Guy Fieri recalls being accused of drunk driving in fatal accident at age 19

Guy Fieri is opening up about being falsely accused of causing a fatal car accident when he was in college.

The 55-year-old Food Network star shared the grim memory from his teenage days during an episode of the “Now What? with Brooke Shields” podcast released on July 25.

Host Brooke Shields explained that in each episode, her guests typically reveal pivotal moments that impacted their outlooks on life.

Fieri had a couple stories to share, including the time he was involved in a drunk driving incident.

“I was in a fatality car accident when I was 19 when I was in college,” he said.

The “Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives” host said he was a student at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas at the time and that he had been drinking but was not behind the wheel when the accident occurred.

“I was in the backseat. And unfortunately, I was with a bunch of guys,” he explained. “We were screwing off and we actually were down at the drag boat races in Las Vegas.”

According to Fieri, the man behind the wheel, who had been drinking as well, saw a police officer and drove away.

“We got chased and the car flipped and the guy next to me was killed. It was horrific,” he recalled.

He said everyone in the car was “messed up” and had to be transported via helicopter to a hospital.

“I woke up in the hospital, handcuffed to the gurney, with everybody in that car saying I was the one that was driving,” he continued before noting that the other passengers were in the military together.

Fieri, who acknowledged he was reckless at that stage in his life, said he had to call his parents and ask them to hire an attorney.

The situation escalated and Fieri was eventually taken into custody.

“They came to the college and arrested me in my dorm room,” he told Shields.

Even though he suspected the authorities did not believe he was responsible, he still received a much-needed wake-up call from his father.

“‘Cut the s—. You’re not invincible,’” he remembered his dad telling him. “‘You’re not in your hometown anymore. You’re in Las Vegas. You know, you’re big time. So you gotta focus.’”

Now that he is the parent of two sons, the restaurateur said he has taught them similar lessons and warned them about being too trusting.

Fieri said he repeatedly reminds 26-year-old son Hunter Fieri and 17-year-old son Ryder Fieri — whom he shares with wife Lori Fieri— “‘don’t trust anybody to drive you.’”

He also tells them, “‘Don’t trust what anybody puts in a drink and gives to you (and) don’t trust if anybody tells you that this is safe or this is smart. You have to be the master of your domain. You have to be in control of your environment.’”

Shields chimed in and asked the television personality about the other ways being a parent changed him.

He gushed about his sons, pointing out that they are “best friends” despite their nine-year age gap.

Fieri then said that children are “the greatest reflection” of their parents.

“All I know is that if you will allow yourself to be a student of your kids, you will learn to be a better person,” he added. “And learn to see the world on a much bigger plane versus believing that you know it all, that you have it all figured out and that everybody should follow your way.”

This article was originally published on TODAY.com