Valerie Bertinelli made some negative remarks about The Food Network several months after she was let go from the channel’s reality cooking competition series, “Kids Baking Championship.”
“I fell in love with Food Network two decades ago because of all the amazing ITK [in the kitchen] shows,” the 63-year-old star wrote on the social media app Threads, calling out Rachael Ray’s show “30-Minute Meals,” Ina Garten of “Barefoot Contessa” fame, and “Giada at Home” star Giada De Laurentiis specifically.
“I learned so much. It’s sad it’s not about cooking and learning any longer. Oh well, that’s just business, folks.”
Her comments came in response to a Thread by cookbook author Marlynn Schotland. She wrote, “I miss actual cooking shows on @foodnetwork. Remember those? Do you know what this world does NOT need? Yet another cooking competition show.”
Bertinelli previously hosted a Food Network cooking show, “Valerie’s Home Kitchen,” from 2015 until 2023. She also hosted “Kids Baking Championship” for 12 seasons before unexpectedly not being invited back in January, which at the time she said, “really hurt my feelings.”
“It really sucks,” she said in a lengthy video post at the time.
She went on to describe how she was on the show during her “apex year of hell” as she was going through a divorce from Tom Vitale.
“Like I was going through it and pretending everything was just fine, because that’s what you do,” she said of filming season 12.
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“And, without sounding like a drama queen, the show saved my life. Working with all those really wonderful people and feeling productive and knowing I could spread some kindness and not just wallow in my hell and just try to keep my head above water, it helped me, it was like a flotation device,” Bertinelli continued. “So it really hurts that I won’t be able to go back and see everybody and say ‘Hey, I made it through, hi!’”
“And to all the bakers that are coming in for the new season, even though I won’t be there, I’ll be there with you in spirit and I just want you to remember this: You are there for a reason. You’re some of the best bakers in America right now. And if you don’t make it to the next round, please always remember this, it’s not because you’re not a good baker, you just had a bad day,” she concluded.