Valerie Bertinelli and Son Wolfgang Van Halen Celebrate First Thanksgiving Since Her Divorce

Valerie Bertinelli celebrated Thanksgiving surrounded by her family just days after finalizing her divorce from Tom Vitale. The Food Network star shared moments from her intimate holiday celebrations, which she spent with brother Patrick Bertinelli, son Wolfgang Van Halen and his fiancée, Andraia Allsop, on Instagram Thursday. 

Sharing a video of a room full of hungry people chowing down, Valerie joked it was the “Italian way.” She also posed for a series of selfies with her loved ones, noting just how thankful she was with festive Thanksgiving-themed GIFs. This year’s Thanksgiving marked Valerie’s first since her split from her husband of 10 years, as the Hot in Cleveland star filed for divorce from Vitale in May, six months after filing for legal separation in November 2021.

In a candid video shared to social media, Valerie called Nov. 22 the “second best day” of her life as she and Vitale finalized their divorce. “My lawyer just called. The papers are all signed. They’re about to be filed,” she said, adding, “On 11/22/22, I am officially f-ing divorced. Happily divorced. Finally. It’s finally over.” As per court documents, Valerie will pay her ex-husband $2.2 million “in full, final, and complete settlement and satisfaction of any and all claims between them.” Neither of the exes will receive spousal support as per the terms of their prenuptial agreement. 

Valerie opened up about her love life in June while on the TODAY show, getting emotional when Hoda Kotb asked if she was interested in ever looking for love again. “Oh, God no,” she said at the time. “Because of the challenges that I’m going through right now, because divorce sucks. I can’t imagine ever trusting anyone again to let into my life. So I have some trust issues that I’m sure I’m going to have to get past.”

She continued that focusing on her blessings was important for her healing process. “Yeah, it’s hard right now, but when it’s the darkest is when you can start to see the light all around you,” she said. “And that’s when you can see that there is good in everyone’s life. And that there is gratitude to be had and gratitude is that staircase that we have to climb to get to joy, no matter how difficult, how challenging, how desperate, we may feel sometimes, there’s always something to be grateful for.”