Entertainment

Fieri versus ‘DDD’

Guy Fieri might seem like TV’s most affable dude, thanks to hosting gigs on shows like “Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives” and “Minute to Win It,” but looks can be deceiving.

Former “DDD” producer David Page says Fieri was responsible for getting him ousted from running the popular Food Network series based on Page’s idea.

Although Page can’t talk about the settlement from the recent breach-of-contract lawsuit he filed against the network, he will say that Fieri “had reached the point in his career where he did not want to be produced or directed and tried to get me — and succeeded in getting me kicked off the show.”

Part of the way Fieri managed this, Page says, was by canceling video shoots at the last minute and not responding to Page’s e-mails and phone calls.

In addition, “He took great umbrage at standard producer notes that I would send out,” Page says. Take, for example, an instruction to wear long pants while shooting the 2009 Christmas-themed episode in a snow-free Alaska in October.

“He simply didn’t want to accept the fact that … running around in short pants didn’t help” create the illusion of winter, Page says.

“He became more and more unwilling to accept the kind of coaching, producing and directing that was intended to make him look great.”