13 things you didn't know about Guy Fieri

Rachel Murphy
Guy Fieri
Guy Fieri is the host of the popular show "Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives." Scott Gries /GettyImages

  • Guy Fieri's real name isn't Guy Fieri and he does not like eggs. 

  • He has been inducted into the Barbecue Hall of Fame and he has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

  • Guy Fieri once said he thought up the idea of doing a kid's cooking show before it was popular.

  • Visit Insider's homepage for more stories.

Guy Fieri is one of Food Network's stand-out stars - he has multiple shows on the network and is perhaps best known for his signature hairstyle and catchphrases.

But what else is behind the mystique of the "Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives" host?

Here are some interesting things about Guy Fieri that you probably don't know:

His name hasn't always been Guy Fieri.

Guy Fieri
His real name is Guy Ramsey Ferry. Jeff Gentner /GettyImages

He was actually born under the legal name Guy Ramsey Ferry, according to Biography.com.

But he didn't just make the name up — Fieri is actually his grandfather's given family surname. 

When his grandfather immigrated to the US from Italy, he changed the spelling to Ferry. As a nod to his grandfather, Guy changed his last name from Ferry to Fieri when he married his wife, Lori, in 1995.

 

Before Fieri made it big on Food Network, he had a different kind of TV job.

guy fieri mufflers
Guy Fieri used to work for the auto-parts maker Flowmaster. Flowmaster Inc./YouTube

In 2001, five years before Fieri won "Food Network Star," he was working for a company called Flowmaster that specialized in mufflers and other car parts.

He was featured on a couple of commercials for the brand, but he's a more subdued version of the TV personality we know today.

He got his start on Food Network's "Food Network Star" show.

Guy Fieri
He was crowned the winner of season two of the show. Food Network

Fieri has always been at home in the kitchen, but he worked his way up the celebrity ladder just like any other chef.

He appeared on season two of the "Food Network Star" in 2006 and was crowned the winner.

He actually loves vegetables.

Guy Fieri
Although it might not seem like it, Fieri said he loves vegetables. Ethan Miller /GettyImages

Although "Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives" features a whole lot of meaty meals, Fieri is actually a huge fan of vegetables.

"I love fresh vegetables. I'm a huge vegetable junkie. That's one of the things people don't even know about me. I'll make six different types of vegetables for dinner," he told chef Robert Irvine for Robert Irvine magazine in 2018. 

 

He's known for not liking eggs.

Guy Fieri
Eggs are not one of Guy Fieri's go-to foods. Paul Zimmerman /GettyImages

If you've spent any amount of time watching "Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives," you probably already know that Guy Fieri is not a fan of eggs.

In a 2017 interview with the Tampa Bay Times, he told a reporter that he eats "eggs every once in a while."

But he's so known for disliking the food that when he visits a restaurant on "Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives," chefs will alter their recipes to avoid cooking eggs for Guy. 

He started eating sushi when he was a kid.

guy fieri
It seems like Fieri was destined to have a refined palate. Dylan Rives/GettyImages

Per a 2017 interview with the Tampa Bay Times, Fieri said that he was eating sushi as a young kid.

He attributes his adventurous taste buds to his parents, saying that, "My dad was the one who probably had the most influence on me cooking because he would always challenge me to try different things."

Guy Fieri said he thought up the idea of doing a kid's cooking show before it was popular.

Guy Fieri family
Guy Fieri said his own two kids love to cook. Frederick M. Brown/GettyImages

Fieri said he was a proponent of children's cooking shows before they were a thing.

In 2017 he told Thrillist, "One of the biggest things is to see kids involved in cooking so much. When I got on [Food Network] 12 years ago, the first thing I said was, 'I want a kid's cooking show,' and they told me, 'Come on now,' I said, 'I am not kidding.' I have kids. I said, 'I'm telling you, kids love to cook.' I run into these people, fans of 'Triple D,' and no one was really embracing that. Now look at major networks are doing it."

In 2012, he was inducted into the Barbecue Hall of Fame.

guy fieri
Guy Fieri is a master when it comes to barbecuing. Dylan Rives/GettyImages

In 2012, Fieri had the distinct honor of being inducted into the Barbecue Hall of Fame.

And he's no stranger to barbecue greatness — he and a team of pitmaster friends won the American Royal World Series of Barbecue Open Contest and the 2012 Houston Livestock & Rodeo World Championship Bar-B-Que Contest, according to the Barbecue Hall of Fame.

He owns peacocks and goats.

peacock
Guy Fieri has peacocks. Rick Silva / AP

In a December 2020 profile with Vulture, Fieri talked about owning peacocks to "help keep the rattlesnake population down."

At his California ranch, Fieri also has a large goat shed — he said the animals are smart and useful. 

He moved to France as a teen for his culinary education.

Guy Fieri
Guy Fieri was trained as a chef in France. Ethan Miller /GettyImages

At the age of 16, Fieri moved to Chantilly, France, to enhance his kitchen skills, according to the Food Network.

He spent six years selling pretzels and washing dishes to save up for his trip to the international food mecca.

His hair is most likely brown.

guy fieri
He's hardly recognizable without his signature bleached-blonde hairdo. Stephen Lovekin / Getty Images

By now, you've probably caught onto the fact that Fieri's natural hair color isn't vibrant yellow. 

Based on photos, it seems Fieri is actually a brunette once you take a peek underneath his frosted tips.

 

 

 

When he was a child, Fieri was seriously injured by a horse.

guy fieri
Guy Fieri had to get emergency surgery. Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for Discovery

In 2015, the chef told GQ that he has a scar on his stomach from when he was 10 years old — a horse bucked him off and stomped on him.

The impact damaged his liver and heart and he had to get emergency surgery.

"I was f---ed up," he told the publication. "My mom was devastated." 

He has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

guy fieri hollywood walk of fame
He did it! Paul Archuleta / Stringer/Getty

In May 2019, Fieri became the third chef to have a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. With this star, he joined the likes of Bobby Flay and Wolfgang Puck.

At Fieri's Walk of Fame Ceremony, actor Matthew McConaughey, who is reportedly a long-time friend of the chef, gave a special speech. 

Read More:

Read the original article on Insider

Latest Stories

  • 'Really sad': Romney says Trump should tout vaccines instead of election conspiracies

    Sen. Mitt Romney said President Trump's continuing struggle to overturn the November election is both "sad" and "embarrassing." 

  • Second coronavirus vaccine begins distribution as new strain emerges

    The Trump administration has announced that a second coronavirus vaccine will begin shipment this week, with a total of nearly 8 million doses of the two federally approved vaccines to be distributed ahead of the Christmas holiday.

  • Stimulus checks: Mnuchin announces when Americans will get second payment

    $600 direct payments could be issued as soon as next week, Treasury Secretary says

  • Pope snubs Vatican's sci-fi Nativity scene and directs visitors to others

    Pope Francis on Sunday appeared to add his snub to widespread criticism of an unorthodox Nativity scene in St. Peter's Square, telling visitors to visit a nearby exhibition of traditional crèches instead.

  • Report: U.S. to announce new criminal charges in Pan Am Flight 103 bombing

    On Monday, outgoing Attorney General William Barr is expected to announce criminal charges against Abu Agila Masud, a former Libyan intelligence officer, in connection with the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103, three U.S. officials familiar with the matter told CNN.Masud is believed to be in Libya, and CNN reports that U.S. officials are talking with their Libyan counterparts about how to take him into custody.Flight 103 was en route from London to New York when a bomb blew the plane up over Lockerbie, Scotland. The terrorist attack killed 270 people, with a majority of the victims from the United States. Monday is the 32nd anniversary of the bombing.When Barr served as attorney general during the George H.W. Bush administration, the United States charged two Libyan men in the bombing: Abdelbeset Ali Mohmed al Megrahi and Al Amin Khalifah Fhimah. After Libya refused to extradite the men to the U.S., it was finally agreed upon that they could be tried by a Scottish court in the neutral Netherlands.Fhimah was acquitted and Megrahi was sentenced to 27 years; after being diagnosed with cancer, he was released from prison in 2009 and died three years later. In 2003, former Libyan leader Moammar Ghadafi accepted responsibility for the bombing, but claimed he did not order the attack.More stories from theweek.com Democrats wanted a tax credit for low income families. Republicans wanted a tax break for '3 martini lunches.' Are the worst days of the Trump presidency still ahead? $900 billion relief package extends moratorium on evictions, weekly unemployment benefits

  • Trump campaign will again ask U.S. high court to upend election results

    President Donald Trump's campaign said on Sunday it would again ask the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn results from the Nov. 3 election, its latest long-shot effort to subvert the electoral process and sow doubt over the legitimacy of President-elect Joe Biden's victory. In a statement issued by the campaign, Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani said the campaign had filed a petition asking the high court to reverse three rulings by a Pennsylvania state court interpreting the state's rules for mail-in ballots. “The Campaign’s petition seeks to reverse three decisions which eviscerated the Pennsylvania Legislature’s protections against mail ballot fraud," Giuliani said in a statement.

  • Kuwait's key reformer, son of late emir, dies at 72

    Kuwait’s Sheikh Nasser Sabah Al Sabah, the eldest son of the late emir, who emerged as an influential reformer in the oil-rich Gulf sheikhdom, died on Sunday, the country’s state-run news agency reported. Sheikh Nasser, who held various government posts over the years including minister of defense and deputy prime minister, had been considered a top contender for crown prince following the death in September of his father, the 91-year-old Sheikh Sabah Al Ahmad Al Sabah. Although he drew popular support for his ambitious mega-projects and anti-corruption efforts, he was passed over for his uncle, Sheikh Meshal Al Ahmed Al Jaber Al Sabah, a more cautious choice of heir apparent at a turbulent time for Kuwait’s politics and the wider region.

  • McCarthy Calls on FBI to Brief Full Intel Committee on Swalwell’s Ties to Alleged Chinese Spy

    House Leader Kevin McCarthy said Sunday that all members of the House Intelligence Committee should receive a classified FBI briefing on Democratic Representative Eric Swalwell’s relationship with a suspected Chinese spy.McCarthy received a closed-door FBI briefing on Swalwell's close ties to Christine Fang, a suspected Chinese intelligence operative, on Friday and said afterwards that he thinks Swalwell should not be on the House Intelligence Committee."I’m going to request that every single member on the House Intelligence Committee gets the exact same briefing from the FBI that I did," McCarthy said Sunday on Fox News. "Because if this individual is sitting on this committee — Eric Swalwell — they’ve got to know the background of what has gone on. I can’t talk about the classified part, but you know what’s out there in the press.”“No one that was in that room could walk out and say Eric Swalwell should be on the intel committee," McCarthy said of the briefing. "I don’t know — they had a briefing before in 2015 and I don’t know what that briefing was like compared to this one, but it could not have been the same.”Between 2011 and 2015, Fang developed close relationships with Swalwell, bundling donations for the up and coming lawmaker and even placing an intern in his office.Since Swalwell's ties to Fang came to light earlier this month, Republicans on the intelligence committee have demanded answers, some even calling for an investigation and for him to be immediately removed from the committee in order to deprive him of the access to classified information that comes with membership on the high-profile panel.Fang, believed to have been acting at the behest of China’s Ministry of State Security, helped fundraise for Swalwell’s 2014 re-election campaign and helped place at least one intern in the California Democrat’s office.Fang also had romantic or sexual relationships with at least two Midwestern mayors over a three-year period. Swalwell, who married shortly afterwards in 2016, declined this week to answer questions about whether his relationship with Fang was sexual or romantic in nature.In 2015, federal investigators briefed Swalwell on their concerns about Fang, at which point he says he severed all his ties with her. However, Swalwell’s brother and father remained connected with Fang on Facebook.Swalwell said Tuesday that he has committed no wrongdoing and expressed confidence that the controversy will not threaten his seat on the House Intelligence Committee.“The one answer that I got out of that briefing was there is no way Eric Swalwell should continue to serve on the intel committee,” McCarthy added, noting that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi would have to remove Swalwell from the committee if he refuses to step down.

  • 3 doctors who received the Pfizer vaccine discuss their side effects and why they chose to get vaccinated

    "I've watched entire families be devastated and couples pass away together," said Dr. Katie Passaretti. "To me, the vaccine is far less risky."

  • Italian woman mauled to death by five pet Czechoslovakian wolfdogs

    An Italian woman has been mauled to death by her five pet Czechoslovakian wolfdogs, prompting a debate over the danger posed by the increasingly popular crossbreed canine. Mariangela Zaffino, a 74-year-old pensioner, was attacked by her five pet dogs in her apartment in the town of Grugliasco near Turin. She was found by her daughter, who said the dogs, a cross between wild wolves and German shepherd dogs that shares many wolfish characteristics, had never shown any signs of being dangerous in the past. Neighbours, however, have questioned the wisdom of Mrs Zaffino and her daughter keeping five large dogs in a small flat. Police are trying to ascertain what may have prompted the dogs, named Ares, Aylen, Artù, Aragorn and Apache, to attack their owner.

  • More Inside Basketball Star Kevin Love’s Waterfront Tribeca Apartment

    To create his dream home, Love drew inspiration from New York’s industrial past with a hint of the American WestOriginally Appeared on Architectural Digest

  • Democrats wanted a tax credit for low income families. Republicans wanted a tax break for '3 martini lunches.'

    To secure a compromise on a COVID-19 relief bill, both parties in Congress had to trade some proverbial "horses," even if one side viewed the other's as "unconscionable."That's the word Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) used to describe the GOP's White House-backed tax break for corporate meal expenses, per The Washington Post. Proponents of the tax break, including President Trump, argue it will help boost activity for restaurants, but critics have derisively labeled it the "three-martini lunch" deduction, claiming it will really benefit business executives rather than the dining industry. But despite staunch Democratic opposition, it worked its way into the draft relief bill that Congress is hoping to pass soon.The reason? Democratic leaders caved on the controversial tax break because their Republican counterparts agreed to expand tax credits for low-income families and the working poor in exchange for its inclusion, a Democratic aide told The Washington Post on condition of anonymity. Read more at The Washington Post. > Horses that reportedly got traded today: Repubs demanded tax break for corporate meal expenses ("three martini lunches"). Dems agreed, in exchange for expanded tax credits for low income families & working poor > Pretty much sums up the parties' prioritieshttps://t.co/pmDer0xbNb> > -- Catherine Rampell (@crampell) December 21, 2020More stories from theweek.com Are the worst days of the Trump presidency still ahead? $900 billion relief package extends moratorium on evictions, weekly unemployment benefits Arizona GOP chair urges Trump to heed Flynn and 'cross the Rubicon,' alarming people who get the reference

  • Report: gov't spyware targets phones of Al-Jazeera reporters

    Dozens of journalists at Al-Jazeera, the Qatari state-owned media company, have been targeted by advanced spyware in an attack likely linked to the governments of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, a cybersecurity watchdog said Sunday. Citizen Lab at the University of Toronto said it traced malware that infected the personal phones of 36 journalists, producers, anchors and executives at Al-Jazeera back to the Israel-based NSO Group, which has been widely condemned for selling spyware to repressive governments.

  • U.S. officials eye new COVID-19 strain in UK, urge vigilance

    The United States is monitoring the new strain of COVID-19 emerging in the United Kingdom, multiple U.S. officials said on Sunday, adding that it was unclear whether the mutated variant had made its way to America. Slaoui, chief scientific adviser for the Trump administration's Operation Warp Speed, added that the UK mutation was "very unlikely" to be resistant to current vaccines, saying: "We can't exclude it, but it's not there now." Other health officials from the outgoing Trump administration and the incoming Biden administration also said they were watching the strain rapidly spreading in Great Britain.

  • Airlines will be required to bring back 32,000 workers in order to get $15 billion in aid from Congress' long-awaited coronavirus relief package

    The reported deal is a sigh of relief for the struggling industry, but may not be enough - and only lasts through March.

  • Pro-Trump media outlets apparently scramble to ward off lawsuits after pushing election conspiracies

    Last week, Fox Business ran a pre-taped segment during Lou Dobbs' show that appeared to debunk the unfounded claims made by some of the network's hosts about corrupted voting machines in November's election. The segment re-aired during Jeanine Pirro's show Sunday. And Newsmax, one of President Trump's favorite outlets, began covering its tracks recently, as well. Much to the chagrin of some of its fans, the network put a page on its website "clarifying" its election conspiracy theory coverage, airing a similar segment on TV, as well.> This is very bizarre. Lou Dobbs ran a segment tonight basically debunking his own lies about Smartmatic voting machines pic.twitter.com/FDM91SPtT1> > — Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) December 19, 2020> newsmax has put up a page "clarifying" facts around smartmatic and dominion (after the threat of a big lawsuit). watching red-pilled people in the comments grapple with a burst of truth is something https://t.co/to5dvw9Uzq pic.twitter.com/ABNefKn1ji> > — David Mack (@davidmackau) December 21, 2020Ben Smith, The New York Times' media columnist, and others have suggested the shift is related to legal threats from voting machine companies Smartmatic and Dominion that are alleging defamation. Fox, Smith writes, should take the threat seriously, but it can probably handle drawn-out, expensive litigation, and — despite the opinion of certain hosts — the network, as a whole, doesn't seem too interested in remaining in Trump's good graces these days anyway.The lawsuits could, however, be "existential" for smaller outlets like NewsMax or One America News Network, which would like to transform into a "Trump TV" of sorts going forward, Smith writes. To do that, he says, they'll need big-time investors, but legal action could scare off potential buyers.It's too early to tell how the potential cases would turn out, but the legal experts Smith spoke to think they have legitimate standing. Read more at The New York Times.More stories from theweek.com Democrats wanted a tax credit for low income families. Republicans wanted a tax break for '3 martini lunches.' Are the worst days of the Trump presidency still ahead? $900 billion relief package extends moratorium on evictions, weekly unemployment benefits

  • US nuclear submarine transits Strait of Hormuz amid tensions

    An American nuclear-powered guided-missile submarine traversed the strategically vital waterway between Iran and the Arabian Peninsula on Monday, the U.S. Navy said, a rare announcement that comes amid rising tensions with Iran. The Navy’s 5th Fleet based in Bahrain said the Ohio-class guided-missile submarine USS Georgia, accompanied by two other warships, passed through the Strait of Hormuz, a narrow passageway through which a fifth of the world’s oil supplies travel. The unusual transit in the Persian Gulf's shallow waters, aimed at underscoring American military might in the region, follows the killing last month of Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, an Iranian scientist named by the West as the leader of the Islamic Republic’s disbanded military nuclear program.

  • Britain, EU tell each other to give way in 'difficult' trade talks

    LONDON/BRUSSELS (Reuters) -Britain insisted on Sunday that the European Union should shift position to open the way to a post-Brexit trade pact, drawing a swift response from the bloc's negotiator defending the union's right to protect its interests. Negotiations are expected to continue on Monday, beyond a Sunday deadline set by the European Parliament, and a senior British government source described them as "difficult" because of the "significant differences" in position. With less than two weeks before Britain leaves the EU's orbit, both sides are calling on the other to move to secure a deal and safeguard annual trade in goods from tariffs and quotas.

  • Flat-back Christmas trees are the perfect solution for people who can't be bothered to decorate the entire half of a tree that nobody sees anyway

    Half Christmas trees, or flat-back trees, look like regular trees with one modification: They're flat on one side so they can rest against the wall.

  • Europe shutting its borders to UK travellers to protect against Covid mutation

    Several European countries have restricted travel from the UK in a bid to ensure that a new, more infectious strain of coronavirus found in England does not spread across the continent. The Netherlands, Belgium, Austria, Germany and Italy have all moved swiftly to ban flights from the UK, while other countries including Germany and France are considering similar measures. Britain on Saturday night alerted the World Health Organisation (WHO) about a new variant of the coronavirus that the Prime Minister said may be "up to 70 percent" more transmissible than earlier strains. Boris Johnson effectively cancelled Christmas for more than 16 million people by tightening lockdown measures to halt its spread. The announcement sparked a string of travel bans from its neighbours, as the WHO called on its European members to step up prevention measures in the face of the new variant. "Across Europe, where transmission is intense and widespread, countries need to redouble their control and prevention approaches," a spokeswoman for WHO Europe told AFP. Outside Britain, nine cases of the new strain have already been reported in Denmark, as well as one case in the Netherlands and another in Australia, according to the WHO.