Valerie Bertinelli was convinced she was done with love after her second marriage ended, but the new man in her life has changed her outlook dramatically.
The actor and former Food Network star, 63, told People in an interview published April 1 that she's "in love" with a new man whose identity she has not shared publicly.
"It’s a seesaw of emotions because I was adamant I was never falling in love again," she said.
It's a reversal from her comments on TODAY in 2022 following her divorce from Tom Vitale after 11 years of marriage.
“I am going to be more than happy to be happily divorced and spend the rest of my life alone,” she told Hoda Kotb at the time. “I’ll be happy that way. Well, with my six cats and my dog and my son, and hopefully one day grandchildren.”
Her new boyfriend has her thinking differently now.
"I was supposed to die with my six cats and my dog, and very happily live the rest of my years alone — I’m good alone," she told People. "My belly is flip-flopping. This was not supposed to happen.”
She identified the man to People as a writer living on the East Coast whom she became friendly with a few years ago through Instagram.
"It was strictly platonic but there was something about him that I connected with that felt familiar,” she said.
"It’s crazy the comfort level," she added.
She said the two went from friends to a romance earlier this year.
"It feels incredibly right," she said. "I found joy first, and then a man entered my life."
A relationship that came out of nowhere
The former “One Day at a Time” star said in a previous interview that her latest romance "came out of left field."
“I’ve met someone. And I’m incredibly grateful for him,” she told USA Today in an interview published March 13. “It’s unlike any relationship that I’ve ever experienced with a man. I don’t want to say too much, but I feel incredibly blessed and lucky to have met him, because I wasn’t expecting it!”
Bertinelli said she was perfectly comfortable with the idea she would remain alone for the rest of her life.
“He was not on my radar. So this came out of left field, and I’m grateful it did. He’s very special,” she said.
Bertinelli is also surprised she has opened up about the new relationship with this new man.
“What was I doing? … I just can’t help it. When I’m flipping happy, it’s all over me, and he’s one of the main reasons,” she said.
“I really want women and men to take away that it’s the work that you do (on yourself) that can lead you to meeting someone like I’ve been lucky enough to meet right now,” she said. “This would not have happened three years ago, four years ago, last year ― it wouldn’t have. And I feel incredibly lucky to have met him and made a connection with him.”
Bertinelli has been pretty vocal about how she wasn’t interested in finding love again. In June 2023, she posted a video on Instagram in which she said she wouldn’t be dating again in the near future.
In June 2022, shortly after she had filed for divorce, she said she was content to be single for the rest of her life.
In her interview on TODAY, Hoda asked Bertinelli if she could envision herself trying to find that special someone down the line.
“Oh God, no,” she said. “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.”
Vitale was Bertinelli’s second husband. She was first married to late Van Halen guitarist Eddie Van Halen from 1981 until their divorce in 2007.