circumstances. Bizarre Foods turned him into a recognizable television personality, requiring extensive travel to different countries and long periods devoted to filming, production, and other professional commitments.
Rishia took a very different approach to attention. She did not try to build a public identity from Andrew’s popularity. Instead, she concentrated on home life, motherhood, work, and providing stability while her husband’s career became increasingly demanding.
This difference made Rishia unusual among people connected with major television personalities. She rarely pursued publicity and did not build an influencer-style social media presence. Privacy remained a consistent part of her identity throughout Andrew’s growing fame and their marriage.
What Led to Their Separation?
As Andrew’s career expanded, the demands of television and frequent travel created increasing pressure on family life. His work kept him away from home for extended periods, making it difficult to maintain the balance required by marriage and parenthood.
Andrew later accepted responsibility for many of the problems in their relationship. He explained that his professional commitments prevented him from being as present for his wife and son as he needed to be despite repeated opportunities to improve matters.
Rishia and Andrew separated in 2018 after approximately 16 years of marriage. Their divorce was finalized in March 2020. Despite ending their relationship as husband and wife, they continued focusing on respectful communication and their responsibilities as Noah’s parents.
Her Relationship With Andrew After Divorce
The end of their marriage did not completely end the connection between Rishia and Andrew. Their son continued to give them an important shared responsibility, requiring both parents to maintain communication and cooperate in decisions affecting his life.
Andrew continued speaking warmly about Rishia after their separation. In 2020, he publicly praised her dedication as a mother and expressed admiration for the effort she had made while caring for and supporting their son.
Their post-marriage relationship therefore became centered on parenting rather than romance. Instead of turning their separation into an ongoing public dispute, they moved forward separately while maintaining the family connection needed to support Noah through his teenage and young adult years.
Rishia Haas Net Worth
Rishia Haas’s net worth has been estimated at around $5 million, although different estimates have appeared over time. Her financial position is connected with years of professional employment, personal assets, and the financial changes surrounding her long marriage and divorce.
Her career included administrative and recovery-related work rather than a high-profile entertainment profession. She also worked around beekeeping, giving her professional background a mixture of office responsibilities, human-support services, and hands-on work connected with nature.
Despite the wealth associated with her former marriage, Rishia is not known for displaying an expensive lifestyle. Her public image has remained focused on privacy, family, stability, and ordinary routines rather than luxury purchases or visible signs of celebrity wealth.
Where Is Rishia Haas Today?
Rishia continues to be associated with Minnesota, the state where she grew up, studied, worked, married, and raised her family. Her life after divorce has remained largely separate from the entertainment world surrounding Andrew Zimmern.
She does not maintain a major public social media profile and rarely participates in celebrity-focused media. This has allowed her to keep her daily activities, friendships, relationships, and personal decisions largely outside regular public discussion.
Her current lifestyle is centered on privacy, family, nature, and personal independence. Interests such as beekeeping, gardening, and cooking fit naturally with the quieter direction she has chosen, allowing her to enjoy everyday life without depending on public recognition.
Rishia Haas Personality and Private Lifestyle
Rishia is often associated with a calm, compassionate, patient, and resilient personality. Her professional experience helping people, commitment to family, and long preference for privacy all support the image of someone comfortable working quietly rather than seeking recognition.
Even while married to a famous television host, she remained largely outside entertainment culture. She did not regularly seek interviews, television appearances, or social media attention, allowing Andrew to maintain the more visible role within their family.
That private approach continued after their divorce. Rishia’s story is therefore not simply about being a celebrity’s former wife. It also reflects independence, motherhood, professional responsibility, personal boundaries, and the decision to build a fulfilling life away from constant public attention.
Final Thoughts
Rishia Haas became known to a wider audience because of Andrew Zimmern, but her life includes much more than their former marriage. She built a career, worked around addiction recovery, explored beekeeping, and devoted considerable attention to her family.
Her marriage experienced major changes as Andrew’s television career grew. They became parents to Noah, spent many years together, separated in 2018, and completed their divorce in 2020 while continuing their responsibilities as parents.
Today, Rishia represents a quieter side of life connected with celebrity culture. Instead of turning public curiosity into personal fame, she has maintained privacy and independence. Her journey combines family, professional service, motherhood, nature, resilience, and personal growth.
FAQs
Who is Rishia Haas?
Rishia Haas is an American professional best known as the former wife of celebrity chef and television personality Andrew Zimmern. She has worked in administrative and recovery-support roles and has also been involved in beekeeping.
How old is Rishia Haas?
Rishia Haas was born on July 29, 1973, making her 53 years old in 2026. She was born in Minnesota and has spent much of her personal and professional life in the state.
What does Rishia Haas do for a living?
Rishia Haas has worked in administrative and addiction-recovery support roles. Her professional background includes work with The Retreat and the Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation. She has also developed an interest in beekeeping and nature.
Who was Rishia Haas married to?
Rishia Haas was married to Andrew Zimmern, a well-known American chef, writer, and television personality. The couple married in 2002, separated in 2018, and completed their divorce in 2020 after many years together.
Does Rishia Haas have children?
Yes, Rishia Haas has one son named Noah Zimmern with her former husband, Andrew Zimmern. Noah was born in February 2005, and Rishia has remained strongly focused on family and motherhood.
What is Rishia Haas doing now?
Rishia Haas continues to live a private life in Minnesota. She stays away from regular media attention and public social media, while focusing on family, personal interests, nature, beekeeping, and a peaceful lifestyle.
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