Bertinelli Speaks Out After The Food Network Fires Her
Valerie Bertinelli has chopped, diced, and pureed countless ingredients in the kitchen, but she didn't mince words when she spoke out about what she thought about the Food Network.
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00:00 "Valerie Bertinelli has chopped, diced, and pureed countless ingredients in the kitchen,
00:05 but she didn't mince words when she spoke out about what she thought about the Food
00:09 Network."
00:10 "It's time to get the milk in the patty mill."
00:12 Back in 2015, Bertinelli was the darling of the Food Network. She had just launched her
00:16 own cooking show, Valerie's Home Cooking, and was the co-host of the hit cooking competition
00:21 show Kids Baking Championship. But then it all came crashing down. In 2023, her cooking
00:27 show was canceled.
00:28 "Food Network canceled us last summer. I have no idea why."
00:31 And in January 2024, she was unceremoniously ousted from Kids Baking Championship. According
00:37 to one of her tweets, she was basically ghosted by the network, claiming to have heard the
00:41 news of her firing second-hand. She confirmed the news in an emotional Instagram video in
00:47 January 2024, saying that she'd been avoiding coming to terms with the abrupt decision.
00:51 "I know that it's business. Budget cuts, right? But it really hurt my feelings to know that
00:59 I'm not gonna be asked back."
01:00 And now, three months after her firing, Bertinelli told fans how she really feels about the network.
01:06 On April 9th, a food blogger wrote on Threads,
01:08 "I miss actual cooking shows on Food Network. Remember those? Do you know what this world
01:13 does not need? Yet another cooking competition show."
01:16 The post tagged Sarah Moulton, Alton Brown, Ming Tsai, and Bertinelli, and went on to
01:21 give those chefs a direct call-out, saying,
01:24 "There's a whole lot of love for you in this thread. I hope you know how much you have
01:27 influenced home cooks."
01:29 Bertinelli jumped in to express her own feelings about the direction the network has taken
01:33 since Discovery merged with WarnerMedia in 2022. She wrote,
01:37 "I fell in love with Food Network two decades ago because of all the amazing ITK — in
01:43 the kitchen — shows. 30-minute meals, INA, GIATA, the list goes on. I learned so much.
01:49 It's sad it's not about cooking and learning any longer. Oh well, that's just business,
01:53 folks."
01:54 That changing business model is clearly frustrating to the chefs who mainly focused on the details
01:58 of food preparation. Valerie's Home Cooking ran for 14 seasons before the Food Network
02:04 canceled it, and as Bertinelli suggested in her April 9th Threads post, this cancellation
02:09 may be an indication of the network's shift away from ITK shows.
02:13 "I mean, did you see how fast that happened? Did you see that?"
02:18 After Bertinelli opened up about how she missed seeing, well, cooking on the Cooking Channel,
02:23 many folks jumped in to express how they, too, were disheartened by the types of shows
02:27 they were seeing on the network. One commenter wrote,
02:30 "I don't enjoy competition shows at all. I used to love the Food Network because I learned
02:35 things. Now, not so much."
02:37 Another person said,
02:38 "It has become the Guy Fieri channel. Competition after competition. Bring back cooking."
02:43 Meanwhile, others urged Bertinelli to take her talents and expertise elsewhere. One person
02:48 got right to the point, saying,
02:49 "The Food Network isn't the only game in town. Pitch your own show, Your Way. You're Valerie
02:54 F. & Bertinelli. America loves you."
02:56 "And I'm gonna make myself a sandwich."
02:58 Yet another said,
02:59 "Maybe this is a sign that this is the time for you to reboot that concept, Educational
03:04 Cooking Channel, because frankly, we are all missing that format. With a brand new cookbook
03:09 on the shelves, it may just be a matter of time before Bertinelli brings us a new cooking
03:13 show, competition-free."
03:15 [MUSIC]