Valerie Bertinelli recently revisited her past and reflected on her journey during an engaging segment on The Drew Barrymore Show. The beloved Food Network star, now 64, shared her thoughts on the 1980s, a decade she admitted was a bit of a blur for her. In the "Memory Bank" segment, Valerie revealed how much of her life during that time she barely recalls, painting a candid picture of her experiences.
Looking Back at the 80s: A Decade of Reflection
As part of the segment, Valerie showcased pictures from her younger years, giving viewers a glimpse into her past. She recalled her marriage to the legendary rocker Eddie Van Halen, which lasted 26 years until their divorce in 2007. The couple shared one child, Wolfgang Van Halen, who has since made a name for himself in the music world. Tragically, Eddie passed away in October 2020 due to complications from throat cancer.
Reflecting on her younger self, Valerie joked about her appearance in the photos, noting, “I look at that and I think: ‘That is a puffy face, and someone who needs to start taking care of herself.’” She admitted that much of her memory of the 80s is hazy, saying, “That was the 80s, though. I don’t remember that. I don’t remember anything about the 80s.”
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Experimentation and Guilt: A Journey Toward Self-Acceptance
Valerie shared her feelings of guilt over the things she experimented with during her younger years. She expressed how she once felt ashamed of her past choices, but now sees them as part of her journey. Host Drew Barrymore, chiming in with her signature wit, asked, “That’s such an ABC Afterschool Special term. Were you ever in an ABC Afterschool Special?”
Valerie explained that she had never been part of an ABC Afterschool Special, but Drew, 49, shared her own experience, saying, “I was, of course. Oh yeah. 15 and Getting Straight,” the 50 First Dates actress said, adding, “I was an Afterschool Special! By the way, I was the ‘Just Say No’ girl with Nancy Reagan. Until I just said yes.”
Forgiveness and Grace: Moving Forward
Despite the challenges Valerie faced in her past, she has come to a place of self-forgiveness. She encouraged Drew to embrace the same mindset, saying, “Listen, I forgive us [for] all of that. We coped the way we knew how to cope with a really challenging, strange life. And also, we have to start giving ourselves grace for just trying to learn through stuff.”
Valerie opened up about her personal growth after the premiere of her son Wolfgang’s episode of Behind the Music on Paramount+ in May 2024. In a heartfelt video, she discussed the emotional experience of watching her son’s journey, saying, “I was finally able to watch Wolfie’s Behind the Music. It was not easy. I’d stopped it many times because it was just too brutal to watch for many reasons.”
She elaborated, “One, seeing Wolfie’s pain. Two, seeing what a better job I could have done as a parent even though he turned out magnificently. I made a lot of mistakes. And three, seeing what I had turned Ed’s and my relationship into—some sort of fantasy, soulmate recreation of history.”
Valerie candidly admitted that their marriage had “rapidly declined” due to Eddie’s substance abuse and infidelity, which she described as “nothing that makes you feel loved and wanted and cared for. Nothing that would scream soulmate, that’s for sure.”
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Reflecting on Eddie’s passing, Valerie shared, “But after Ed died, I was more than willing to put myself in the grieving widow category for a man that I hadn’t lived with for 20 years. What we had together was this beautiful son that we both unconditionally loved.”
She concluded, “That’s what I got out of that marriage was Wolfie, the best thing that ever happened to me. Not a soulmate.”
