Khloé Kardashian Devastated After Valerie Bertinelli Fired From ‘Kids Baking Championship’: ‘This Does Suck’
Valerie Bertinelli has a Kardashian in her corner. The cohost and judge of Kids Baking Championship revealed in a Jan. 20 social media update that she wouldn’t be returning to the Food Network show she hosted with Duff Goldman – and the decision was not hers.
“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 Kids Baking Championship,” Bertinell said in the video shared on Instagram. “It really sucks.”
After the One Day at a Time Star opened up about getting cut from the show, she received an outpouring of love from loyal fans, including Khloé Kardashian.
Khloé Kardashian is a huge ‘Kids Baking Championship’ fan
Kardashian was one of many people who reacted to Bertinelli’s Instagram post with words of outrage and support.
“Wait!!! What!!!!! I need to sign a petition. I looooove this show and watch it daily. I record it and all,” Kardashian commented on Instagram. “I love you and Duff together, and it will be hard to imagine it without you.”
“The way you are with the children is magical,” she added. “Your understanding and advice to them is key. Duff’s voice is important as well but I think they need you both… I’m so sorry! This does suck and I understand why your feelings are hurt.”
The Kardashians star wasn’t the only celeb voicing support for Bertinelli.
“Last year the strike hurt a lot of us. I’m so sorry to hear this,” commented comedian Loni Love. “This industry has changed so much but you know your value and worth.. most of all your talent… another project is coming soon for you V!”
Singer Debbie Gibson said she knew how Bertinelli felt.
“Ohhh I understand this so completely,” she commented. “Not sure why these sorts of decisions are made, budgets and all. It’s all too familiar in show biz so of course we all go to the place of the universe having something else in store but right this second or sucks and hurts so feel all the feels and know that all of your beautiful community members here are with you!”
Valerie Bertinelli says the Food Network show ‘saved my life’
The currently airing episodes of Kids Baking Championship where shot over a year ago, in the summer of 2022. That was a difficult time for Bertinelli, who described it as “the apex year of hell.” (At the time, she was finalizing her divorce from Tom Vitale.) Working on the series helped her cope. “Without sounding like a drama queen, the show saved my life,” she said.
“It was like a flotation device,” she added.
One reason Bertinelli was so upset about her unexpected firing? She didn’t get a chance to say goodbye to her former co-workers. In her Instagram video, she thanked everyone involved in producing the show. She also gave a shout-out to the next batch of kid bakers, urging them to always believe in themselves, even if they didn’t advance in the competition.
In a message shared on X, Bertinelli shared more details about how she learned she’d been cut from the Food Network show.
“I got an inkling I might not be asked back when I saw I was not in the holiday specials,” she wrote. “I got a text by a third party on Friday that told me I would not be back. LOL I was basically ghosted.”
Despite that, Bertinelli said she had “zero ill will toward anyone at [Food Network].
“I enjoyed every single moment I worked for them, and they are all lovely, kind, hard-working people,” she wrote. “And I understand business is business.”
Bertinelli also hosted Valerie’s Home Cooking for the Food Network. That show was canceled in April 2023 after 14 seasons.
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