Valerie Bertinelli’s divorce from her ex-husband Tom Vitale, left the TV star with severe trust issues. Here’s how she’s dealing with it.
American Actress and TV presenter Valerie Bertinelli and her financial planner husband, Tom Vitale, shared an impeccable love story. The duo were married for ten years but had dated six years before getting engaged.
The couple enjoyed a seemingly blissful marriage at the beginning of their marital journey. Unfortunately, things went sour towards the end of their union, leading to their sudden separation in 2021.
The pair first met in 2004, when Valerie’s brother, Patrick Bertinelli, introduced her to Tom Vitale during a visitation to her parents in Scottsdale, Arizona. During that period, Valerie had just separated from her first husband, Eddie Van Halen, who was a rockstar before his death in 2020. However, their marriage was not fruitless as it produced her only son, Wolfgang Van Halen.
Also, Tom, at the time, had just gone through a divorce with his first wife, Sharon Vitale, making it easy for Tom and Valerie to get along well. They could relate to life after divorce; that was how their ‘one of a kind’ love story began in 2004.
Their dating phase lasted for six years before the “One Day at A Time” star- and her businessman lover decided to make their relationship more official. In 2010, Tom proposed to Valerie, ending their six years of courtship.
On January 1, 2011, the couple tied the knot during New Year’s celebration at their home in Malibu. During their ten years of marriage, the duo co-founded an internet show, “Veebow.” Tom also supported his wife’s business, appearing on her TV sitcom “Hot in Cleveland” and her food network show, “Valerie’s home cooking,” several times.
The Actress Recently Filed for Divorce Ten Years After Their Marriage
In May 2022, ten years into their marriage, Valerie filed for a divorce from her husband, Tom Vitale. The news shocked everyone who knew the couple after it broke. However, before it became public knowledge, the couple had separated in December 2019.
In November 2021, Valerie filed for legal separation; however, six months later, she amended her filing to request a divorce citing “irreconcilable differences.” In her memoir “Enough Already: Learning to Love the Way I am Today,” Valerie shared her troubles in her marriage to Tom. She also talked about her relationship with her late first husband, Eddie Van Halen. In the book, she tagged Halen as her soulmate and noted:
“I just don’t feel like I’ve ever been loved like that, in that way, from anybody else. “I just feel a connection with Ed that I’ve never really felt with anyone else.”
During an interview, she explained she was skeptical about sharing some things about her relationship with Halen with respect to his late rocker’s wife and Tom. Furthermore, she confessed in her memoir that the decision to divorce Tom was slow and painful.
Valerie also spoke about how their differences went beyond fixing and faced similar personal issues. The star added during her interview that their separation had nothing to do with her late ex-husband, Ed Van Halen. She explained that their marriage crisis started sometime in 2015.
Valerie Isn’t Looking for Love Anytime Soon
After Valerie’s second unsuccessful marriage, it left her living battling severe trust issues. During her interview with the “Today Show” earlier this year, she was asked if she would give love a chance again even after her second divorce, and her response was a blunt ‘no.’ She added:
“Because of the challenges 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 have to get past.”
The sixty-two years old actress is happily divorced and finally embracing the single life. While she’s planning to spend the rest of her single life alone, she hopes her son Wolfgang will give her grandchildren.
She described how she feels now about Tom and life after divorce during an interview with USA Today, and in her words, Valerie disclosed:
“I only want the best for him, but I think I need to be alone, I don’t know what will happen, but right now, I just need to be alone.”
The Actress Is Selling Some of the Things She Wore During Their Wedding
Following the actress and her husband’s divorce, Valerie seems eager to move on. She appears confident amid their dramatic divorce processes, making fans laud her quick and bold step toward moving on.
In one of her recent Instagram posts, she showed her followers how she sold a few of the accessories used for her wedding. The picture revealed a pair of brown Jimmy Choo heels with sparkling diamond studs. In the same photograph, the actress held two Tiffany & Co. wedding bands with the caption:
“Dropped a few things off with @therealreal. A couple of Tiffany rings with some “bad memories” attached and a pair of shoes I wore to a wedding in January 2011. They should be up in a couple of weeks!”
Meanwhile, the actress received a lot of encouraging words from her fans under the post. Valerie’s son Wolfgang also supported his mother in the comment section, writing, ‘Love you, Ma.’