Other than correcting People’s sources, Valerie Bertinelli’s response to exiting Food Network has been remarkably understanding. In fact, in both her Instagram video and X posts, she’s emphasized that she knew it all came down to business. However, that’s not to say she’s hidden how the dismissal made her feel.
“It really hurt my feelings to know that I’m not going to be asked back to be on ‘Kids Baking Championship’,” she mused in the Instagram video. She went on to add that her final season had been shot in the midst of her messy divorce from Tom Vitale, and that she wished she’d be able to return so that she could share how much she appreciated the fans and crew. She went on to list the various departments involved in making the show, gushing over everything they put into it, as well as the “Kids Baking Championship” contestants themselves.
Sadness aside, it’s clear that Bertinelli is taking the high road and has no hard feelings towards anyone. That’s certainly impressive, considering the way she found out about her dismissal. As if finding out via text wasn’t tough enough, it wasn’t even someone from the network. “LOL I was basically ghosted,” she’d shared in her initial X post.
Given that she’d been on the show for 12 seasons, Bertinelli certainly deserved better than that. Nevertheless, she’s keeping busy, and at the time of writing, she’s promoting her new cook book, “Indulge.”
