The Truth About Guy Fieri's Wife Lori Fieri

Celebrity chef and "Mayor of Flavortown" Guy Fieri is what some might describe as an acquired taste. While vocal fans have tried to honor him (and show their distaste for Christopher Columbus) by petitioning to rename Fieri's native Columbus, Ohio to Flavortown, other people have loudly voiced how much they can't stand the guy. Former "Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives" producer David Page painted him in a very unsavory light as part of a lawsuit that jeopardized the show, according to Grub Street. And one of the parts that wasn't unknown about the late Anthony Bordain was his disdain for the polarizing food personality.

Even Fieri's wife, Lori, wasn't exactly his biggest fan when they first met. As he explained to Delish, Lori's "friend had been let go from the restaurant" he ran in Long Beach, California. "I was talking to her friend and saying 'Hey, listen, wait a few weeks before you come in,' and standing behind her is this blue-eyed, blonde girl giving me this mean mug." Lori went from standing behind to standing up for her friend, insisting that they didn't have to leave. Little did she realize, he wanted nothing more than for her to stay.

Lori didn't live in Long Beach and didn't intend to. She had planned to move from Rhode Island to San Diego when she gave Guy Fieri a piece of her mind. Instead, she took his whole heart. He recalled, "I knew as soon as I saw her. I just knew." Fieri defused the situation at his restaurant and sat with the women to talk. Apparently, he also talked Lori into letting him cook for her.

The way to Lori's heart was through her stomach. Fieri couldn't remember the meal, but their love became the main course. In 1995, they tied the knot, per Biography. The pair have two sons. As the First Lady of Flavortown, Lori has helped him serve constituents. When he decided to commandeer a cruise ship kitchen and cook for the passengers, Lori helped him serve 700 burgers. She has apparently supported just about all of his harebrained ideas, though maybe not the hair surrounding his brain.

"When I first met him, he had no goatee," Lori told People magazine. "He had dark hair. He wore a suit to work every day." His last name wasn't even Fieri — it was Ferry. Though she sometimes wishes his now-famous frosted tips would melt away, his hair is just the tip of the iceberg for Lori, who described her husband as a "fantastic" guy who makes her laugh. That's probably the sweetest thing in all of Flavortown.

Guy Fieri might not remember the meal that he cooked for Lori on their first date, but in 2018, he told Today, "My linguini and clams is probably one of her all-time favorites, especially when the clams are really small. And when we sit down together to have a really nice dinner." Normally, Lori also asks him to make Mexican or Chinese dishes when he cooks. But these gestures of edible affection aren't one-sided. "There's an old school recipe [Lori] makes that she brought home from where she grew up in Rhode Island,' Fieri explained. "It's one of the first things she ever cooked for me and it's still a favorite of mine."

Lori dubs her dish "noodles and beef," which sounds rather bland for a place called Flavortown. But don't let that flavorless name fool you. Fieri elaborated: "She sautés top sirloin with onions, mushrooms, and garlic. "And she makes this fantastic gravy and serves it over egg noodles." Besides, from the sound of things, no matter what they whip up, they end up filling each other with love.

It can't be easy being married to the Mayor of Flavortown, though not for the reason some people might think. While Fieri's flamboyant persona can be as tough to swallow as a kick to the uvula for his critics, when Delish's Candace Braun Davison interviewed him, she found Fieri "quiet, almost pensive" at one point. At every point, he seemed like a devoted husband and father. "My whole world revolves around my family," said Fieri. The problem is that his world turns at whiplash speed.

In 2018, Fieri operated 63 restaurants and is the face of both "Diners, Drive-ins and Dives" and Guy's Grocery Games. His hectic schedule has frequently kept him on the road and away from home. But flexibility has allowed Lori and her spiky-haired husband to fit comfortably in each other's worlds with the limited time they have. The secret to Lori and Guy Fieri's marriage? "It's all compromise and understanding," according to Fieri. And it probably doesn't hurt that they like each other's cooking.

The mayor and first lady of Flavortown might need new honorifics. Call Guy and Lori Fieri the masters of the cable TV food universe, as Guy Fieri signed a deal with Food Network that will pay him an estimated $80 million over the next three years, according to People. Lori Fieri deserves a lot of the credit for her husband's success — and not just because she made sure their sons Hunter and Ryder got off to school while dad was on the road for one of his many TV gigs (via The Press Democrat).

If it weren't for Lori Fieri's encouragement, Guy's Food Network career might have never happened. When Guy was invited to New York in 2005 to compete as a semi-finalist on "The Next Food Network Star," he was going to turn the offer down. Lori was pregnant with their second child, and Guy had three restaurants to run at the time. Lori told The Press Democrat she wouldn't let her husband miss this potential opportunity. "If you don't try, you'll never know," she recalled saying. "You need to go."

Months later, Lori was standing behind Emeril Lagasse during the finale of "The Next Food Network Star," and she could see her husband's name in Lagasse's hands as soon as he opened the envelope to announce the winner. "If I could go back and relive that whole experience again, I would," she said. "It was such a high."

Lori Fieri may have experienced a momentary high when Guy Fieri won "The Next Food Network Star" and his career was launched. But she's been living the high life ever since, and — as she admitted to The Press Democrat — she's been enjoying it, too. After all, Lori wasn't born into a lifestyle that afforded her the celebrity perks she enjoys now. She grew up in North Providence, Rhode Island, the daughter of a toolmaker dad and a mom who cleaned houses for a living. After Guy shot to food-TV stardom, the two of them often traveled by limo. They attended the Kentucky Derby and enjoyed VIP treatment at NASCAR races and the Super Bowl.

But the back of a limo isn't where Lori Fieri "lives," so to speak. Home for her is wherever she can spend time with Guy and their two sons. During the past pandemic year, that's been on the family ranch outside Napa, California (via The Washington Post). Lori's love for her family is reflected most clearly in Hunter's affectionate social media posts. (Lori's Instagram is private, per TV Over Mind.) On Lori's birthday, Hunter posted on Instagram, "Thank you for being such an amazing mother and always looking out for us. Today it's all about you! I love you," ending the sentiment with a heart emoji. If your 24-year-old son is publicly sending you heart emojis on your birthday, then you're doing something right.