What to Know
Becoming the host of Kids Baking Championship on Food Network should have been a pretty triumphant moment for Kardea Brown, but instead, she faced backlash from fans who were disappointed that it meant she would be replacing Valerie Bertinelli. And though Kardea has seemed to have taken it all in stride, now she’s opening up about what being on the receiving end of all that criticism has really been like in a new interview.
News that Kardea would be Valerie’s replacement broke last year.
When the show returned in 2025, Kardea was the co-host alongside Duff Goldman, rather than Valerie, who had been a staple of the show (and of Food Network in general) for a very long time. Valerie claimed she’d been blindsided by the decision and seemed upset to lose the gig, which only made her most loyal friends angrier that Kardea had taken her place — and they definitely weren’t quiet about it on social media, including on Kardea’s posts.
Kardea said she’s doing her best to let the haters hate.
While talking to People in an interview published this week, Kardea said she’s trying to tune out the hate.
“You kind of know, being in the public eye, that people are going to have their opinions about you and your life and anything that you do,” she said. “You could be doing all the best things in your life… and there’s going to be someone that’s going to find something wrong. Let them hate.”
The one area she’s not willing to mess around with, though, is when the backlash reaches the children who compete on her show.
“You can feel however you feel about me, but what you won’t do is hurt these children,” she told the magazine. “I’m always in mom or auntie mode where I want to protect them. They’re innocent. They haven’t experienced that kind of hate yet. Allow them to be children.”
She also addressed her recent weight loss.
Elsewhere in the interview, Kardea said that being more mindful and striking a better balance with her health have both contributed to the 45 pounds she has lost in recent months.
“I didn’t feel like my body belonged to me anymore. I saw pictures of myself and I didn’t recognize myself,” she said. “Regulating my mood with walking and exercising has helped out a lot.”
There’s no doubt that’s a great outlet when the haters get too loud, too.
