‘Cake Boss’ Buddy Valastro Shares Update After Horrific Hand Injury
Cake Boss star Buddy Valastro is ready to return to the kitchen following a serious accident that saw his hand impaled three times, putting his future as a baker at risk.
Valastro, best known for his work on TLC‘s Cake Boss and various spin-offs, including Next Great Baker and Kitchen Boss, spoke to Extra on Monday (August 14) about his injury, describing it as “pretty gruesome” and jokingly thanking God that he didn’t aspire to be a hand model.
The freak accident happened in September 2020 while Valastro and his family were enjoying a game of bowling at their built-in bowling alley at their home in Montville, New Jersey. The chef’s right hand got trapped between the machine and the pinsetter (the device that sets the pins back into position), which impaled him three times between his ring finger and middle finger.
Valastro has undergone a number of surgeries on his hand, with one more to go, and he believes he’s about “95%” recovered.
“I’ve got one more surgery I gotta get and get a finger straightened out,” he told Extra. “But considering… 95 percent. My hands are everything to me. Without my hands in the decorating world, I’m nothing.”
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Valastro is famed for his elaborately decorated cakes, a skill that requires a delicate touch. After the accident, the reality star said he came to appreciate his hands that much more.
“You don’t really realize until something is jeopardized,” he shared. “I was really immobile for about six months where I couldn’t even use my hand. I had five surgeries on it. I remember the last surgery… I was scared because I couldn’t bend my hand.”
After two years and numerous surgeries, Valastro’s doctor assured him that he would make a full recovery. “Don’t worry, this last surgery, I’m going to release the tendons, and you’re going to be good to go,” Valastro’s doctor said, according to the chef.
Viewers will be able to see Valastro’s road to recovery in his new series, Buddy Valastro’s Cake Dynasty, which is set to premiere on TLC in November.
“My kids are in it because it’s kind of like the succession, my kids coming into the business. I think it’s going to be amazing. It’s probably the best television I’ve ever made,” Valastro stated.
Buddy Valastro’s Cake Dynasty, Premieres, November 2023, TLC
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