Valerie Bertinelli's Ex Said Their 'Souls Were Calibrated' before New Year Nuptials & Sought Money Later

• When she left her rock star husband, Valerie Bertinelli became a scared, young, single mom.
• She considered Tom Vitale a treasure.
• She is now trying to rid herself of her failed marriages' bad memories.

Valerie Bertinelli was well known as the sweet-faced young actress on our screens. However, she did not always have a simple life and faced many controversies and heartbreaks throughout her time.

She and Eddie Van Halen met when Bertinelli was 20. She had a career in Hollywood, wealth, beauty, and brains. However, she did not consider herself happy until she met Van Halen. The pair quickly fell in love.

Her first heartbreak came when she found love in the arms of the young rockstar. The couple wed and welcomed a son, but they could not keep their relationship going and soon divorced, leaving Bertinelli scared and alone.

At the time, the couple's son was still in school, and she was not receiving any child support or alimony from her ex-husband. She knew she had to support herself and her son somehow, so she started looking for acting jobs.

Unfortunately, Bertinelli was almost 40 in an industry that favors youth and found it difficult to land any acting roles. She decided she would need to do something drastic to keep her career.

Bertinelli started to take care of her body and lose weight. In 2009, she posed on the cover of "People" in a green string bikini. She admitted she was proud of her body and had lost 50 pounds before gracing the magazine cover.

Although she was proud of her physique at the time, she confessed that she should have done things differently. She said:

"I worked really, really, really hard. Physically definitely. I wish to God I had worked just as hard on my mental shape."

Shortly after the magazine cover was released, Bertinelli started experiencing success in her professional life. However, she mused that it was difficult for her as her weight fluctuated if she did not take care of her mental health.

Bertinelli Found New Love

Bertinelli met Tom Vitale in 2004, and the couple spent the next six years dating. Although they were both happy in their relationship, friends said that Bertinelli wanted more. She wanted to be able to call Vitale her husband.

She expressed the desire to Vitale, who agreed that marriage was the logical next step in their relationship. They talked about marriage, but Bertinelli had no idea that Vitale was planning to propose when he did.

The couple was on holiday in Florence in May 2010 when Vitale surprised Bertinelli by popping the question. She excitedly agreed to marry her long-time partner but decided to leave all the wedding planning up to him.

They married in a secret ceremony on New Years' Day 2011. The ceremony was at their home in Malibu and was attended by 100 close friends and family. Her then 19-year-old son, Wolfie, was also in attendance.

Talking about their relationship, Vitale revealed that when they met, they were both still traumatized by what had happened to them in past relationships but knew that Florence was the right time to propose to Bertinelli. He said:

"We're both still a little afraid of commitment, but then we were over there, and it was like our souls were calibrated."

He said they were both coming from difficult times in life but wanted to commit their lives to one another regardless. The pair remained in love for some years before their relationship collapsed.

Bertinelli Filed for Divorce

After Eddie Van Halen passed away, Bertinelli found herself in a difficult place because she was still close to her ex, as he was the father of her only child. However, her marriage to her then-husband was suffering.

Ten years after their wedding, in November 2021, Bertinelli filed for legal separation and then filed for divorce six months later, citing irreconcilable differences. The couple's relationship was beyond repair, and Bertinelli revealed that she wanted out as soon as possible.

There was speculation that the reason for the couple's split might have something to do with Eddie Van Halen, but Bertinelli made it clear that her ex-husband had nothing to do with the dissolution of her current marriage.

Clearing up the rumors, Bertinelli spoke to People and said that she and Vitale were on good terms. She said:

"We grew apart. The decision was nothing to do with Ed. I wish Tom the best, and I know he feels the same way about me."

However, their separation did not stay amicable for long, and Vitale quickly threw a spanner in the works. Vitale sought spousal support from Bertinelli and wanted to stop her from requesting any from him.

Those were not the only requests that Vitale made, though. The most concerning thing for Bertinelli was that Vitale planned to contest their prenuptial agreement. This delayed the divorce proceedings for some time.

After experiencing the painful divorce process, Bertinelli revealed that she had become disillusioned with love and would never try to find it again. She said that she could no longer trust.

Talking to Hoda Kotb about what it was like for her to lose Van Halen and then divorce Vitale, she said:

"I have some trust issues I'm sure I didn't have before."

She then said she would not be looking for another relationship and instead focus on herself. She is also focused on her son, who is now an adult, but she has a lovely relationship with him.

On another occasion, when speaking to Hoda Kotb, Bertinelli discussed grief and her mental health. She mentioned that to preserve her mental health, she does not step on the scale or obsess over her weight.

In tears, she explained that she could see herself on the monitor on the show and was trying not to be too hard on herself because she understood the weight she was carrying was protecting her from the challenges and heartbreak she was facing.

Another thing that Bertinelli did was get rid of the stuff with bad memories attached to them. Her wedding rings and the shoes she wore on her wedding day were two things she got rid of to purge her "bad memories."