Michael Bublé rules onstage but lets his family rule at home.
The musician says his wife, Luisana Lopilato, cooks best. “Mommy’s the cook; [the kids] want mommy’s food,” Bublé, 48, says in this week’s Sexiest Man Alive 2023 “Yes Chef” feature. “I think stating, ‘I’m going to make stuff for you,’ on our honeymoon helped my wife fall in love with me. She was young and now outcooks me.”
She out everything’s me,” he says of his 12-year-old wife, with whom he has sons Noah, 10, and Elias, 7, and daughters Vida, 5, and Cielo, 1.
“In the kitchen, she has this thing where she tells me to get out,” he recalls, joking that she does the same “in the bedroom, too, sometimes.”
Bublé praises his girlfriend as “not only the master chef but the boss of everything” for bringing the family together at the dinner table. “She’s brave and experimental in the kitchen, and it’s fun,” he says. “She plans a beautiful event every day.”
The singer usually makes breakfast for his kids before school. Noah joked on the set of his PEOPLE picture shoot that his dad’s specialty dish is “cereal,” but then added that he likes his eggs.
Bublé is proud of his cooking skills, learning risotto from his “Nonna and Nonno,” his grandmother and grandpa, despite his family’s disapproval. “I was lucky to have a beautiful, close relationship with my grandparents, and food brings us a lot of joy in our house,” adds Bublé. It also recalls our best days together.”
A portrait of his late grandparents hangs on the Fraser & Thompson whiskey brand founder’s kitchen mug, keeping their spirits alive. “I miss him every day,” he adds. “Every morning, I kiss them twice and have coffee.”
Bublé wants to give his children lifelong memories. He says, “My job as a father, husband, and son is to create memories.” “This life is short, so part of creating memories is the smell of beautiful food cooking in the house and laughter.”
“As long as you’re together, you can build a life,” he says. “I’m lucky to do it.”
Due to his busy schedule and packed home, the Grammy-winner cooks for himself “really late at night,” but he still enjoys culinary activities. “The other day, we made Play-Doh out of dough, making flour with food coloring,” he says. “Just that experience of everybody in the kitchen making a mess and having fun—again, creating memories is the point.”
“The positive of that was having so much fun together and experimenting and creating this thing for the classroom,” he says, laughing that it hurt his ego. I discovered my five-year-old was smarter than me because he knew what colors to blend to produce the hues we required. Awesome.”
Bublé says he feels most “rich” with his family as his career continues. “My wife loves me so much, and she keeps me grounded and keeps it real for me,” he contemplates his future decade. “My family and friends do that for me, and I hope I’m smart enough to realize how lucky I am to have them, who never let me get ahead of myself.”
“If I can do that and keep focused on what’s important, I’ll hopefully be happy no matter what.”