Cake Boss

***Cake Boss*** is an American reality television series hosted by Buddy Valastro. It follows the operations of Carlo's Bake Shop, an Italian-American restaurant family-owned business in Hoboken, New Jersey owned and operated by siblings Buddy Valastro, his wife Lisa, Maddalena Castano, Grace Faugno and Mary Sciarrone. The show focuses on how they make their edible cakes, and the interpersonal relationships among the various family members and other employees who work at the shop. The series aired for eight seasons on TLC from April 10, 2009 to December 2, 2017, with a ninth season on Discovery Family from 2019 to 2020.

The show proved to be a huge success for the network and spawned four spinoffs: *Next Great Baker*, *Kitchen Boss*, *Bake You Rich*, and *Bakery Boss*.

## Cast

### Present

* **Bartolo "Buddy" Valastro Jr.** - The star of the show who has worked at the bakery since age 17. He is the only son and the youngest child of Bartolo "Buddy" Valastro Sr. and Mary Valastro. He is married to Elizabetta "Lisa" Valastro (née Belgiovine) with whom he has four children: Sofia, Bartolo "Buddy" Valastro III, Marco, and Carlo.
* **Mauro Castano** - Pastry chef and Buddy's right-hand man. He is married to Buddy's second-oldest sister Maddalena.
* **Joseph "Joey" Faugno** - The shop's head baker. He is married to Buddy's oldest sister, Grace. They have two children: Robert and Bartolina.
* **Frank "Frankie" Amato Jr.** - Cake decorator. He is Buddy's second cousin and godfather to his son Marco, with two children of his own.
* **Danny Dragone** - A multipurpose employee who was worked at the bakery since before Buddy was born. He is a close family friend, and his daughter, Tatiana, works at the bakery.
* **Grace Faugno** - Buddy's older sister. She works with the front counter and in later seasons in the decoration and delivery for special orders. She is married to Joey Faugno, the shop's head baker. They have to children: Robert and Bartolina.
* **Maddalena Castano** - Manages the front counter. She is married to Mauro. They have three children: Dominique, Bartolo "Buddy", and Mary.
* **Mary Sciarrone** - Cake consultant and Buddy's third oldest sister. She is married with two children: Joseph and Lucia. In the seven season episode "Trash, Twirls & Tough Love", she was fired after multiple incidents of making inappropriate statements. She was rehired a few weeks later and returned to full-time work at the bakery in "Silly Seuss & Surprise!"
* **Lisa Valastro** - Buddy's youngest sister. Manages the storefront and sometimes handles billing. She has three kids: Teresa "Tessy" Colegrove, John Colegrove and Isabella Colegrove.
* **Elizabeth "Lisa" Valastro** - Buddy's wife. They have four kids: Sofia, Carlo, Marco and Buddy Jr.
* **Maurizio Belgiovine** - Delivery boy and structure builder. He is Buddy's brother-in-law and a graduate of Rutgers Business School.
* **Ralpha Attanasia III** - Bakery sculptor.
* **Marissa Lopez** - Buddy's intern, later becoming manager of Carlo's Bakery new location in Ridgewood, New Jersey.

### Past

* **Mary Valastro Pinto** - Buddy's mother and a show regular until her retirement in 2010, though she still appeared in the show on occasion. She was diagnosed with ALS in 2012, and the family's struggle and reaction was documented in the Season 5 episode "Bittersweet Homecoming". She died on June 22, 2017 after a five-year battle with ALS.
* **Remigio "Remy" Gonzales** - Buddy's former left-hand man and the ex-husband of Buddy's sister, Lisa. His first and only child, Isabella, was born on the episode "Mother's Day, Mama and Mom-to-Be". He left the show after being arrested for alleged sexual assault.
* **Salvatore "Sal" Picinich** - Worked at the bakery since 1964 and was one of Buddy's most trusted employees. He stopped appearing on the show at the end of 2009 when he began battling cancer, but returned in the summer of 2010 to accept the Employee of the Century Award on the occasion of the bakery's 100th anniversary. He died on January 30, 2011.
* **Kevin "Stretch" Krand** - A delivery boy who left the shop to continue his education.
* **Tony "Tone-Tone" Albanese** - Buddy's second intern.
* **Daniella Storzillo** - A sculptor and decorator at Carlo's. She left to work as a real estate sales associate.
* **Stephanie "Sunshine" Fernandez** - Top decorator at Carlo's. She was the first female employee who did not work with sales, as stated by Buddy Valastro. She left for an opportunity to finish nursing school nine months earlier. Before leaving to become a nurse, she appeared on the show's spinoff, *Next Great Baker*, where she was chosen by Season 2 winner Marissa Lopez to help her build her American Dream cake.
* **Dana Herbert** - Winner of Season 1 of *Next Great Baker*.
* **Ashley Holt** - Winner of Season 3 of *Next Great Baker*.
* **Paul Conti** - Bakery employee (former contestant of Season 3 of *Next Great Baker*), who was only in a couple of episodes because he lost his house and job due to Hurricane Sandy. He eventually got a job working for a baking supply company.
* **Anthony "Cousin Anthony" Bellifemine** - Baker and former delivery boy, who unexpectedly left at the end of Season 6 ("Up, Up and Away").
* **Chad Durkin** - Bakery employee (former contestant of Season 3 of *Next Great Baker*), hired by Buddy for his pastry skills (Seasons 7-8).

## Episodes

Main article: *List of Cake Boss episodes*

## Reception

*Cake Boss* proved very popular during its run, which increased business for Carlo's Bake Shop and increased tourism in the Hoboken area. The bakery itself became a tourist attraction, with lines to enter it extending down the block and around the corner. In 2010, Hoboken renamed the corner Washington Street and Newark Street to "Carlo's Bakery Way" in honor of the bakery's centennial.