Guy Fieri is the undisputed king of Food Network, and he isn’t going anywhere. Last month, it was reported that Fieri had signed a lucrative new deal with the network to keep him in place for the next three years. The terms of the deal weren’t revealed at the time, but a followup report from Forbes reveals that the Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives host will be paid $80 million over three years, up $50 million from his last agreement with the network.
That’s obviously an exorbitant amount of money, and the deal makes Fieri the highest-paid chef on cable television. Clearly, Food Network sees the value in Fieri, whose long-running series Divers, Drive Ins and Dives has generated $230 million in ad revenue for just last year alone. And that’s just one of many of the TV shows featuring Fieri that Food Network has to offer, each of which has become much more valuable every network and streaming service looking for desirable exclusives.
“We’ve been offered and enticed, and, yes, there’s probably a way to do this in some different levels, but I’m treated pretty well,” Fieri explained in a recent THR interview. “I got a chance of a lifetime, and I think I played it good.”
Hoping that his increased television exposure can continue to help those featured on his programs, Fieri added: “Nothing can replace what this kind of recognition, appearing on TV, can do for these people and their businesses … for their lives. I need to keep doing this because it just needs to be done.”
Along with appearing on television, Fieri is also widely known and celebrated for his philanthropic efforts. During the pandemic last year, when restaurants across the United States were forced to close their doors, Fieri began reaching out to major companies and business owners for donations to help affected restaurant industry workers. With some big help from companies like PepsiCo, Uber Eats, and Procter & Gamble, the Food Network star raised more than 43,000 grants of $500 each to be given to restaurant employees.
“That dude just has more energy than anybody I’ve ever met,” said Guy’s son, Hunter Fieri, of his dad’s nonstop business. “It is amazing and scary at the same time.”
“A lot of people suck the air out of the room,” added chef Alex Guarnaschelli, one of Guy’s personal friends who met him on the set of Rachael vs. Guy. “Guy is the opposite. Guy is a human air conditioner for good feelings. Being around him makes you more confident in yourself.”
Because of his fame, Fieri has also made special appearances outside of food and cooking shows. He had a cameo as himself in the 2014 comedy The Interview with Seth Rogen and James Franco. Fieri has also voiced a pizza guy in the cartoon series Phineas & Ferb and more recently appeared for a segment on the hidden camera prank show Impractical Jokers.
Fieri’s Food Network programs can be streamed on Discovery+. Because of his new deal, we can expect him to continue making new content for the network through at least 2024. This news comes to us from Forbes.
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