Valerie Bertinelli Opens Up To Fans About Food Network Firing

In 2015, Valerie Bertinelli was the darling of the Food Network. She had just launched her own cooking show, "Valerie's Home Cooking," and was the co-host of the now-hit cooking competition show, "Kids Baking Championship." In 2023, however, her cooking show was canceled — just before she was unceremoniously ousted from "Kids” in January 2024. Now, three months after her firing, Bertinelli told fans how she really feels about the network.

It all began on April 9, when food blogger Marlynn Schotland wrote on Threads, "I miss actual cooking shows on @foodnetwork. Remember those? Do you know what this world does NOT need? Yet another cooking competition show." Schotland later tagged Sara Moulton, Alton Brown, Ming Tsai, and Bertinelli (all of whom once had shows on the Food Network) in the post, writing, "There's a whole lot of love for you in this Thread. I hope you know how much you have influenced home cooks!"

Bertinelli jumped in to express her own feelings about the direction the network has taken since Discovery merged with Warner Media in 2022 as well as her release from the network. "I fell in love with Food Network two decades ago because of all the amazing ITK (in the kitchen) shows," she wrote on Threads, adding, "30 minute meals, Ina, Giada ... the list goes on. I learned so much. It's sad it's not about cooking and learning any longer. Oh well, that's just business, folks."

"Valerie's Home Cooking" ran for 14 seasons before the Food Network canceled it in 2023. As Valerie Bertinelli suggested in her April 9 Threads post, this cancelation may be an indication of the network's shift away from "ITK" shows. At the time, Bertinelli — whose multi-series deal with the network ended in 2021 — was emotional about the decision. "The Food Network canceled us last summer. I have no idea why," she said in an Instagram video from April 2023. Nevertheless, she was gracious about the experience ahead of the final season's premiere. "It has been one of the huge joys in my life to bring you this sweet little show," she wrote.

Bertinelli's "Kids Baking Championship" exit came less than a year later when the network declined to renew her contract. According to one of her tweets, she was "basically ghosted" by the network, claiming to have heard the news of her firing from a "third party." She confirmed the news in a deeply personal Instagram video from January 2024, saying, "I've been avoiding facing what I got confirmation [of] last night ... because it really hurt my feelings." She went on to describe that she knows her firing was simply a business matter: "Logically, I know it's business. Budget cuts, right? 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."

After former Food Network star Valerie Bertinelli opened up on Threads about how she missed seeing cooking on the cooking channel, many folks jumped in to express how they, too, were disheartened by the types of shows they were seeing on the network. "I don't enjoy competition shows at all. I used to love the Food Network because I learned things. Now, not so much," one commenter wrote. "It has become the Guy Fieri channel," said another. "Competition after competition. Bring back cooking."

Meanwhile, others urged Bertinelli to take her talents and expertise elsewhere. "Girl ... The Food Network isn't the only game in town. Pitch your own show, your way. You're Valerie effin' Bertinelli ... America loves you," one commenter wrote. Yet another said, "Maybe this is a sign that this is the time for YOU to reboot that concept (educational cooking channel) because, frankly, we are all missing that format."