Food Network chef Brian Malarkey, 52, opened up about a terrifying “near-death experience” he had on vacation in Italy in 2025 in the Nov. 11 episode of his Harley and Malarkey Podcast. Fans were shocked by the story and sent love and well-wishes to the Guy’s Grocery Games regular.
Malarkey and his girlfriend Danielle Harley, 35, were enjoying a vacation in Italy when they got into an argument surrounding Malarkey being on his phone at dinner. Following a restless night and three espressos the next morning, Malarkey suddenly found himself in a medical emergency.
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“All of a sudden, I start seeing black spots,” he recalled on the podcast. “I’m going down.” The celebrity chef said that he laid down and felt fluttering in his stomach before going into full-body convulsions in front of his partner.
“Arms twisted up all weird, feet cramping, I had zero control over my body at the time, and it was just complete chaos,” he shared. “The crazy thing was, I never felt pain. I felt fear, I felt scared to death.” The San Diego-based Herb & Wood restaurateur worried he might be having a heart attack or stroke.
Harley asked hotel staff to call an ambulance before turning her boyfriend on his side, which seemed to make things worse. “It kept getting more intense, and he was like, ‘In case I don’t make it out of this, I love you,'” she remembered. “Then he’s not talking to me anymore, and I’m like, ‘Oh my god, now he’s actually dying.'”
“I f–king saw the white light. Like [around] my whole head became very white,” he said, adding that he could feel spirits encouraging him to “Come on up, if you want.”
“It gave me a whole sense that heaven is pure peace,” he remembered. “You have no more fear, no more anger, all understanding.”
He initially thought the light looked “really great,” and even felt his spirit leaving his body before he snapped out of it. “All of a sudden, I was like, ‘No! No, no, no! I’m not done! I thought about my children, I thought about my work, I thought about Harley, I thought about my mom. Am I at peace? Did I do good?”
That’s when he started “fighting,” and woke up from his trance. “I won!” he said. “I had a finger in death’s door.” The whole ordeal lasted about 40 minutes while they waited for the ambulance.
Finally, Malarkey was brought to the hospital, where they gave him Valium and hydration IVs, tested his arteries, brain scans, and CT scans. “His CT scan’s normal, no brain bleed, no big brain tumors, his blood tests all come back normal, his urine tests come back normal, he wasn’t on any drugs,” said Harley, revealing they’re still trying to figure out what happened to this day, but ultimately chalked it up to stress.
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“It was probably a non-psychogenic epileptic seizure,” she said. “We’re still getting more tests done, but we’re thinking that it was just so much internalized stress that was kind of getting released through his body and this whole nervous system explosion.”
Fans were horrified to hear about the experience and took to their comments on Instagram to send love and support.
“I’m so grateful you are here to share it with us today. You have so much more to experience,” said one fan, while another added, “You did win! And keep on winning, you’re an awesome soul.”
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A third said, “That must have been so scary. I hope you figured out what happened!!!” and a fourth added, “What a scary story, I’m crying over here.”
The couple shared in their caption that while the story was “painful to relive,” they felt it was important to share in case it could help others. “We hope this episode will resonate with anyone who’s had to navigate a similar situation,” they added.
This story was originally reported by Parade on Nov 12, 2025, where it first appeared in the News section. Add Parade as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
