'Cake Boss' Star Buddy Valastro Temporarily Closes Bakeries to Pay Tribute to His Late Mother
"Cake Boss" star Buddy Valastro recently lost his mother, Mary, after a long bout with ALS. All locations of his Carlo's Bakery worldwide will be closed today (June 27) as the family mourns Mary's passing.
The announcement was posted via the official Carlo's Bakery Instagram account. The locations of Valastro's famed bakery will be closed for 24 hours, and will return to normal operations beginning June 28.
Mary, also called Momma Mary by her loved ones, died at the age of 69 last week. The Valastro family confirmed the sad news through social media posts. The TLC celebrity announced his mother's passing through an emotional Instagram message.
"It's with an extremely heavy heart that I must share the news of my mother's passing. She left for heaven this morning, surrounded by the family," Valastro wrote. "This is a difficult time for all of us and I do ask for your patience and respect while we let this sink in. Her battle with ALS has ended, she is no longer suffering and I hope she's dancing to 'I Will Survive' with my dad right now."
According to Fox News, Mary suffered from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis — a medical condition also known as ALS or Lou Gehrig's Disease. It is a disorder that targets the body's nerves which are responsible for controlling voluntary muscle movement.
Born in Italy in 1948, Mary emigrated to the U.S. with her family when she was just six years old. They settled in Hoboken, NJ, where she grew up and met her husband, Bartolo. They married in 1965, shortly after buying the original Carlo's Bakery. In 1994, Valastro took over the establishment.
"Cake Boss" is a docuseries that centers on Valastro's family-owned business, Carlo's Bakery. Over the past eight seasons, the series has offered an inside look at how Valastro and his staff, his mom, along with his three brothers-in-law and four sisters, create thousands of cakes for different occasions.
