Buddy Valastro

Move over Jon and Kate (and their brood of eight). Buddy Valastro is coming to television on the cable channel TLC. The as yet unnamed program began filming in Valastro’s bakery, Carlo’s Bakery in Hoboken, N.J., on Feb. 23, and the first episode is scheduled to air April 19. The first season of the show is currently slated to have 13 episodes.

When TLC contacted him about a cake decorating show, Valastro was ready. After participating in several cake decorating challenges on the Food Network, he began to dream about his own television show. “I’m in a unique situation,” Valastro said. His bakery churns out hundreds of cakes a week for the area’s elite, or anyone who is willing to spend thousands of dollars on a wedding cake or hundreds on a baby shower or birthday cake.

The show will follow Valastro as he steers his staff through the hectic pace of the bakery. “I think they might try to throw designs and situations at me,” Valastro said. “But if they only knew the reality of baking, I don’t scare easily.”