Why You Don't See Marcela Valladolid On The Kitchen Anymore
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The hosts of the food-inspired daytime talk show "The Kitchen" have been entertainment foodies at heart since early 2014, when the Food Network premiered its first season. The popular series, which combines elements of a traditional cooking show and a talk show, originally featured celebrity chefs Sunny Anderson, Katie Lee, Jeff Mauro, Marcela Valladolid, and Geoffrey Zakarian.
For an hour every Saturday, the chefs take turns taking the reins of the studio kitchen to cook up something delicious while another serves as sous-chef. Meanwhile, the others sit around watching and engaging in a lot of conversation, which has become an ingredient almost as important to the show as the cooking itself. As Zakarian told Distractify, the chemistry between the co-hosts is one of the keys that make the show successful. "We all bring really different skill sets to the show ... Everyone has something to add to the pot, and that's why the show works. We all just really respect each other," he said.
In August, "The Kitchen" premiered its 29th season, per TV Guide, showing that the show has more than stood the test of time. Between then and now, however, the show has lost a chef and gained another. In April 2019, the Food Network announced "Iron Chef" Alex Guarnaschelli would be joining the show as a co-host, according to Variety. Marcela Valladolid exited "The Kitchen" in 2017, leaving the show with just four co-hosts for about two years and fans wondering what happened to her.
Marcela Valladolid had two reasons for leaving 'The Kitchen'
After October 2017, "The Kitchen" fans noticed the cast was down to four chefs out of the blue, as Marcela Valladolid had left the show with no formal announcement, which is something she wishes she would have done. "I only have one regret: not pushing to say goodbye to you on camera," Valladolid told fans in an entry published on her website, Casa Marcela (via Central Recorder). Borrowing the expression from Sunny Anderson, Valladolid said the details of her departure were "nunya business," but she did share quite a bit.
Firstly, and most importantly, Valladolid wanted to spend more time with her family. Because the chef is based in California and the show is shot in New Jersey, per Sweet Nicks, the constant traveling between coasts took its toll. "[T]hose monthly trips — seeing them on my calendar for the rest of this year and the year after that — were chipping away at my soul," she wrote. Valladolid needed a lifestyle that allowed her to be close to her partner, Philip Button, and three children, per Distractify.
But Valladolid also found it difficult to conciliate the cooking she loves with the one she could do on "The Kitchen," given the time constraints and use of processed foods. "I need for the things I cook for you to be things that I would cook for myself (and my family) in real life. I admit that this makes life a little hard for me in terms of my TV life," she wrote.
What has Marcela Valladolid has been up to since?
Marcela Valladolid continues to engage with her 346,000-plus Instagram followers, a platform she used to explain to them why she left "The Kitchen," and to thank them for their support on October 5, 2017. Starting that same year, Valladolid also began to use the platform to protest against former President Donald Trump's anti-immigrant rhetoric, she told BuzzFeed. "I became more vocal, more proud, and certainly more angry," she said.
Born and raised in Tijuana, Mexico, Valladolid grew up along the United States-Mexico border, a division she barely took notice of, she explained. "For me, there was nothing out of the ordinary about spending half my day in Mexico, and the other half in California," she said. After the 2016 election, she became engaged in activism, promoting and working with several charities, including World Central Kitchen, as BuzzFeed noted. "I feel just as strongly and equally Mexican as I do American," she said.
Valladolid's love of food was born in Baja, Mexico, when she worked at her aunt's cooking school as a prep cook and dishwasher, according to the outlet. Her heritage and early food experience marked Valladolid's entire career as a chef. Demystifying Mexican cuisine is what she set out to do when she became a chef. Her 2009 cookbook, "Fresh Mexico: 100 Simple Recipes for True Mexican Flavor," didn't go unseen by the Food Network, and the following year, Valladolid began hosting "Mexican Made Easy," which ran for two years and five seasons total.