The baker and TV personality guest co-hosted ET from his bake shop in New Jersey.
Buddy Valastro couldn't be more thankful for his family.
The Cake Boss star co-hosted Wednesday's Entertainment Tonight from his Carlo’s Bakery in New Jersey, where he touched on his family's amazing support after his debilitating accident where his hand was impaled at his home bowling alley.
"They definitely stepped up to the plate. In times of crisis, you don't know what people's reactions are going to be. 'How are we going to do this?' 'What are we going to do?'" Valastro told ET's Rachel Smith. "We all came together and I am so proud of my boys and thankful to my whole family."
"My wife, with the recovery, was amazing, my kids, my sisters, my brother-in-laws," he continued. "But most of all, the fans. The love and support you get from everyone, it means a lot."
It's been nearly a year since Valastro injured his hand and subsequently underwent multiple reconstructive and corrective surgeries to repair the substantial damage.
Shortly after the accident, Valastro's rep told ET that the baker's injury was a result of a malfunction with the bowling pinsetter at his home's bowling alley. When Valastro tried to repair the machine, his hand got lodged inside the unit, where it was impaled by a metal rod multiple times. Valastro's sons cut the rod with a saw to free his hand from the machine.
Now after five surgeries, Valastro continues to recover and is promoting season three of his and Duff Goldman's competition show, Buddy vs. Duff. However, the baker and TV personality expressed that "it has been a long long journey" to get to where he is now.
"Before I started this season of Buddy vs. Duff, I really did not know my capabilities. I knew I could do a lot more with my hand, but doing fine details or doing some crazy piping or different molding and shaping, you don't really know until you are in it," he detailed. "But I could tell you and you could see it on the show, we have done some of the best cakes we have ever did. So thank god that we did and thank god for my surgeons."
Valastro will go back for another surgery in September. As of now, his middle finger has lost some range of motion. "I can't move it over to the left," he shared. "I have a large gap right there, but I have the strength. I can't lift my middle finger all the way up."
There was a point before his surgery in February that he didn't know his fate after not being able to bend his hand. "I had no idea how I was going to do the show and stuff. I was six weeks out of surgery but the day after surgery, doc is like, 'Go, squeeze.' When I was able to make a fist it was like hallelujah lord!" he recalled. "It was insane and without that I would have never been able to do the show. And these cakes were actually some of the best cakes I think that me and my team and Duff and his team ever made."
As for what fans can expect from Buddy vs Duff? "This is round 3. It's probably the biggest and the best!"
"Going in, I know people might not believe me, but I really didn't care about winning or losing," he admitted. "My main goal was to be able to see if I could still make cakes to the level that I did. I'm like, whether we win or lose it really doesn't matter…And the fact that I was able to do it was amazing. And Duff actually was really supportive from day one. When I had the accident, he was one of the first people to call me. He's like, 'You gotta get better man because I want to beat your ass next season.'"
"We have that relationship," he said. "We have that respect for one another. We're like two guys having fun on the basketball court. We poke fun at each, but much respect on both sides."
New episodes of Buddy vs. Duff air Sundays on Food Network and Discovery+.
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