'Cake Boss' Star Buddy Valastro Keeps His Kids 'Grounded' by Requiring Them to 'Clean Toilets' Despite Their 'Pampered Lifestyle'

Buddy Valastro’s kids have to learn the ropes before they get involved in the family business!

During a recent interview, the Cake Boss star, 46, revealed that his kids — Sofia, 20, Buddy Jr., 18, Marco, 16 and Carlo, 12 — must work hard in order to reap the benefits.

"My kids are truly blessed, and they do live a pampered lifestyle because of the way I live," the father-of-four, who will be starring in upcoming shows Legends of the Fork and Buddy Valastro’s Cake Dynasty, said. "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 continued: "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."

Valastro went on to explain how he instills certain values into his children.

"When people in my factory see my kids on their hands and knees scrubbing the floors, they have respect for them," the reality TV star noted. "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.”

"It's the things that you teach in values," he explained. "It’s the lessons you lead by example. But we also kid around, we laugh, we eat. We’re a pretty tight-knit family."

While Valastro has been holding down Carlo’s Bakery since he was recruited by his father in 1988, he is happy to pass it down to his offspring, especially after his recent unexpected injury.

In 2020, the patriarch’s right hand got stuck and compressed in a bowling pinsetter at his home bowling alley.

"I thank God I got pretty good motion on the hand," he stated of the gruesome injury. "I might not be a hand model, but that’s all right."

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His road to recovery has not been short, as the baker had his fifth surgery to repair the damage this February.

"From September to February, I could not close my hand," Valastro stated. "My hand was just stuck. … [My fingers], I couldn’t bend them. And the doctor's like, ‘Don’t worry, when we do the last surgery, that’s when I’m going to release the tendons.’ The next day after surgery, I’ll never forget. I was with Dr. Michelle Carlson, who was amazing at [the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York City]. She said, ‘Close your hand.’ I made a fist, and I was so relieved."

Fox News Digital interviewed Valastro.