Carson Daly Doesn’t Want His Kids to Date Vegans or Picky Eaters: ‘Food Is Really Important’

Carson Daly has one request for his children when they start dating.

“The only reservation I would have for my kids would be, like, [dating] a vegan or something like that maybe,” Daly, 52, said during the Monday, May 19, episode of Today With Jenna and Sheinelle.

Following Daly’s confession, the behind-the-scenes crew burst into laughter.

“Is that bad to say? Am I gonna get canceled for that?” Daly asked.

Cohost Jenna Bush Hager had some questions for Daly and asked if he just wanted his children’s future partners to be able to eat meat. (Daly shares four children: Jackson, 17, Etta, 13, London, 11, and Goldie, 6, with wife Siri Pinter.)

“Yeah, I mean, look at me!” Daly responded before elaborating on his mindset about people with dietary preferences. “Food is, like, a really important part of, like, the fabric of our family.”

He continued, “If we didn’t have food, I wouldn’t talk to my wife about anything. It holds us together. So if one of them brought home a date who was super picky. Like, ‘I don’t eat anything — fish from the sea, cows that go moo.’ Like, I’ve got a Traeger [smoker], bro.”

Daly also clarified he didn’t include people with food allergies in his disdain for picky eaters.

“I’m not the devil! I don’t wish illness on boyfriends!” he quipped.

Daly explained that his worries stem from imagining one of his kids bringing over a partner who i s unable to eat anything they prepared during a family meal.

“I’m just saying it would suck if they came into the house on a Sunday, and we were going to do, like, a big Daly feast, we make pizzas, and they were like, ‘I can’t eat anything.’ I would just be like, ‘He’s a loser. Dump him,’” he said.

While Daly is safe from his children dating a vegan for the time being, the morning show host is nearing a big milestone with son Jackson, who is gearing up to go to college next year. Daly has joked he wants to get a place near the school.

“I’m looking for real estate around the university,” Daly quipped on Monday. “Every time we drive by LIU Post out on Long Island, I’m like ‘Buddy, we’re gonna get a sick apartment here. I’m going to hang out. It’s gonna be great.’ In my mind, I’m going with him to college. The reality hasn’t hit yet.”