Guy Fieri On Why It's Critical For Diners, Drive-Ins, And Dives To Continue

Guy Fieri, the Mayor of Flavortown, is on a mission to help small restaurants come back to life after the pandemic. He spoke to The Hollywood Reporter about why it's essential for Diners, Drive-Ins, And Dives to return to the air.

"Nothing can replace what this kind of recognition, appearing on TV, can do for these people and their businesses … for their lives," he said. "I need to keep doing this because it just needs to be done."

At the start of the pandemic, Fieri remarked that the shutdown of small businesses like the mom and pop restaurants he highlights on his show really affected him. "I don't get pissed or lose my shit," he said. "But I was pissed."

One day when he was working out, Fieri got the idea to create an emergency relief fund to help struggling businesses. In the end, Fieri succeeded mightily. His raised more than $20 million to help struggling businesses in America stay afloat.

One person who did not donate was Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos. "I'm not into shaming people and telling who didn't donate, that's not my style," Fieri said. "Jeff, by the way, didn't help us."

Some of the donations came from gigantic corporations like Uber Eats, Procter & Gamble, and PepsiCo.

Fieri recently signed a new deal with Food Network that THR's sources said is in the range of "high eight figures," which is more than $10 million. As part of the new deal, Fieri will continue to develop and produce his shows through his Knuckle Sandwich studio.