'Cake Boss' star Buddy Valastro's gruesome hand impaling detailed in upcoming TLC special

"Cake Boss" fans will soon get a candid look into Buddy Valastro's recovery from a gruesome hand injury.

Valastro, star of TLC's "Cake Boss" and owner of Carlo's Bake Shop, will be the subject of a two-hour special documenting his road to recovery following his injury in September, the cable network said Monday.

The special, airing Dec. 23 at 9 p.m. EDT, follows the events "as they transpired in real time," TLC says, and includes footage taken immediately after the accident. It will also document Valastro's surgeries and physical therapy, as well as reactions from his family waiting in the hospital.

Valastro will also appear in a Christmas-themed Food Network competition called "Buddy vs. Christmas," airing Nov. 22 at 10 p.m. EDT. The holiday special was filmed prior to the accident and includes some of Valastro's last cakes before he impaled his hand.

In September, Carlo's Bakery spokesperson Michael Ciullo told USA TODAY that the famed pastry chef's hand was repeatedly impaled by a "metal rod" during a "malfunction with the bowling pinsetter" at the bowling alley in his New Jersey home.

"After trying to release the bowling pin from the cage mechanism, his right hand became lodged and compressed inside the unit," Ciullo said in a statement. "Unable to remove his hand, he can see a 1½ (inch) metal rod slowly and repeatedly impale his hand three times between his ring finger and middle finger."

'Cake Boss' Buddy Valastro describes his bloody hand injury: 'It just blew out half of my hand'

After Valastro had been trapped for five minutes, Ciullo said the chef's teen sons, Buddy Jr. and Marco, used a reciprocating saw "to cut through the metal rod and relieve (their) father from the machine." The television personality has since had multiple surgeries on his hand.

Valastro appeared on "Today" for his first interview since the accident in late September.

"It just blew out half of my hand," he said. "I thought I was going to faint... I looked at my hand and there was blood everywhere."

Valastro did not give a timetable on his recovery, but said it would be an "uphill battle" to get back to baking.

'Cake Boss' Buddy Valastro's hand impaled during 'terrible accident' at home bowling alley

Contributing: Cydney Henderson, USA TODAY; Anthony Zurita, NorthJersey.com

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Buddy Valastro's bloody hand injury, recovery detailed in TLC special