A little over a year after her divorce from Tom Vitale was finalized, Valerie Bertinelli revealed she found love again.
During a recent interview with PEOPLE, Bertinelli said she is in love. “It’s a seesaw of emotions,” she explained. “Because I was adamant I was never falling in love again.”
Valerie Bertinelli admitted she had a different outlook on how her life was going to be. “I was supposed to die with my six cats and my dog,” she jokingly stated. “And very happily live the rest of my years alone – I’m good alone.”
Although she didn’t publicly name her new man, Bertinelli said the thought of him gives her butterflies. “My belly is flip-flopping. This was not supposed to happen.”
Valerie Bertinelli said she met the mystery man on Instagram a few years ago. “It was strictly platonic [at first],” she recalled. “But there was something about that I connected with that felt familiar.”
After talking on Instagram for a while, the duo started chatting on the phone in early 2024. Only recently did they make their relationship romantic. “It’s crazy the comfort level,” Valerie gushed. “It feels incredibly right.”
Valerie Bertinelli was married to Tom Vitale from 2011 to 2021 when she filed for legal separation. Their divorce was finalized in Nov. 2022. She was previously married to Eddie Van Halen, whom she shared son Wolfgang with, from 1981 to 2007. The two remained close up until Van Halen’s death in Oct. 2020.
Valerie Bertinelli Said She Had to Learn to Love Herself Before Jumping Into the New Relationship
While continuing to open up about her personal life, Valerie Bertinelli said she had to learn to love herself before moving into a new relationship.
“I want to be clear that this process has taken a long time,” she explained. I got more intentional about my healing. That meant a lot of walks with [my dog] Lna, a lot of therapy sessions, a lot of learning that I deserve to feel good.”
During her self-healing time, Valerie Bertinelli also wrote a new cookbook, Indulge. “The cookbook was an offshoot of the emotional and mental healing I’ve been doing,” she said.
“First came the work. Why I thought I didn’t deserve to be loved. Why I was using food to number my feelings. All the drama and trauma I hadn’t dealt with – with Ed and my last marriage.”
Bertinelli then said writing the cookbook got her through all of the pain. “The more I let myself cry, the better I felt. I wasn’t trying to be happy or sad or thin. I wasn’t trying to be anything other than who I was.”