Valerie Bertinelli reflected on her two-decade marriage to the late Eddie Van Halen in her new book, Getting Naked: The Quiet Work of Becoming Perfectly Imperfect.
“He wanted to be the right person, the good person that he already was,” she wrote in the book, released on Tuesday, March 10. “His heart was always pure. He was such a good man.”
The couple, who were married from 1981 to 2007, shared one son, Wolfgang Van Halen, now 34. Bertinelli, 65, wrote about the early days of their relationship in the book, recalling how they were “madly in love starting out.”
While they didn’t last forever, Bertinelli still had positive memories with her ex.
“At the last Thanksgiving we shared, he took me outside and opened his heart in a way he said was way past due,” she wrote. “We both did. We found a place of deep love and forgiveness for our past mistakes.”
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Eddie died at age 65 in October 2020 from a stroke following a lengthy battle with throat cancer.
“My final words to him when he was taking his last breaths in the hospital were ‘I love you,’” Bertinelli recalled.
Keep scrolling for everything Bertinelli said about her relationship with Eddie in Getting Naked:
How Did Valerie and Eddie Meet?
As you would expect, Bertinelli recalled that the pair met “backstage at a concert.” They hung out “at his hotel” until Eddie had to leave town. Three days later, he invited her on the road, and they were together from that point on.
Dealing With Eddie’s Alcoholism
Bertinelli made it clear that Eddie was “never” angry at her when he would drink.
“He would get angry, and then I would get angry at him and poke him until he reciprocated,” she recalled. “But it took a long time before either of us blew. We were well suited that way.”
Because Bertinelli had a “front-row seat” to her then-husband’s drinking, she could speak to his mental state.
“He didn’t know how to handle his traumas or even look at them, the pressure he put on himself, the shame he felt afterward,” she wrote.
Mourning Eddie
In the book, Bertinelli wrote that it still “breaks my heart” that Eddie died, adding that he “didn’t get enough time” in life.
“He was making amends the year before he passed. He was talking to all the people in his life,” she wrote. “He was cold-calling them. It was sweet — and that was Ed at the core, sweet.”
Bertinelli added, “He wanted to make it right with me, too. I was told that every time I would walk out of a room, he would look around and say, ‘The biggest mistake of my life was letting her go.’”
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Eddie’s Thoughts on Her Body
Bertinelli wrote that Eddie “couldn’t understand” why she decided to get breast implants — which she has since removed. He “fell in love with me the way I was,” she wrote.
Her Divorce From Eddie
Bertinelli recalled being “amicable” with her ex throughout their split.
“We hurt each other’s feelings, but we always tried to do the right thing,” she wrote. Even though they had a “flawed love,” things were “real” between them.
“Even when we were angry, we stayed loving,” Bertinelli wrote. “It changed, evolved, and grew back different but stronger than it had been at the beginning of our relationship. It healed us.”
Being Present for Wolfgang
Even after Eddie’s death, Bertinelli knows he has still been “present” for their son’s success. “He’d been his biggest cheerleader (next to me) and watched him take off on his own,” she wrote of her ex.
At one point in the book, Bertinelli recalled watching one of their son’s shows and wishing Eddie was still alive.
“That was our kid onstage. Playing guitar. Singing songs he wrote. I needed an arm to grab. Parents will know what I mean,” she explained. “Ed was the only one who would have understood the way I felt. We would’ve been competing to see who could whistle the loudest.”
