Nearly four years after her late ex-husband Eddie Van Halen passed away following a throat cancer battle, Valerie Bertinelli reflects on the final moments of the rock music legend’s life.
During a recent interview with PEOPLE, Bertinelli revealed that as she and other loved ones sat in Van Helen’s hospital room, someone suggested the group should do something that comforts them.
“I forgot who suggested it, but we were like, ‘Should we have pizza?’” Valerie Bertinelli said. “Because he couldn’t eat, and the last thing Ed really wanted was pizza.”
Bertinelli stated pizza was pretty significant to Van Halen, as it was one of his favorite foods of all time. “He loved pizza and burritos,” she pointed out. “So we had pizza in his hospital room. I hope people don’t think that’s morbid.”
Further speaking about the she had with her ex at the time of his death, Valerie Bertinelli said, “He knew how much I loved him. I knew how much he loved me. The last words he said to me and to [our son] Wolfie were, ‘I love you.’ Ed was very giving with his heart. He wore it on his sleeve.”
Valerie Bertinelli and Eddie Van Halen were married from 1981 to 2007. Bertinelli previously revealed in her Losing It book that the key reason for the couple’s split was due to Van Halen’s cocaine addiction. He had also refused to stop smoking despite his previous oral cancer diagnosis.
Valerie Bertinelli Has Rewritten the Facts About Her Marriage to Eddie Van Halen ‘For Years’
While continuing to speak to PEOPLE, Valerie Bertinelli reflected on her marriage to Eddie Van Halen.
“I continued for years to rewrite the facts in my head and build them into some sort of fantasy,” she explained. “But now I know we were never going to get back together. We were becoming kinder souls to one another. Our bond was the unconditional love we had for our son.”
Years after her split from Van Halen, Valerie Bertinelli met and married her second husband, Tom Vitale. The couple was married in January 2011, with Van Halen in attendance.
Bertinelli filed for legal separation from Vitale in November 2021 and their divorce was finalized one year later. She once stated she couldn’t imagine trusting anyone after splitting from Vitale.
“So I have some trust issues that I’m sure I’m going to have to get past,” she said during an interview on TODAY.
The former Food Network star recently announced that she has found love again. Although she didn’t name her new boyfriend, she did say she and the mystery man connected on Instagram.