away, have about 40 cats, and just get
nice and fat.’ I thought I would be alone
for the rest of my life, because I didn’t
want the responsibility. Relationships
are too hard.” (Bertinelli’s divorce from
Van Halen was finalized in 2007.) She
can’t recall exactly when she decided to
take charge of her life. “I don’t believe
there’s just one turning point,” she says.
“Things add up.”
“Valerie is a very strong woman,”
says celebrity chef Rachael Ray, a close
friend. “She pulled herself up from a
tough place and came back swinging.”
It helped immeasurably that along
the way she met Vitale. She credits him
with “breaking her open”—but says by
then she was ready for a new love. “If
my life wasn’t starting to turn around, I
couldn’t have welcomed him into it.”
Bertinelli’s brother Patrick, who lives
in Scottsdale, introduced Valerie to his
friend Vitale in 2004, during one of her
visits to her parents, who also live in
Arizona. Vitale, the father of four chil-
dren now ages 11 to 19, was recently
divorced. “Val and I were coming from a
tough time and wanting to move on but
didn’t want to trust anyone,” he says. The
two bonded initially over their similar
heritages. Bertinelli’s father is Italian;
Vitale is Italian-Sicilian. “We just under-
stood each other completely,” Vitale says.
“My family is her family. It wasn’t love at
first sight; it was family at first sight.”
Bertinelli says her weight was never
an issue for Vitale. “I’ve never felt more
beautiful at any weight than when Tom
looks at me. He loved me no matter
what. In his way, he’s teaching me to
love myself just as I am.”
ACCEPTANCE FROM the person you love
is a wonderful thing—but not a cure-all.
In early 2006, Bertinelli began com-
plaining of knee pain and found herself
winded. Jenny Craig soon came calling,
and the timing was perfect. Bertinelli
signed on with the weight-loss com-
pany, dropped to less than 130 pounds,
and wrote a book about it. Then came
the task of maintaining the loss. Initially
she walked for exercise, but in 2008 she
hired a personal trainer with the goal of
getting into bikini shape. The following
July, she completed a half marathon
in Sonoma in an impressive 2 hours,
13 minutes. She beat Vitale, who ran
the event with her, by 8 minutes. “And
he’s 16 months younger than I am.”
Bertinelli jokes: “I tell him I’m a year-
and-a-half smarter.”
In 2005 Vitale and his oldest son,
Tony, now 19, moved into Bertinelli’s
Malibu beachfront home. His three
younger children often come for visits,
allowing Bertinelli to master the art of
blending families. “It’s not easy,” she
admits with a laugh. “I’m looking for-
ward to being an empty nester.”
Vitale, who was once ordained
a nondenominational minister, has
helped Catholic-raised Bertinelli tap
into her spiritual side. “I believe
in the whole karma thing—sowing
and reaping,” Vitale says. “We try to
plant good stuff every day.” To that
end, Bertinelli made peace with Van
Halen, who went into rehab and is
now, she says, “a terrific dad.” She
allowed Wolfie, currently 19 and a
“brilliant musician”—he plays guitar,
piano, bass, and drums—to tour with
his father in 2007. And she and Vitale
attended Van Halen’s 2009 wedding
(complete with a nonalcoholic bar) to
stuntwoman Janie Liszewski.
Reconciliation and acceptance have
become part of Bertinelli’s philosophy
of maintenance, (CONTINUED ON PAGE 72)
OPENING SPREAD AND OPPOSITE: PRODUCTION: PRODUCEIT INC.; WARDROBE: LINDA MEDVENE; HAIR: ROQUE;
MAKEUP: ERIC BERNARD; MANICURIST: ASHLIE JOHNSON; PROP STYLIST: JAMIE DEAN. WARDROBE CREDITS ON PAGE 72
Valerie Bertinelli’s Maintenance Tips
WATCH THE
BIGGESTLOSER WHILE
WORKING OU T
It’ll motivate, and distract,
you. “I was on the treadmill—and before I
realized it, I’d watched
two one-hour episodes.”
TREAT YOURSELF
“If I really want a piece
of bread, I’ll have a bite
or two, with butter. And
I put sugar in my coffee.
That’s what—an extra
12 calories? It’s all about
portion control.”
ADJUST TO YOUR
SLOWER ME TABOLISM
“We started slowly and
built up,” says Bertinelli’s
trainer, Christopher Ross
Lane. “We did squats,
lunges, and dips, and always iced after running.”
40 AARP
