On the February 3, 2025, episode of The Drew Barrymore Show, Valerie Bertinelli thought back to the ’80s and realized that she doesn’t actually remember much from that stage in her life. In 1981, she married musician Eddie Van Halen. She also engaged in some behaviors that she later felt “guilty” about, including drug use. Now, at age 64, it’s admittedly all a blur to her.
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On the show, a photo of Valerie that was taken in the ’80s was put on display. Reacting to the photo, Valerie said, “I look at that and I think: ‘That is a puffy face, and someone who needs to start taking care of herself,'” per Entertainment Weekly. She noted, “I mean, that was the ’80s though. I don’t remember that. I don’t remember anything about the ’80s.”
When Valerie and Eddie tied the knot, she was only 21 years old. He was 26. She told Drew Barrymore that she “always felt guilty about the things I experimented with and what I tried when I was a young girl.” Though she carried that guilt with her for some time, she eventually decided she needed to give herself grace.
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“Listen, I forgive us [for] all of that,” Valerie told Drew, who also experimented with drugs in the past. “We coped the way we knew how to cope with a really challenging, strange life. And also, we have to start giving ourselves grace for just trying to learn through stuff.”
In her memoir, Losing It: And Gaining My Life Back One Pound at a Time, opened up about using drugs in the ’80s. She even recalled doing drugs with Eddie during the early stages of their relationship. “The priest we tapped to perform the ceremony gave us questionnaires so he could get to know us better and offer more personal words,” she wrote. “As we filled out the forms at home, we each held a little vial of coke.”
Much more recently, Valerie revealed that she made the decision to give up alcohol. In July 2024, she celebrated six months without alcohol. Speaking to People in September 2024, she explained that giving up alcohol felt like the right thing to do as she’s getting older.
“I actually think a lot of it has to do with aging,” she said at the time, adding, “I think the older you get, the less you really want to really be putting that in your body. I mean, anybody can do whatever the heck they want, but I feel better.”
