If you’ve owned a television in the past fifteen years, chances are you’ve seen at least one episode of Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives.
The super popular food network show has been on the air since 2006 and has produced over 400 episodes. Guy Fieri, known for his bleached, spiky hairstyle, has been the host of the show for every single season, and he’s known as one of the nicest dudes in the entertainment industry.
During a recent cover story for PEOPLE, the 54-year-old host talked about parenting. He has two sons: 25-year-old Hunter and 16-year-old Ryder.
Fieri explained he has a strict driving rule when it comes to his kids. When both his kids turned 16, he did not surprise them in the morning with some sports car sitting in the driveway. Instead, they had to drive an old minivan for a year to prove they could handle the responsibility that comes with owning a vehicle.
Show me that you can spend a year driving the car, not getting any dents, not getting any wrecks, not getting any tickets. Prove that you’ve got it all together. Then you can take your own money out of the bank and go buy a car. You know what Ryder drove to school (when) he got his license? He got my parents’ old, used, 259,000-mile Chrysler minivan.
Once Ryder passes the year mark, he’ll be allowed to buy his own car. It’s a bold parenting move in the land of Hollywood. After all, Fieri has a net worth over $50 million, so he could easily afford to buy Ryder any car he wanted.
But instead, he’s trying to teach his son important lessons in life. This is something his sons have grown to appreciate.
He’s a great teacher and a great father and leads by example. He does the right things to train you for the real world. And teaches you discipline and hard work and to not give up, and that not everyone’s going to hold your hand through life.
Sounds like Fieri is not only a great TV host, but a great parent as well. I guess you could say he’s the real deal.
