Valerie Bertinelli feels a sense of sympatico with Kelly Clarkson.
Bertinelli revealed in 2022 that she had divorced Tom Vitale after 11 years of marriage, while Clarkson settled her divorce from Brandon Blackstock that same year.
The former “One Day at a Time” star is marveling at how their lives have changed since then.
“The last time we saw each other — two years ago. Can you believe how far we’ve come?” Bertinelli told the singer while appearing as a guest on her talk show on April 4, while intimating they were both going through marital strife.
“We were both at the same time going, ‘Oh, my God, this is really hard,’” she added.
“But, fresh new start,” Clarkson enthusiastically interjected, while giving the former Food Network star a high-five.
Bertinelli then went on to tell Clarkson her most recent album, 2023’s “Chemistry,” really resonated with her.
“I’m like, ‘Has she been in the room with me the entire time?’ Like, every flipping song, like, ‘Me,’ ‘Mine,’ Red Flag Collector,’” Bertinelli said.
Clarkson, who shares daughter River, 9, and son Remington, 7, with Blackstock, has been vocal about how her relationship with her ex-husband influenced some of the songs that appear on the album, although she did also cut some songs that were too honest.
“This album is definitely the arc of an entire relationship,” she said, while revealing the album’s name in March 2023. “And a whole relationship shouldn’t be just brought down to one thing. So there’s the good, the bad and the ugly kind of thing going on in it.”
“It’s very personal. And I’ve always released personal music — I think I’m that kind of writer in general, everybody knows that,” she told Hoda Kotb and Carson Daly on TODAY in June 2023. “I think when you have kids — you both have kids, too — you kind of debate, ‘What am I going to do here?’ So I was very selective about the songs I picked for the album.”
While Clarkson has made no bones about her desire not to date, Bertinelli, who also previously stated her intention to avoid Cupid's arrow, is now in a relationship, telling Clarkson, “This guy came out of nowhere.”
“He’s kind of amazing,” she said.
“My butterflies in my stomach have been going on for three months now,” she added.
While Bertinelli has yet to reveal the identity of the new man in her life, she did explain that she began following him on his social media channels in 2016 or 2017 before he eventually followed her back in 2018. The two started exchanging messages "once in a while."
“He’s a really super funny, incredibly talented writer,” she said. “And I just would enjoy his Twitter and Instagram, and he’s been very patient with me. Like, ridiculously so.”