#Valerie Bertinelli Says Being Cut from ‘Kids Baking Championship’ ‘Hurts’

Valerie Bertinelli won’t be returning to Kids Baking Championship.

In a video posted on her Instagram story on Saturday, the longtime Food Network host and actress, 63, revealed that she learned on Friday that she’s “not going to be asked back to be on Kids Baking Championship” in the future.

“It really hurt my feelings,” a visibly upset Bertinelli, 63, said multiple times in the clip. “It really sucks.”

Bertinelli — who had been hosting the Food Network show alongside Duff Goldman since it premiered in 2015 — cited budget cuts as the reason she was let go.

Representatives from Food Network didn’t immediately reply to PEOPLE’s request for comment.

Bertinelli went on to say that she shot the episodes for season 12 of the show, which is currently airing, in the summer of 2022. She called that time in her life — the year of her divorce from Tom Vitale — “my apex year of hell.”

The Hot in Cleveland star said she was pretending everything was fine when she was actually falling apart privately. “Without sounding like a drama queen, the show saved my life,” Bertinelli shared.

She explained that working and spreading kindness while being productive helped her get through the hard times in her personal life. “It was like a floatation device,” she added of the show.

“So it really hurts that I won’t be able to go back and see everybody and say, ‘Hey, I made it through,'” she continued.

Bertinelli also said she’s sad not to be able to tell everyone who works on the show what they mean to her, from Goldman to the crew to the kid bakers.

She took a moment to address future contestants of Kids Baking Championship.

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“You are there for a reason. You’re some of the best bakers in America right now,” she told them. “And if you don’t make it to the next round, please always remember this: It’s not because you’re not a good baker, you just had a bad day. So, always, always believe in yourself. Please do that for me. And keep baking. I’ll miss you guys.”