How Guy Fieri Plans To Shoot Diners, Drive-Ins And Dives During The Pandemic
The restaurants in your hometown might have their dining rooms closed, but Flavortown is still open for business. That's right, the mayor of Flavortown, Guy Fieri himself isn't letting the coronavirus get in the way of discovering new food joints with Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives. Yes, he's having to make adjustments, but the food indulgence is carrying on.
Fieri told The Washington Post that his team has had to get creative with how they're shooting the show and it's now become a "quarantine version" of its former self. Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives was set to highlight restaurants in Texas and Hawaii when the pandemic forced the Food Network to scrap shooting plans. "Everyone's kind of in limbo," Fieri said before explaining what the show will look like in the meantime.
Fieri, his son Hunter, and other members of the staff will create a quarantine version of the show with five GoPros cameras and around a dozen restaurants that he's been video conferencing with through Zoom. "You want to talk about a gigantic hot mess?" the host joked. "That's exactly what it's going to be but it's going to be awesome..." Fieri said the first meeting with the 12 restaurant owners was "hysterical" and he couldn't help but wonder how they'd pull it off. "I thought, 'how are we going to get something that really resembles television?'"
Guy Fieri is trying to raise money for out of work restaurant employees
Depending on how long restaurants are on lockdown, this quarantine version of the show could start to look pretty funky — particularly Fieri's hair. The TV host is known for his spiked and bleached hairdo, and as you might have guessed, Fieri doesn't' do it himself. "I might be like Joe Dirt by the time we do Triple D in two months," Fieri said before confessing that he's got more gray hair than he realized.
Keeping the show going isn't just about Fieri maintaining a presence in the public eye, but it's quite a business boost for the featured restaurants. Every featured restaurant sees its business skyrocket almost instantly (via Eater). With so many restaurants now on the brink of going under, many of the employees who keep them operating are now out of work.
To help out, Fieri has partnered with the National Restaurant Association to raise money for food service workers (via Nation's Restaurant News). So far, over $10 million has been raised to provide $500 stipends for applicants. Fieri told ABC News that it's his goal to get that fund up to $100 million. "You can be sure that once all this is over, I will continue to remind folks to come out and eat," Fieri said. "Until then, we need to help each other out as much as possible."