Talk Show Hosts React After Their Show Was Canceled After 10-Year Run

The hosts of The Kitchen are reflecting on the “end of an era” after Food Network announced this week that the Emmy-nominated weekend talk show would come to an end in December after 40 seasons and more than 10 years on air.

Amid news that the final episode of The Kitchen, which is co-hosted by Sunny Anderson, Katie Lee Biegel, Jeff Mauro, Geoffrey Zakarian and guest host Alex Guarnaschelli, will air on Saturday, Dec. 13 at 11 a.m. ET, some of the hosts took to social media to look back on the show’s legacy.

“It’s the end of an era,” Biegel wrote on her Instagram Story Tuesday. “Thank you so much to all of our fans. The Kitchen was the greatest professional honor of my life and I will be forever grateful.”

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Mauro also had fond memories of his time on the show. “I always knew what we had was special—rare, a unicorn, an anomaly,” he wrote on Instagram Monday. “Shows don’t last this long… and ours did. I’ve prayed and given thanks every night for that fact. I got to spend a dozen years with my best friends—cooking, laughing, and eating life-changing bites from some of the world’s greatest chefs and cooks.”

Looking back on moments working with guests like Daniel Radcliffe, Trisha Yearwood, and Vanilla Ice, Mauro recalled, “We laughed so much. We ate so much. I learned so much. I could write a book the size of a schooner — in fact, I just might.”

Speaking to his co-hosts, Mauro added, “I love you all and will cherish every moment we created together.” In a message to The Kitchen‘s fans and the Food Network family, Mauro expressed his appreciation for the “years of watching, supporting, and growing with us” as well as the “opportunity to live out my dream.”

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“I didn’t expect to feel this sad, but my optimism for what lies ahead outweighs the sadness,” he noted. “More than anything, I’m deeply grateful and humbled for this immense opportunity that I will never forget.”

Anderson had a more succinct farewell, writing on Instagram, “For such a loud, talkative chick, I have 2 words… Thank you!”

She also joked about leaving The Kitchen set with a little something extra in an exchange with a commenter she shared to her Story. “Those [The Kitchen] mugs are collector items now!” one fan wrote to Anderson in an exchange Tuesday. “Can’t wait to see what’s next for you on Food Network!” In response, Anderson quipped, “Happy I ‘stole’ them from set to share.”