New Report Claims Valerie Bertinelli Was Ousted From ‘Kids Baking Championship’ After Food Network Chose Not To Renew Her Exclusive Deal

More information is coming out of the oven with respect to Valerie Bertinelli‘s exit from Kids Baking Championship.

According to a new report from Variety, Bertinelli opted into a “multi-series deal” with Food Network in 2018, and said deal ended in 2021. However, she was granted another year, leading the deal to ultimately terminate in 2022, which was when she filmed the most recent season of Kids Baking Championship, per her recent Instagram post.

This information was seemingly confirmed by Bertinelli’s manager, Marc Schwartz, who told Variety that after her deal expired, the network “opted not to renew it.”

“They could have come to me with an offer just for Kids [Baking Championship],” he added. “They never did. Simple as that.”

An unidentified source said the reason for her not receiving a singular Kids offer was because the network was under the impression that she would not take it without her aforementioned “multi-series deal” being renewed.

While Kids Baking Championship has yet to be renewed for Season 13 — and has not filmed anything without Bertinelli, per Variety — Bertinelli noted on social media that she has “zero ill will toward FN (Food Network),” noting that she had an “inkling [she] might not be asked back” after not participating in “the holiday specials,” per TVLine.

Yet, she claimed, “I got a text by a third party on Friday that told me I would not be back. LOL I was basically ghosted.”

Decider reached out to representatives for Bertinelli and Food Network, but did not hear back by time of publication.

As for why the deal was not renewed, inside sources claimed to Variety that those responsible do not work at the network anymore, ultimately name-dropping Courtney White — previous Food Network president who left in March 2022 — and Jane Latman, her successor who was removed that December.

These developments arrived in the wake of Bertinelli blaming her exit on “budget cuts,” taking to Instagram on Saturday (Jan. 20) to express how the news “really hurt [her] feelings.”

“And I know it’s not supposed to, logically,” she shared at the time. “I know that it’s business. Budget cuts, right? But it really hurt my feelings to know that I’m not gonna be asked back to be on Kids Baking Championship. It really sucks.”