'Blessed' Buddy Valastro Gives Honest Update on Hand Recovery After Multiple Surgeries

Buddy Valastro

While it's been a challenging past three years for Cake Boss star Buddy Valastro after he suffered a serious hand injury in 2020, the 46-year-old is feeling quite "blessed" about his health in 2023.

Valastro spoke about the intense recovery journey to ET's Rachel Smith during a recent interview. In regards to the use of right hand now, he said, "I have about 95 percent," before joking, "I'll never be a hand model."

To repair and reconstruct his hand after the accident that occurred at his hometown's bowling alley, when his hand got stuck in one of the pinsetter mechanisms, Valastro has had multiple surgeries, but he told the publication, "I need one more surgery to move my finger around."

"Considering what happened to me, I'm pretty blessed. I had a metal bar right through me," he concluded, keeping a positive attitude.

At the time of the "terrible accident," as he described it, Valastro was unsure about whether or not he would fully recover the use of his right hand to continue cooking and baking cakes.

"Honestly, I don't know how much I'm going to be able to do. I can assure you and everybody—again, whether I have to do a left-handed, a thirty percent—I'm going to try to do it with all of my heart," He told ET in 2020. "I just don't know, you know, I might be like a boxer who's got the heart but ain't got the tools anymore and hope to God that that's not the case and only time will tell."

Throughout recovery and COVID-19, Valastro also struggled with maintaining a healthy weight. But he successfully lost 40 pounds over nine months recently, saying, "It wasn't a crash diet or anything like that. I just tried to be more disciplined during the week."

Valastro added, "I feel like I'm in a pretty good place now. So I'm happy. And just doing the best I can."

The baking star also has a new reality TV series coming up, with Buddy Valastro's Cake Dynasty premiering on A&E on Nov. 11.

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