Buddy Valastro is looking forward to his children participating in the family business, but wants them to earn respect by scrubbing the floors and cleaning the toilets.
The famous baker and TV star – best known for the series ‘Cake Boss’, which premiered in 2009 – described his children as ‘truly blessed’.
“They live a pampered lifestyle because of the way I live,” Valastro, who is worth $10 million, told Fox News Digital. ‘But the question is: how do you make them responsible? How do you keep them grounded?’
The answer, according to him: ‘You have to go to work. If you do the work and clean the toilets or scrub the shelves or 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 eldest, Sofia, is twenty and a student at the University of Delaware, while their youngest, Carlo, is twelve.
Baker and reality star Buddy Valastro is best known for his series “Cake Boss,” which premiered in 2009
He is the father of four children, from left: Marco, Buddy Jr., Carlo and Sofia
Valastro said people often comment on how “down to earth” his children are, but he wants to make sure they earn respect when they help him at the factory
Their middle sons, Buddy Jr. and Marco, are both students. Buddy Jr. graduated from high school in June and now attends Syracuse University, while Marco is a high school football player.
‘When people meet my children, they often say, ‘They are so down to earth. They’re so good.’ And I look at that as me and my wife doing our job of raising them,” Valastro said.
‘And that means that they do indeed come to work in the factory. They don’t have to come into the company. It’s completely 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 for joining the family business.
“I want them to do that,” he said. “I’m really excited to see the next generation take over. But I never want to force them. I want them to do it because they enjoy it.”
Sofia showed special interest in working with her father after her studies and even chose to study business administration and hospitality.
The 20-year-old helped decorate cookies during her study break helped develop last year’s spring cookie designs.
Daughter Sofia, 20, has shown a particular interest in joining the family business, even majoring in business and hospitality in college
“They don’t have to come into the business,” Valastro said of his four children, whom he shares with his wife Lisa (third from right). “It’s completely up to them what they want to do.”
When he was 17, Valastro took over Carlo’s Bakery after the death of his own father (photo: Sofia and her father in the kitchen)
During COVID, all four kids helped Valastro stay afloat with online orders, a time he describes as “pretty intense.”
During the early stages of the pandemic, the kids got a crash course in running a business.
‘They worked all the way through. They helped because they didn’t really go to school and no one really wanted to work,” Valastro said.
“So it was really just me and my family taking care of the online orders. It was pretty intense.”
He described Buddy Jr. as ‘the most determined’ and added: ‘Marco certainly has the gift of conversation. He’s the mayor.’
The value of hard work was ingrained in him by his father, Buddy Sr., who recruited him to work at Carlo’s Bakery in 1988.
The bakery was opened in 1910 by namesake Carlo Guastaffero before being taken over by Buddy Sr. in 1964.
After the death of his father, Valastro left high school and took over the company at the age of 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’m really 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 celebrity chef nearly suffered a career-ending injury in 2020 when a one-and-a-half-inch metal rod from his 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.
Valastro told how his sons intervened to save him and 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 standing in my driveway before the ambulance got there even came.’
The baking expert has two new shows premiering this month.
“Legends of the Fork” follows the 46-year-old as he travels the country in search of renowned American restaurants.
It is followed by “Buddy Valastro’s Cake Dynasty,” which showcases the family’s efforts to expand Carlo’s Bakery.