Guy Fieri Recalls Almost Being Blamed for a 'Horrific' Car Accident at 19

Guy Fieri is opening up about a tragic car accident he was involved in as a teenager that left one other passenger dead and resulted in the Food Network star being airlifted to the hospital.

"I was in a fatality car accident when I was 19," Fieri told Brooke Shields on the July 25 episode of her Now What podcast. "[It happened] when I was in college."

"I wasn't driving. I was in the backseat," the Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives host explained. "And unfortunately, I was with a bunch of guys and we were drinking."

"We were screwing off and we actually were down at the drag boat races in Las Vegas," he added.

According to the celebrity chef, the driver of the car had also been drinking that night, so when he saw a cop car, he "took off."

"We got chased and the car flipped," Fieri recalled. "And the guy next to me was killed."

"It was horrific," he said. "Everybody was messed up."

The Emmy-winning TV personality went on, describing that he had been airlifted to the hospital, which is where he woke up "handcuffed to the gurney, with everybody in that car saying that I was the one that was driving."

Fieri said all the driver and other passengers knew each other previously, having been in the military together, and police later "came to the college and arrested me in my dorm room."

The restaurateur was certain that "the cops knew" he wasn't responsible for the crash, but he never addressed how the case played out. However, it did earn him a stern talking-to from his father.

"My dad told me, 'Cut the s--t. You're not invincible,'" he recalled. "'This is for real now. You're not in Ferndale. You're not in your hometown anymore. You're in Las Vegas. You're big time. So you gotta focus.'"

36 years later, he still uses the tragedy as a teachable lesson–especially when parenting his two sons, 26-year-old Hunter and 17-year-old Ryder.

"Things I teach my kids all the time—don't trust anybody to drive you," he said. "Don't trust what anybody puts in a drink and gives you. Don't trust anybody who tells you 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."

Next: Guy Fieri Reveals the Origin Story Behind His Signature Frosty Hair