Khloé Kardashian Blasts Food Network for Firing Valerie Bertinelli
Actress and Food Network host Valerie Bertinelli has found support from an unexpected place after being dropped from the Kids Baking Championship.
That’s right, reality star Khloé Kardashian is not happy about Bertinelli being axed and has taken to social media to speak out, even offering to sign a petition to get the TV host reinstated.
“Wait!!! What!!!!! I need to sign a petition. I looooove this show and watch it daily. I record it and all,” Kardashian wrote in the comments of Bertinelli’s Instagram post about her firing.
She continued, “I love you and Duff [Goldman] together, and it will be hard to imagine it without you. The way you are with the children is magical. Your understanding and advice to them is key.”
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“Duff’s voice is important as well, but I think they need you both,” Kardashian added. “I’m so sorry! This does suck and I understand why your feelings are hurt.”
In the video, Bertinelli said it “really hurt my feelings” when she wasn’t asked back for the Kids Baking Championship, which she has hosted alongside Goldman since 2015. She also hosted the Food Network show Valerie’s Home Cooking, which wrapped up its 14th and final season in July 2023.
“I know it’s not supposed to [hurt my feelings]. Logically, I know it’s business [and] budget cuts, right?” she said. “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.”
Episodes of the Kids Baking Championship are currently airing on the Food Network, but these episodes were filmed in 2022, the same year Bertinelli finalized her divorce from her ex-husband, Tom Vitale.
“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 [the] most sad that I won’t be able to tell everybody what they mean to me,” she added.
In a follow-up post on X (formerly Twitter), Bertinelli explained how the producers allegedly “ghosted” her, though said she holds no ill will. “There were never any talks, so no talks could be stalled,” she stated.
“I got an inkling I might not be asked back when I saw I was not in the holiday specials,” she continued. “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. https://t.co/evR4imC1Bd
— valerie bertinelli (@Wolfiesmom) January 21, 2024
Kids Baking Championship, Mondays, 8/7 c, Food Network
