Valerie Bertinelli Dropped From Food Network’s Kids Baking Championship: ‘I Was Basically Ghosted’

Kids Baking Championship‘s Valerie Bertinelli has revealed that she’s not returning to the Food Network competition series she’s hosted and judged for 12 seasons due to budget cuts.

“I’ve been avoiding facing what I got confirmation for last night and I didn’t want to talk about it last night. I wanted to sleep on it because it really hurt my feelings,” she shared via Instagram video Saturday. “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.”

The actress and host elaborated on Threads Sunday writing, “I got an inkling I might not be asked back when I saw I was not in the holiday specials. I got a text by a third party on Friday that told me I would not be back. LOL I was basically ghosted. I have zero ill will toward anyone at FN. I enjoyed every single moment I worked for them, and they are all lovely, kind, hard-working people. And I understand business is business. But I won’t tolerate lies. I am a lot of things, but I am not greedy, nor am I a liar.”

TVLine has reached out to Food Network/Discovery for comment.

Bertinelli and Duff Goldman have hosted the show since 2015. Season 12 is currently airing, with Bertinelli saying she filmed those episodes back in 2022 during “my apex year of hell.” She said on Instagram that she 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.”

She continued: “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. It really hurts that I won’t be able to go back and see everybody and say, ‘Hey, I made it through!’ I think I’m most sad that I won’t be able to tell everybody what they mean to me.”

In April of 2023, Food Network pulled the plug on Bertinelli’s series Valerie’s Home Cooking, which ran for 14 seasons.

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