Kardea Brown Announced as the New Host ofKids Baking Championship(Exclusive)

Mar. 15, 2025

Kardea Brown.Photo:Food Network

Food Network

Kardea Brownis cooking up some more Food Network content.The Charleston-based cook signed a new deal with the network, PEOPLE can exclusively reveal. Part of the deal includes Brown serving as the new host ofKids Baking Championship.TheDelicious Miss Brownhost will replaceValerie Bertinelli, who revealed in January that she wouldnot be returning to the show.Duff Goldmanco-hostedKids Baking Championshipwith Bertinelli since season one and will continue to co-host this time alongside Brown.Brown is no stranger to the show. She previously judgedKids Baking ChampionshipandSpring Baking Championshipand co-hosted seasonal specials like aKids Baking ChampionshipThanksgiving special in 2023.Duff Goldman and Kardea Brown will co-host Kids Baking Championship.Warner Bros. Discovery, IncBrown and Goldman’s first full season as co-hosts will premiere in early 2025, and in the meantime, the show has fun holiday specials to come.Kids Baking Championship: Scary Goodkicks things off on Oct. 7. Plus, a holiday-inspiredKids Baking Championship: Frosting the Snowmanis set to premiere on Dec. 2.“Having the chance to share my love of food has been a dream come true and I am so thrilled to continue this journey with Food Network,” Brown said in a statement. “I look forward to celebrating the holidays with fans and celebrating these extra special and talented bakers, big and small, and all their incredible creations.“Goldman previously spoke with PEOPLE about how Brown is the perfect addition to the show.“Kardea has been so much fun as a co-host. She is absolutely killing it. She is so good with children,” he said at the time of filming. “She has such a huge heart.“Along with her kind character, Goldman said “her culinary chops are great. She knows what she’s talking about.““But seeing her with kids, she has just absolutely blossomed. She is so natural and easy with them. The kids just implicitly trust her,” he said. “It’s lovely. It’s really, really great. I am so excited about it.“Kardea Brown.Brown is a former social worker, whose career with the network started with a pinch of persistence.  In April 2023, she shared the origin story, explaining how she first entered the Food Network offices in 2015.“This was my first pitch meeting at @foodnetwork 8 years ago! I remember that day distinctly…..I was so nervous but excited at the same time,” she captioned a throwback photo. “This was my big break….I just knew I would leave that meeting with my very own cooking show.“Brown, who dropped herdebut cookbookin 2022, admitted in the caption that she was a “little naive” and didn’t understand the inner workings of the entertainment business quite yet.“You just don’t show up as a social worker and get a green light for your very own cooking show that same day 😅,” she added. “I walked away from the meeting without a show but what I did gain was motivation…. I didn’t take no for an answer…. I took it at as ‘no…not right now.'“Brown clearly made a good impression on the network’s executives, who would give her her own show just four years later.“I was and still am a FIRM believer in divine timing. I just knew in my heart that it was going to happen,” she said at the time.Kids Baking Championship: Scary Goodpremieres Oct. 7 at 8 p.m. ET/PT on Food Network.

Kardea Brownis cooking up some more Food Network content.

The Charleston-based cook signed a new deal with the network, PEOPLE can exclusively reveal. Part of the deal includes Brown serving as the new host ofKids Baking Championship.

TheDelicious Miss Brownhost will replaceValerie Bertinelli, who revealed in January that she wouldnot be returning to the show.Duff Goldmanco-hostedKids Baking Championshipwith Bertinelli since season one and will continue to co-host this time alongside Brown.

Brown is no stranger to the show. She previously judgedKids Baking ChampionshipandSpring Baking Championshipand co-hosted seasonal specials like aKids Baking ChampionshipThanksgiving special in 2023.

Duff Goldman and Kardea Brown will co-host Kids Baking Championship.Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc

Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc

Brown and Goldman’s first full season as co-hosts will premiere in early 2025, and in the meantime, the show has fun holiday specials to come.Kids Baking Championship: Scary Goodkicks things off on Oct. 7. Plus, a holiday-inspiredKids Baking Championship: Frosting the Snowmanis set to premiere on Dec. 2.

“Having the chance to share my love of food has been a dream come true and I am so thrilled to continue this journey with Food Network,” Brown said in a statement. “I look forward to celebrating the holidays with fans and celebrating these extra special and talented bakers, big and small, and all their incredible creations.”

Goldman previously spoke with PEOPLE about how Brown is the perfect addition to the show.

“Kardea has been so much fun as a co-host. She is absolutely killing it. She is so good with children,” he said at the time of filming. “She has such a huge heart.”

Along with her kind character, Goldman said “her culinary chops are great. She knows what she’s talking about.”

“But seeing her with kids, she has just absolutely blossomed. She is so natural and easy with them. The kids just implicitly trust her,” he said. “It’s lovely. It’s really, really great. I am so excited about it.”

Kardea Brown.

Brown is a former social worker, whose career with the network started with a pinch of persistence.  In April 2023, she shared the origin story, explaining how she first entered the Food Network offices in 2015.

“This was my first pitch meeting at @foodnetwork 8 years ago! I remember that day distinctly…..I was so nervous but excited at the same time,” she captioned a throwback photo. “This was my big break….I just knew I would leave that meeting with my very own cooking show.”

Brown, who dropped herdebut cookbookin 2022, admitted in the caption that she was a “little naive” and didn’t understand the inner workings of the entertainment business quite yet.

“You just don’t show up as a social worker and get a green light for your very own cooking show that same day 😅,” she added. “I walked away from the meeting without a show but what I did gain was motivation…. I didn’t take no for an answer…. I took it at as ‘no…not right now.'”

Brown clearly made a good impression on the network’s executives, who would give her her own show just four years later.

“I was and still am a FIRM believer in divine timing. I just knew in my heart that it was going to happen,” she said at the time.

Kids Baking Championship: Scary Goodpremieres Oct. 7 at 8 p.m. ET/PT on Food Network.

source: people.com