Valerie Bertinelli slams Food Network as 'sad' after her show was canceled: 'Not about cooking and learning'
Chef Valerie Bertinelli onstage presenting a culinary demonstration at the Grand Tasting presented by ShopRite featuring Culinary Demonstrations at The IKEA Kitchen presented by Capital One at Pier 94 on October 12, 2019 in New York City. (Photo by J
Valerie Bertinelli expressed her disappointment over the direction that she believes Food Network has taken since she first began watching the cooking channel.
The 63-year-old actress, who formerly hosted the Food Network shows "Valerie's Home Cooking" and "Kids Baking Championship," shared her thoughts in a post on Threads.
"I fell in love with Food Network two decades ago because of all the amazing ITK [in the kitchen] shows," Bertinelli wrote on Instagram's text app before referencing Rachael Ray's show "30-Minute Meals" as well as "Barefoot Contessa" host Ina Garten and "Giada at Home" star Giada De Laurentiis.
She continued, "I learned so much. It’s sad it’s not about cooking and learning any longer. Oh well, that’s just business, folks."
Bertinelli previously hosted the Food Network cooking show "Valerie's Home Kitchen" for 14 seasons from 2015 until its cancelation in 2023. She was also a former host and judge on the channel's reality cooking competition series "Kids Baking Championship" for 12 seasons.
Bertinelli announced in January that she had been let go from her role on "Kids Baking Competition."
In a video shared on her Instagram page, Bertinelli explained that she received confirmation the previous night and had been "avoiding" facing it "because it really hurt my feelings."
She continued, "And I know it’s not supposed to, logically I know that it’s business. Budget cuts, right? But it really hurt my feelings to know that I’m not going to be asked back to be on ‘Kids Baking Championship.’ It really sucks."
Bertinelli had been the host of the show, alongside Food Network star Duff Goldman, since 2015.
In the clip, Bertinelli shared that the episodes aired at the time were filmed back in the summer of 2022, "which was my apex year of hell. Like I was going through it and pretending everything was just fine, because that’s what you do.
"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."
She added, "So it really hurts that I won’t be able to go back and see everybody and say ‘Hey, I made it through, hi!’"
In May 2022, Bertinelli filed for divorce from husband Tom Vitale after 11 years of marriage.
When the split was finalized in November, the actress said in an Instagram video, "Happily divorced. God. Finally. It's finally over."
In her post about "Kids Baking Competition," the former "One Day at a Time" star thanked her co-host Goldman and the rest of the crew behind the scenes at the show for their time together.
She also left words of encouragement for past and present contestants.
"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 said.
Fox News Digital's Elizabeth Stanton contributed to this report.