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Buddy Valastro is looking forward to his children taking part in the family business, but wants them to earn respect – by scrubbing the floors and cleaning the toilets.
The famed baker and TV star – best known for the ‘Cake Boss’ series, which premiered in 2009 – described his kids as ‘truly blessed.’
‘They do live a pampered lifestyle because of the way I live,’ Valastro, who is worth $10 million, told Fox News Digital. ‘But the thing is, how do you make them responsible? How do you keep them grounded?’
The answer according to him: ‘You have to go and do the job. When you do the job, and you clean the toilets, you scrub the racks or you clean the floor drains, you have a lot more respect for the person who does it every day.’
Valastro has four children with his wife, Lisa. Their oldest, Sofia, is 20 and attends the University of Delaware, while their youngest, Carlo, is 12.
Baker and reality star Buddy Valastro is best known for his series ‘Cake Boss,’ which premiered in 2009
He is a father of four children, from left: Marco, Buddy Jr., Carlo and Sofia
Valastro said people frequently comment on how ‘down to earth’ his kids are, but he wants to ensure that they earn respect as they help him out at the factory
Their middle sons, Buddy Jr. and Marco, are both students. Buddy Jr. graduated high school in June and now attends Syracuse University, while Marco is a high school football player.
‘When people meet my kids, a lot of times they’re like, ‘They’re so down to earth. They’re so good.’ And I take that as me and my wife doing our job in raising them,’ Valastro said.
‘And that means they do come and work at the factory. They don’t have to come into the business. It’s totally up to them what they want to do. But they have to learn responsibility.’
‘The best respect is earned respect.’
Last year, Valastro spoke to PEOPLE about his children’s’ enthusiasm to come into the family business.
‘I want them to,’ he said. ‘I really am excited to see the next generation take over. But I never want to force them. I want them to do it because they love it.’
Sofia expressed particular interest in working alongside her father after college, even electing to study business and hospitality.
The 20-year-old helped decorate cookies when she was on a college break and also helped develop last year’s spring cookie designs.
Daughter Sofia, 20, has expressed particular interest in coming in to the family business, even majoring in business and hospitality at college
‘They don’t have to come into the business,’ Valastro said of his four children, who he shares with wife Lisa (third from right). ‘It’s totally up to them what they want to do’
When he was 17, Valastro took over Carlo’s Bakery after his own father’s death (pictured: Sofia and her father in the kitchen)
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During COVID, all four children helped Valastro stay afloat of online orders, a time he describes as ‘pretty intense’
During the early stages of the pandemic, the children got a crash-course in running a business.
‘All through COVID they worked. They helped because they weren’t really going to school, and nobody really wanted to work,’ Valastro said.
‘So it was really just me and my family keeping the online orders going. It was pretty intense.’
He described Buddy Jr. as ‘the most determined’ and added: ‘Marco’s definitely got the gift of gab. He’s the mayor.’
The value of hard work was engrained in him by his father, Buddy Sr., who recruited him to join Carlo’s Bakery in 1988.
The bakery was opened by namesake Carlo Guastaffero in 1910 before it was taken over by Buddy Sr. in 1964.
After his father’s death, Valastro left high school and took over the business when he was just 17. The bakery has since expanded to locations across the country.
Sons Buddy Jr. and Marco worked together to save their father after an accident at their home bowling alley in 2020
‘I really am excited to see the next generation take over,’ the reality star said of his children. ‘But I never want to force them. I want them to do it because they love it’
The family will play a central role in ‘Buddy Valastro’s Cake Dynasty,’ premiering this month, which focuses on their efforts to expand Carlo’s Bakery
The star chef nearly suffered a career-ending injury in 2020, when a one-and-a-half inch metal rod from his home bowling alley pierced his hand three times.
Buddy Jr., then 16, and Marco, then 13, used a saw to free their father from the machine.
Recounting how his sons stepped in to save him, Valastro became emotional.
‘My whole family worked together,’ he told TODAY, ‘my son Buddy, my son Marco, and within five minutes they were able to take the bolt out, cut me off the machine, and I was actually in my driveway before the ambulance even got there.’
The baking whiz has two new shows premiering this month.
‘Legends of the Fork’ follows the 46-year-old as he travels across the country in search of renowned American restaurants.
It will be followed by ‘Buddy Valastro’s Cake Dynasty,’ which showcases the family’s efforts to expand Carlo’s Bakery.
