Bobby Flay is a proud dad.

In an exclusive interview with PEOPLE, the Food Network star shared his thoughts about 28-year-old daughter Sophie’s coverage of the Los Angeles Wildfires.

Sophie is a reporter for ABC7 Los Angeles and was reporting on the ground in a face mask, goggles and other protective gear during the wildfires that devastated much of Southern California beginning on Jan. 7. While more than 80,000 people were displaced as more than 10,000 homes and structures were engulfed in flames, Sophie took to the streets to share pertinent information on safety and evacuation measures.

“She's fantastic,” the Beat Bobby Flay star told PEOPLE during the 2025 South Beach Wine & Food Festival. “When the fires happened, I got so many comments from literally hundreds of people about how well she was just freestyling it out there on the front lines of the fire. She was spectacular.”

The cookbook author, who shares Sophie with his ex-wife Kate Connelly, said he even downloaded the news station’s app to watch her updates. “I was watching it 24 hours a day. She did not go to sleep. I mean, it was crazy.”

Despite the intensity and chaos of the fires, the pair stayed in touch while she was working. “The fires were literally behind her. I was just like, ‘Do you feel safe?’ She's like, ‘Yeah.’ And then, of course, some tree hit their van the next day, and luckily, they weren't in it. I mean, it was the Wild West. It was crazy.” 

He continued, “But I was so proud of her because, most importantly, she was giving out really important information to people that needed it. And she was just so good. I was just like, ‘Who is this girl?’ ”

Last year, Bobby and Sophie went to the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, though not for the reporter’s work.

"I got invited to Paris and Sophie was like, 'Yeah, I'm your plus one,' " Bobby recalled to PEOPLE. "She's worked the Olympics. When she was an intern at USC she worked for NBC, so she went to South Korea and she went to Rio. She considers herself my Olympic expert."

The father-daughter duo have even shared the spotlight on Bobby and Sophie on the Coast. The 2022 Food Network miniseries saw the pair visit Los Angeles hot spots like Tartine, Roscoe's Chicken and Waffles and Jitlada.

South Beach Wine & Food Festival (SOBEWFF) runs from Thursday, Feb. 20, to Sunday, Feb. 23.