Guy Fieri has eclipsed every other celebrity chef with his new Food Network deal.
The Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives host is set to make $80 million over three years, a $50 million bump from his preceding contract, Forbes reports. The 53-year-old is now the highest-paid chef on cable TV and will remain at the network at least through 2024. He has become the Discovery network’s top-paid host, bringing in over $230 million in ad revenue to the Food Network last year.
“I got a chance of a lifetime,” Fieri told the Hollywood Reporter back in April. “I think I played it good.”
Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives is the Mayor of Flavortown’s longest-running show, which has been broadcasting since 2006. “Don’t call me ‘that food critic,’” Fieri told THR. “I highlight. I recognize. I do not critique. If I don’t like the food, you won’t see it on my shows. Who wants to watch something called It Sucks: Don’t Come to This Fucking Place?”
Fieri was also widely celebrated for his philanthropic efforts during the pandemic, raising almost $25 million for restaurant workers who were impacted by COVID-19. “You know, so many people work in the restaurant industry in multiple jobs, second jobs, single moms, single parents, students, retirees,” he told CBS. “And the restaurant industry is massively important to our communities. And so, when I saw this coming, I said, ‘We got to do something to get some money to these folks.’”
Last year, natives of Guy’s Columbus, Ohio hometown also started a petition to rename the city to Flavortown, which has since reached over 130,000 votes.
