“Cake Boss” star and bakery owner Buddy Valastro said he won’t be just handing anything over to his kids – they’ll have to work for it.
The 46-year-old reality TV star and restaurant owner is currently promoting two new shows, “Legends of the Fork” and “Buddy Valastro’s Cake Dynasty.” He spoke with Fox News Digital during an interview about his parenting perspective, which doesn’t involve handouts or skipping out on hard work.
“My kids are truly blessed, and they do live a pampered lifestyle because of the way I live,” Valastro told the outlet. “But the thing is, how do you make them responsible? How do you keep them grounded? When people meet my kids, a lot of times they’re like, ‘They’re so down to earth. They’re so good.’”
He added, “And I take that as me and my wife doing our job in raising them. 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.”
The New Jersey-based restaurateur shares four children with his wife Lisa: Sofia, 20, Buddy Jr., 19, Marco, 16, and Carlo, 12.
“When people in my factory see my kids on their hands and knees scrubbing the floors, they have respect for them,” the reality star continued. “That’s respect that they’re not going to get just because they’re my kids. … 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. That’s what my dad taught me, and I still practice that to this day. And I need to emphasize that to my kids.”
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“It’s the things that you teach in values,” Valastro added. “It’s the lessons you lead by example. But we also kid around, we laugh, we eat. We’re a pretty tight-knit family.”
The famed baker worked his way up at Carlo’s Bakery under the guidance of his father, Buddy Sr., in the late 80s. Valastro started out cleaning the kitchen before eventually working his way up and taking over the business.