Longtime Food Network star and actor Valerie Bertinelli has some thoughts about the network’s direction.
In a post shared to Threads on April 9, Bertinelli responded to a post that reminisced about “actual cooking shows” on the network.
“I miss actual cooking shows on @foodnetwork. Remember those?” @urbanblisslife, aka Marlynn Schotland wrote. “Do you know what this world does NOT need? Yet another cooking competition show.”
In her response to Schotland, Bertinelli agreed.
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“I fell in love with Food Network two decades ago because of all the amazing ITK (in the kitchen) shows. 30 minute meals, Ina (Garten), Giada (De Laurentiis)…the list goes on,” she wrote. “I learned so much. It’s sad it’s not about cooking and learning any longer. Oh well, that’s just business, folks.”
Bertinelli’s comments are to no surprise, as the “Hot in Cleveland” star was let go from her two Food Network shows in the past year.
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In April 2023, Bertinelli announced show “Valerie’s Home Cooking” had been canceled after 14 seasons.
At the time, she said in an Instagram video that she had “no idea why” the network decided to cancel the show, adding, “I didn’t say anything last summer because honestly, I was hoping they would change their mind. But they have not.”
“So this is it. This is the final season,” she continued. “I have loved making this show. It was such a dream come true. Every single part of it brought me so much joy. I love the crew. I loved everybody in production. They loved making this show for you.”
Then, in January 2024, Bertinelli revealed on her social media accounts that she had been let go from her other show, “Kids Baking Championship.”
Bertinelli had served as a co-host of the competition show with Duff Goldman since it premiered in 2015.
In an Instagram video shared with her followers, said being fired had “really hurt my feelings.”
“And I know it’s not supposed to. Logically, I know that it’s business, budget cuts, right?” she said at the time. “But it really hurt my feelings to know that I’m not going to be asked back to be on ‘Kids Baking Championship.’ Really sucks.”
She added that while filming her final season on the show in the summer of 2022, she had been going through her “apex year of hell.”
Bertinelli officially filed for divorce from her ex-husband Tom Vitale in May 2022, though the court records stated that they had been separated since 2019. Their divorce was finalized in November 2022.
She has since moved on from Vitale, confirming she’s “in love” with a new man in an April 1 interview with People.
“It’s a seesaw of emotions because I was adamant I was never falling in love again,” she said, not revealing her new beau’s identity.
“I was supposed to die with my six cats and my dog, and very happily live the rest of my years alone — I’m good alone,” she told People. “My belly is flip-flopping. This was not supposed to happen.”
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