Valerie Bertinelli Responds to Fan Saying She Looks 'Distressed and Sad' Amid Divorce
Valerie Bertinelli responded to fans who reached out after she filed for divorce from husband Tom Vitale earlier this week. After a fan told her they were worried about the One Day At a Time star because she looked "distressed and sad," Bertinelli said she was "just having a bad day." Bertinelli and Vitale, a financial planner, married in 2011 and separated in December 2019.
After news of the divorce broke, a fan wrote to Bertinelli, "I'm worried about you... You [seem] so distressed and sad. A lot of people are right now. I'm your age... feel blue a lot, how can I support you?" Bertinelli, 62, shared her emotional response with fans on Instagram. After thanking fans for reaching out, Bertinelli said she was "just having a bad day. But you know what, sometimes we have bad days and then we get over them, and then there's a good day." The Food Network star is "looking forward to the good day," but added, "F— this bad day."
Bertinelli also shared a clip on TikTok set to Taylor Swift's breakup song "Tolerate It." She captioned the post, "Divorce sucks." The post drew hundreds of supportive comments from her fans, many of whom shared their own experiences with divorce. "So sorry to see your sadness. Hopefully, you are practicing self-kindness today," one fan wrote. "I need to as well today. Love, energy, and peace to you."
Bertinelli filed for divorce from Vitale in Los Angeles Superior Court on May 12, reports Entertainment Tonight. The documents list "irreconcilable differences" as the reason for the split. The two married in January 2011 after dating for several years and signed a prenuptial agreement. They split in December 2019, but publicly announced their separation in November 2021. Bertinelli filed for legal separation on Nov. 24, 2021.
This was Bertinelli's second marriage. She was previously married to the late guitarist Eddie Van Halen from 1981 until 2001 and divorced in 2007. They had one son, bassist Wolfgang Van Halen, 31. After Eddie Van Halen died in October 2020 from lung cancer at age 65, Bertinelli was open with fans about the grief she felt after her ex-husband's death.
"You never like this new normal but that's what it is," Bertinelli told therapist Angie Johnsey in a January 2021 Instagram Live session. "It's about finding a way to survive this new normal, which many people are doing. This whole year unfortunately has been about death and grieving and loss."
"The lovely thing about grief and the gift that it gives you is that it's so much easier to remember the beautiful moments than the challenging and the difficult moments that we had with that person," Bertinelli later told Johnsey. "Those are beautiful things to hold onto and remember the best of whoever you're grieving."
Bertinelli rose to fame as Barbara Cooper Royer on Once Day at a Time from 1975 to 1984. She also starred in Touched by an Angel and Hot in Cleveland. She hosts several shows for Food Network, winning two Emmys for Valerie's Home Cooking. She was slated to make her return to acting in Hungry with Ariel Winter, but NBC passed on the pilot.
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