Born in Istanbul, John attended American schools in Turkey and Switzerland before entering Yale University, where he received a Bachelor of Arts degree in architecture. An enthusiastic art and math student, he also earned a master's degree in architecture from Harvard's Graduate School of Design.

John has enjoyed practicing his love of design with projects around the world, ranging from residential and institutional architecture to landscape and urban design. Some of his favorites include consulting on projects for Brooklyn Bridge Park, Union Square in New York, the campus plan for Carnegie Mellon University and a pavilion for the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. Before beginning his career in television, John got his start as a fashion model and worked the runways for Armani and Gucci. Later, John put his education and design skills to work as host and designer for a TV series about hip teens looking to update their spaces. He also worked as a lead designer on HGTV’s popular series Designed to Sell. As owner of the New York City-based John Gidding Design Inc., John has done numerous residential renovations there and around the country.