Marc Summers Says He Helped Launch Guy Fieri's Career When 'Nobody Seemed to Have Any Interest in Him' (Exclusive)

The former host of Nickelodeon's popular eighties show 'Double Dare' went on to spend some 20 years at the Food Network, where he first met Fieri

<p>Dylan Rives/Getty</p>

Dylan Rives/Getty

Marc Summers might just be responsible for Flavortown.

The former host of Nickelodeon's popular eighties show Double Dare also spent more than twenty years of his career at the Food Network, where, in 2006, he met none other than a brand-new-to-the-industry Guy Fieri.

“I was hosting Next Food Network Star when he won, and so I pulled him aside after he won it, and I said, ‘Okay, your life is going to change,’” Summers tells PEOPLE of the moment from nearly two decades ago.

<p>Dylan Rives/Getty</p> Marc Summers and Guy Fieri attend at the 2016 Food Network & Cooking Channel South Beach Wine & Food Festival Presented By FOOD & WINE at Surfcomber Hotel on February 27, 2016 in Miami Beach, Florida.

Dylan Rives/Getty

Marc Summers and Guy Fieri attend at the 2016 Food Network & Cooking Channel South Beach Wine & Food Festival Presented By FOOD & WINE at Surfcomber Hotel on February 27, 2016 in Miami Beach, Florida.

Summers admits, however, that even he didn’t anticipate at the time truly just how much Fieri’s life would change — but he knew the winner was in for quite the ride.

“I said, 'If you do this properly, it's going to be amazing,'" he recalls telling the now-celebrity chef, "and I said, 'Do you have an agent?"”

Related: Guy Fieri Says He's ‘Very Humbled’ After Signing $100 Million Food Network Deal (Exclusive)

Fieri, having just won the show, naturally didn’t have any representation. Summers jumped at the chance to change that.

“He came to LA, and I drove him around to a bunch of different agents," he recalls. Eventually, Summers said his own connections helped set Fieri up with his first agent.

<p>Randall Benton/Sacramento Bee/Tribune News Service/Getty</p>

Randall Benton/Sacramento Bee/Tribune News Service/Getty

Summers, who hosted series like Unwrapped and Ultimate Recipe Showdown on the Food Network, adds that Fieri is one of the kindest people in the business.

“Guy's the kind of person who wouldn't give you the shirt off his back, he'd give you the skin off his back," he says. "If I was driving up to his house and got stuck on the freeway on Highway 5, he would drive down and pick me up. I mean, we've had a really great relationship throughout the years.”

<p>Michael Buckner/Variety/Getty</p> Guy Fieri at the star ceremony where Sammy Hagar is honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on April 30, 2024 in Los Angeles, California.

Michael Buckner/Variety/Getty

Guy Fieri at the star ceremony where Sammy Hagar is honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on April 30, 2024 in Los Angeles, California.

Currently, Fieri serves as a producer on Summers’ latest venture: an Off-Broadway, one-man show called The Life and Slimes of Marc Summers, running now through June 2.

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Related: For Marc Summers, 'It Doesn't Get Much Better' Than His One-Man Show at 72: 'Hard Time Retiring' (Exclusive)

“He's been a good supporter," says Summers. "He is a great guy. He's always included me in many things.”

<p>Russ Rowland</p> Marc Summers in The Life and Slimes of Marc Summers

Russ Rowland

Marc Summers in The Life and Slimes of Marc Summers

The pair's teamwork extends to charity work as well. When Fieri needed an emcee for a fundraiser he was organizing to help those affected by the fires in Maui, Summers answered the call.

“He's the most generous guy. He is always raising money for somebody who is in need of something, primarily in the food community, but [also] for the folks in Maui, a place we all love," Summers says of Fieri's willingness to always help. "And so it's the way he thinks 'What can I do for you?' as opposed to 'What can somebody do for me?'"

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