Guy Fieri revealed a major moment which set his life on a different course.
As a guest on the “Now What? with Brooke Shields” podcast, the celebrity chef and TV host told the host about an intense car accident he was involved in during his time attending University of Nevada, Las Vegas.
“I was in a fatality car accident when I was 19 when I was in college,” the ‘Guy’s Grocery Games’ host said. “I wasn't driving, I was in the backseat. And unfortunately, I was with a bunch of guys and…we were drinking.”
The group of students were coming from drag boat races in Vegas.
“This guy saw a cop and he was drinking. We were camping a half a mile way. And he took off and we got chased and the car flipped. And the guy next to me was killed. It was horrific,” he told Shields. “Everybody was messed up. And I did go Flight for Life in the helicopter and the whole thing."
Fieri then explained he woke up “handcuffed to the gurney,” as “everybody in that car [said] I was the one that was driving.”
He said although the rest of those involved said he was the one driving, the police knew he was not.
Then he recalled the serious warning he got from his dad after the crash.
“My dad told me, ‘Cut the sh**. You’re not invincible. This is for real now. You’re not in your hometown anymore. You’re in Las Vegas… you got to focus,” he said.
“I was like, ‘Okay–my family didn’t have any money. I’m not the smartest kid.’ Didn’t get the best grades. But if I’m going to win, I’m going to win based upon how hard I play and how disciplined I am and how driven and controlled I am,” he told Shields.
He said he’s passed on the big life lessons from the accident to his own sons Hunter, 26, and Ryder, 17.