It’s no secret Valerie Bertinelli has a wealth of famous friends — and some of them even graced the pages of her latest book.
In Getting Naked: The Quiet Work of Becoming Perfectly Imperfect, out Tuesday, March 10, Bertinelli, 65, not only reflected on her marriages to exes Eddie Van Halen and Tom Vitale, but she also gave readers an inside look at the friendships that helped lift her up in tough times.
Bertinelli proved, too, that she’s just like Us: She’s learned a thing or two from Taylor Swift, whose 2025 appearance on “New Heights” was “the first podcast I’d ever watched from start to finish.”
“It was two hours long, so I was tempted to fast-forward to the parts that I’d read about,” Bertinelli wrote, “but then I said to myself, ‘Wait a minute. This is stuff she’s never said before. Take it all in. Stop rushing to get to the so-called good part. The whole thing is the good part.’”
Valerie Bertinelli’s Dating History Includes Famed Director and Music Icons
The Food Network personality noted to her readers, “Of course, this wasn’t the first time Taylor had reminded me of something important.”
Swift isn’t the only A-lister whose shout-out in Bertinelli’s book took Us by surprise. Scroll down for all the biggest celebrity name drops in Getting Naked:
Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce
Bertinelli revealed she “had two main takeaways” from watching Taylor Swift on Travis Kelce‘s “New Heights” podcast last year.
“First, her fiance, Travis Kelce, had clearly heard her yet-to-be-released new album, The Life of a Showgirl, and he loved it. He knew it was great, and he was savoring it for a few more months before she shared it with the world. I saw all that in his eyes,” she wrote.
Bertinelli continued, “My other main takeaway from the podcast? I saw a young woman who was so, so, so very much in love. I was envious. But in the best way.”
Drew Barrymore
Bertinelli’s friendship with Drew Barrymore has several mentions throughout the book as she reflected on how she made her way to The Drew Barrymore Show.
“Though I had never met Drew in person, I had an immediate connection with her as soon as I walked onto the set,” Bertinelli wrote. “I sensed a kindred soul, a truth seeker and a truth teller, someone who’d been through the entire wash cycle more than a few times. She seemed to have a quiet pride of the colors that still shone bright and didn’t mind those that had faded.”
According to Bertinelli, “Drew’s show felt as close to home as I’ve ever felt on a set.”
Eddie Van Halen
Bertinelli got honest about her marriage and split from late ex-husband Eddie Van Halen, recalling the last conversation they had before his death in October 2020.
“At the last Thanksgiving we shared, he took me outside and opened his heart in a way he said was way past due. We both did. We found a place of deep love and forgiveness for our past mistakes. My final words to him when he was taking his last breaths in the hospital were ‘I love you,’” she wrote.
Valerie Bertinelli Recalls Phil Hartman ‘Reprimanding’ Her on ‘SNL’
Norman Lear
“Having Norman Lear cast me in One Day at a Time changed me forever in a beautiful way,” Bertinelli wrote of the late Hollywood icon, who died in December 2023.
Betty White
Bertinelli praised Betty White‘s “perpetual smile, quick wit, and free-flowing wisdom” while reflecting on their time as costars on Hot in Cleveland.
“I know Betty sounds too good to be true, like it was an act, but she was good and true, which was her secret,” Bertinelli wrote. “She was also tough. She was the one who said, ‘Butterflies are like women — we may look pretty and delicate, but, baby, we can fly through a hurricane.’”
James Hetfield
Bertinelli recalled meeting the “tall, beautiful” singer James Hetfield in 2023 when her son’s band opened for Metallica in Amsterdam.
“I’d seen photos. But I had no idea he was this handsome,” she gushed. “In person, he was even taller, more rugged. … I had never seen Metallica live, but I could tell that I wasn’t the only woman in the arena feeling this way.”
The pair crossed paths again backstage, with Hetfield inviting her and her son’s band to join the crew for dinner. “We talked about sobriety and divorce,” Bertinelli wrote. “We laughed. I also met his lovely girlfriend, who was beautiful, kind, and charming on her own.”
