An economic downturn and a health crisis forced Buddy Valastro to turn his focus inward. In September 2020, Valastro’s suffered a bowling accident at his home alley that resulted in his right hand being caught by a pinsetter. “I looked at my hand and there was blood everywhere and I was stuck, the rod going back and forth,” he told Today shortly after the accident, describing how his teenaged sons cut him loose. Valastro had to undergo two emergency surgeries.
The serious injury left him unable to use his dominant hand for six months. “My hands are everything to me. Without my hands in the decorating world, I’m nothing,” he told Extra in August 2023. His hand never fully healed, but it healed well enough to put Valastro back in the game. “I have a lot of mobility and strength. I’ve got one more surgery I gotta get and get a finger straightened out,” he said, adding his hand is about 95% recovered.
To add to that difficult time, Valastro was also dealing with the economic consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic. The businesses that were hit the hardest were his mall bakeries due to their indoor location, and a Las Vegas eatery due to restrictions on travel. “It’s really a tough, tough time in the restaurant, bakery, and retail business right now. We are probably doing about 40% of what we would normally be doing,” he told Yahoo! in November 2020.
