The Kids Baking Championship co-host position on Food Network will be filled by someone new; Valerie Bertinelli is out. Duff Goldman’s coworker Bertinelli, 63, was fired on Friday. In a lengthy Instagram video posted on Saturday, the longtime host broke the tragic news to her viewers.

Our reports that once her contract expired, there was “absolutely discussion” of her returning to the program, but “talks stalled” after Bertinelli’s team determined that she deserved more.

Despite the serious nature of the matter, the Hot in Cleveland actor opened out about how much the current season of Kids Baking Championship meant to her.

Season 12 of Kids Baking Championship, which Bertinelli called the “apex year of h***,” premiered on Food Network in the summer of 2022.

Divorce proceedings between the actress and Food Network personality and Tom Vitale began that same year.

What she meant was that she was “going through it” and acting as if everything was fine. “The show literally saved my life, and I don’t mean that in a dramatic way.”

“So it’s really painful that I can’t return to everyone and tell them, ‘Hey, I made it through,’” she went on to explain.

The co-host and the “really wonderful people” Bertinelli collaborated with during the previous 12 seasons were subsequently lauded by Bertinelli.

Even though she couldn’t physically be there, she promised to be “with you in spirit” as she welcomed the new season’s bakers.