Guy Fieri is recovering from what he described as the “worst thing I’ve been through in the last 20 years.”
The Food Network star and celebrity chef said in an exclusive interview with PEOPLE published Wednesday that he is “doing better” after taking a tumble down a flight of stairs in November. The fall left Fieri, 57, with a torn quad muscle and in a wheelchair for eight weeks.
“I’m doing better. It was definitely a trying holiday, but you know what, you get some real appreciation for having the ability to just get up and walk around and do everything you used to,” Fieri told PEOPLE. “I’m a big CrossFit and hiking guy, so eight weeks of no hiking has driven me kind of crazy. But I’m looking forward to it, trying to take it easy.”
While the “Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives” host is ready to get back out there, he recalled just how grueling the injury was.
“My doctors are all like, ‘We know you want to get after it, but let’s not go back to where we were.’ And I’m like, ‘We are never going back to that!’ That was the worst thing I’ve been through in the last 20 years,” he told PEOPLE while laughing. “But now I’ll be up and ready and healthy and rolling by the time we hit the Super Bowl for sure.”
Fieri was filming his new series, “Flavor Town Food Fight,” when he “slipped down a set of steps and one foot went forward and the other foot got caught on the threshold,” he told Fox News Digital following the incident.
“I looked like I was probably doing the splits, but when my right leg compressed into itself the giveaway point and the doctor said he’s never seen — you know, in 20 years — he hasn’t seen a tear in the biggest, thickest part of your quad in half. Yeah, it sucked,” Fieri said.
The “Guy’s Grocery Games” host added that he was rushed to surgery after the fall to ensure his muscles didn’t “recede.”
“You normally tear that muscle at your tendon or the tendon tears off the bone, but this was right in the center of the whole quad muscle and it exploded,” Fieri told Fox News Digital.
While Fieri was bummed that the injury meant he couldn’t resume go hiking, work out or film his new show, he was thrilled to get out of cooking for the holidays.
“My son, Ryder, texted me from school and he said, ‘Well, I guess all the training you’ve given me and all the cooking I’ve been doing while I was at school, it was going to be my time to shine,” Fieri told Fox News Digital. “And I said, ‘I am so happy you’re asking me about this versus me telling you [that] you have to do it.’”
Fieri will be joined by his sons Ryder and Hunter, as well as his nephew Jules, in Santa Clara for the Flavortown Tailgate on Feb. 8. The event will feature live performances, games and — of course — plenty of food.
