2 min read- On the latest episode of SNACKS! Buddy Valastro, aka The Cake Boss, and his wife, Lisa Valastro, open up about their family’s rise to sudden fame.
- The couple recounts the “overnight” success and how their lives were suddenly changed.
- Buddy also shares the reason he’ll “never say no” to a fan, especially younger kids who see him as “Superman.”
Buddy Valastro—aka The Cake Boss—might be a household name now, but as his longtime wife Lisa Valastro puts it, she just “married a baker.” That is, until TLC came calling and everything changed.
“It was changing our life instantly, overnight, in every aspect of our life,” Lisa tells Delish Editorial Director Joanna Saltz on the latest episode of SNACKS! “We went from having dinner every single night together to him traveling 350,000 miles a year.”
“I get a call, I’ll never forget it. It was like 2008. My sister’s like, ‘TLC’s on the phone.’ So I’m like, ‘TLC? Ooh, like the band?’ I mean, I’m the cake guy, that’s what I thought,” Buddy says. Despite the fact that he “never” wanted to be on TV, when the network called about a cake show, he embraced the opportunity. “I pitched him Cake Boss. I’m like, ‘Look, I got a hundred-year-old bakery, crazy Italian family. I do these giant cakes,’ And they were like, ‘All right, take a camcorder, run it through the bakery.’ I sent it the next day, and they’re like, ‘We want to sign a contract.”
It quickly became the number one food show on cable. Lines started forming around the block for the bakery, and Buddy’s schedule picked up. For 10 straight years, he filmed 11 months out of the year. He traveled to Abu Dhabi, Russia, Brazil, and the list goes on.
But despite a bustling schedule and fast-growing fame, Buddy never—and will never—say no to a fan. “I’ll tell you one thing: I really care about my fans. And I would never say no to an autograph. I would never not take the time,” he says. “And I’m not saying it because I’m on a podcast, it’s just my personality of who I am.”
Especially when it comes to his younger fans: “There is no better feeling than when you see a six or 10-year-old boy or girl come up to you, and you can tell that these kids are freaking. They’re so excited,” Buddy continues. “And then they give you a hug, and you can feel their little heart racing. They want you to be Superman, so how the hell am I gonna not be Superman? Or try to make that a memorable experience. I just couldn’t. It’s not who I am.” And cue the awwwws.
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