Yahoo News Robert Irvine Says 'Restaurant: Impossible' 'Always Makes Me Cry' and Reveals What Happens Off Camera
"I talk to these folks continually," he says of countless restaurant owners whose businesses he's transformed over the years
Robert Irvine is lifting the veil on what happens after he films episodes of Restaurant: Impossible.
The celebrity chef, 57, spoke with PEOPLE about his long-running Food Network show and the bonds he forms with the featured restaurant owners. The series, which premiered in 2011, sees failing restaurants get revived in just two days by Irvine and his team. While the physical renovation and menu changes are grueling, it's the emotional element that really makes an impact, Irvine says.
"Restaurant: Impossible is about taking people that have lost their way and guiding them or correcting them to not only take care of their self and their family, but also the health of their family and their business," says Irvine, while promoting Pure Life's Family Summer Challenge. "Because if the family is healthy and working together nicely, then the business will run successfully."
The 48 hours can get so intense that Irvine admits he rarely eats or sleeps for two days — he just drinks water.
"When I first meet people, I don't know their story. I have no idea until they tell me their story," he says. "And then they realize that I'm not there to make television. I'm there to help them really understand how to run their business and how to get the most money and the best out of their people. Once they understand that, they open up a lot more."
Devout fans of the show know that Irvine's constructive counseling moves beyond the struggling restaurants' walls and into owners' personal lives.
"When they trust you, then it's not only business, it's personal stuff," he adds.
Despite Irvine's sometimes "tough guy" persona, he gives small business owners wisdom that end up saving their establishments — not to mention, he forms long-lasting friendships in the process.
"Whether we shot them eight years ago…I talk to these folks continually. They send me the menus, they send me the changes, the decor changes they want to do after [say] three years. So for me, it's very personal," he says.
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He isn't afraid to admit that watching the growth of restaurant owners brings on the tears. "Restaurant: Impossible always makes me cry," he says.
"This show is so entrenched in people," he adds. "This is real life, real people, real problems — and we give real solutions. And if you look over the last three years since Covid, we're 96% successful in the restaurants we've touched. The show stands on its own. It's a group of people that want to change people's lives, literally."
Irvine recently opened up about how shooting the show, and traveling 345 days a year for work, affects his own relationship with wife, Gail Kim, 46.
"I couldn't do what I do with such a heavy travel schedule without her blessing. Otherwise, I'd never be married, it would never work," he told PEOPLE. "We are like soul mates. I mean, I couldn't tell you any other female that could put up with my life and my schedule, or any other male that could put up with her schedule."
When they reunite at home in Florida, they reconnect by relaxing on the couch.
"We watch TV and we snuggle and we talk about her day, her week, her month," he said. "We're very unusual as a couple because we don't spend every day together. So every day we spend together is special."
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