The Mayor of Flavortown is now looking like a King as a new report from Forbes reveals that a recent contract extension between Guy Fieri and Food Network will see the TV personality net $80 million over the next three years, a reported bump of $50 million from his last deal with the network. According to the outlet this new deal makes Fieri “the top-paid chef on cable TV” and will see him continue to host his fan-favorite shows for Food Network. Diners, Drive Ins and Dives, his longest running series as of this writing, reportedly brought in over $200 million in ad revenue in 2020 alone. Forbes also notes that this new deal makes Fieri “Discovery network’s top-paid star.”
Launched in 2006, Diners, Drive Ins and Dives remains a flagship series for Food Network with Fieri continuing to appear in every episode himself. Speaking in an interview last summer with CBS News, Fieri opened up about how he remains passionate about the series after over 400 episodes. “A lot of these mom-and-pop joints are the fabric of the community,” Fieri said. “You know, these are places the kids got jobs, these are places where you got engaged, these are places where you had your great memories, these are places that you went and got a gift certificate as a donation to your kid’s soccer team.”
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A more recent interview with Fieri, a major profile in The Hollywood Reporter, saw him open up even further on continuing to host “Triple D,” explaining that the havoc caused by the COVID-19 pandemic to restaurants has fueled him to keep going.
“Nothing can replace what this kind of recognition, appearing on TV, can do for these people and their businesses … for their lives,” Fieri told THR. “I need to keep doing this because it just needs to be done.”
In the same interview Fieri implied that other networks had attempted to lure him away from Food Network, adding: “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. I got a chance of a lifetime, and I think I played it good.”
Last week brought the news that Discovery, parent company of Food Network, will merge with WarnerMedia in a major new deal following AT&T’s acquisition and attempted running of the media company for a few years. It’s unclear what form the Discovery+ and HBO Max streaming services will take in the future but crossover between the likes of Fieri and popular WB brands is something many fans will be eager to see.
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