Guy Fieri’s ‘Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives’ Moves Back to Emmy Structured Reality Category (EXCLUSIVE)

variety.com:

Clayton Davis Senior Awards Editor Guy Fieri is rolling out “Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives” into a new Emmys category. Food Network has successfully petitioned the Television Academy to move the long-running food reality series back to the outstanding structured reality category, where it will compete against other popular series such as “Love is Blind,” “Queer Eye” and “Shark Tank.” It had previously been submitted for hosted nonfiction series or special since 2020. Read: Variety’s Awards Circuit for the latest Emmy predictions in all categories.

Hosted by Fieri since the show’s debut in 2007, the show had received six Emmy nominations — five for outstanding structured reality program from 2014-2019 and outstanding reality program in 2013, the last year before the category was separated into two for structured and unstructured programming.

In 2020, the Emmys changed the name of the outstanding information series or special category to outstanding hosted nonfiction.

The TV Academy guided the Fieri show to move into the category where they felt it was better suited. However, for the past three years, the series has failed to secure another coveted nom, competing against hosted nonfiction winners such as A&E’s “Leah Remini: Scientology and the Aftermath” and CNN’s “Stanley Tucci: Searching for Italy.” The network and creatives decided to formally petition the Academy to switch the show back to the category where it had received recognition for five consecutive years, citing the format and impact of the show in the marketplace among the reasons for the move.