Valerie Bertinelli Says ‘Hell No’ to Dating Right Now, Jokes Her Black Cat Is All She Needs
Valerie Bertinelli Says ‘Hell No’ to Dating Right Now, Jokes Her Black Cat Is All She Needs
Desiree AnelloSun, May 3, 2026 at 6:56 PM UTC
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Valerie Bertinelli attends an FYC screening of Lifetime's 'Love, Again'Credit: Michael Tullberg/Getty -
Valerie Bertinelli said she is in no rush to date right now
The Food Network star has been through two divorces with exes Eddie Van Halen and Tom Vitale, as well as a split from ex Mike Goodnough
Still, Bertinelli admitted, "There's something about intimate love that I would love to have"
Valerie Bertinelli isn't rushing to find a new love interest.
While attending the premiere of her latest film, Love, Again, the 66-year-old actress was asked if she is ready to re-enter the dating scene. Her response? “Oh, hell no."
“2024 sucked the life out of me,” Bertinelli, who split from ex-boyfriend Mike Goodnough that November, told Pause Rewind. “I sleep with a black cat. That tells you everything you about me. And I love that furry little 11 lbs."
“I sleep with Batman,” she continued, referring to her cat she named after the iconic superhero. “What do I need?”
Valerie Bertinelli in June 2024.Credit: Gilbert Flores/Variety via Getty
Further explaining that she's previously touched on the topic in her memoir, Getting Naked: The Quiet Work of Becoming Perfectly Imperfect, Bertinelli admitted, though, that she “would love to have a great special love” in her life.
“I have special loves in my life,” the Food Network personality said. “I have my son. I have my daughter-in-law. I have my brothers. I have my family. I have my girlfriends. I love them. But there's something about intimate love that I would love to have.”
“But I'm also really gun-shy, because, like I said, 2024 sucked the life out of me,” she added. “So, I'm gonna have to be really, really careful.”
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Bertinelli was previously married to Van Halen frontman Eddie Van Halen from 1981 until 2007. She and the late rocker shared 35-year-old son Wolfgang Van Halen.
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Valerie Bertinelli attends the SAG-AFTRA Foundation Conversations presents 'Love, Again'Credit: Olivia Wong/Gett
Bertinelli later married financial planner Tom Vitale in 2011. They separated in 2022.
During a conversation with Jenn Harris at the 2026 L.A. Times Festival of Books in April, the Hot in Cleveland actress admitted that one obstacle in putting herself back on the dating scene is that it's “scary to be vulnerable with people.”
"I have yet to put some things into action in personal relationships, intimate relationships, because I'm really scared of dating right now," she said. "I've had, you know, two [divorces]. ... I'm just scared."
Still, Bertinelli recently told PEOPLE that she is “very happy being single” and isn't in a rush to jump into something new.
"I want calm. I don't want butterflies," she said, adding: "There's so many great men out there. I love men, but I don't want them to make me crazy, and I don't want to make them crazy.”
on People
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
