The Party Animal Pasts These 5 Celebrity Chefs Don’t Want You To Know

Sex and drugs and… lobster rolls? Why does it seem that so many celebrity chefs have a wild side? Maybe they just like slurping things out of spoons so much that they decided to try injecting those same things?

Many of them claim that their joie de vivre is the very thing that makes them such good chefs—in essence, their indulgent nature lets them know how to help other people indulge. Well, thank god they’re slinging crème brûlée and not crack cocaine. Let’s take a look at the rituals and party habits of some of the most well known chefs around the globe.

Anthony Bourdain

While we’ll never know all of what Bourdain smuggled in parts unknown, this jetsetter enjoys a vibrant lifestyle and never shies away from the sauce. Before he became famous, however, he fostered notorious habits for cocaine, heroin, and the occasional acid trip—which he describes vividly in his book Kitchen Confidential. He was also a remorseless, two-and-a-half pack a day smoker, until his daughter was born in 2007.

Keith Floyd

This chef might not be recognizable to many Americans, but he influenced an entire generation of boozing British gourmands. His off-the-cuff style included cracking jokes with members of his crew and drinking goblets of wine while filming. His excessive lifestyle of heavy drinking, smoking, and extravagant eating ultimately did him in, but he remains a whiskey-pickled touchstone for a hundred other party-hearty celebrity chefs that followed in his footsteps.

Nigella Lawson

British cook Nigella Lawson rose to success on the back of her book How to Be a Domestic Goddess. While she amassed a fortune of reportedly £100 million, money couldn’t buy her happiness, especially after she married art collector Charles Saatchi. The emotionally abusive relationship led Lawson to seek refuge in cocaine and pot. (Unfortunately, the abusive Saatchi forbade her from entertaining, meaning there was never any amazing coke- and pot-fueled gourmet Friendsgiving you’re imagining.) After the two split, she’s maintained that she’s totally drug free.

Epic Meal Time

The meat-headed madmen at Epic Meal Time are constantly upping their game, and recently their cookouts have become full-blown ragers. With sexy assistants and tons of meat, what more do you want from a party? But these beasts of BBQ were smart enough to add a healthy dose of booze to their unhealthy dose of a calories, and Jack Daniels is a regular invite to each and every meal time.

Andrew Zimmern

This cheeky traveler used to steal more than just a taste of Bizarre Foods. When he was getting down, Zimmern would snatch full purses to get his fix. While he hasn’t fully disclosed his personal habits during this dark period in his life, Zimmern was reportedly homeless for about a year and half owing to severe drug and alcohol addiction. Compared to that, eating octopus anus probably doesn’t sound so bad.