Valerie Bertinelli is getting honest about her relationship with Eddie Van Halen. Following the release of her son Wolfgang Van Halen's episode of Behind the Music on Paramount+, which dove into his relationship with his father, the 64-year-old actress opened up about what went on within her marriage to the late musician.
"I was finally able to watch Wolfie's Behind the Music. It was not easy," she said in a video posted to Instagram. "I'd stopped it many times because it was just too brutal to watch for many reasons. One, seeing Wolfie's pain. Two, seeing what a better job I could have done as a parent even though he turned out magnificently. I made a lot of mistakes."
"And three, seeing what I had turned of Ed's and my relationship — into some sort of fantasy, soulmate recreation of history," she continued, emotional. "I fell in love with him when I was 20, and it rapidly declined into drugs and alcohol and infidelity."
"Nothing that makes you feel loved and wanted and cared for," she continued. "Nothing that would scream soulmate, that's for sure. After Ed died, I was more than willing to put myself in the grieving widow category for a man that I hadn't lived with for 20 years. What we had together was this beautiful son that we both unconditionally loved."
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"That's what I got out of that marriage was Wolfie, the best thing that ever happened to me," Valerie said, as she finished her thoughts on video. "Not a soulmate."
Fans in the comments swarmed her with support.
"We always see more clearly from a distance," one person wrote.
"Woman to woman, your honesty and realness is profoundly beautiful," someone else commented. "Very Very few people can reach this level of self awareness and acceptance. Be so proud of yourself woman. ❤️."
Valerie and Eddie met in 1980. One year later, they tied the knot at the ages of 21 and 26, respectively. They were together for more than 20 years before separating in 2001 and officially divorcing in 2007.
Eddie died from throat cancer in October 2020. He was 65 years old, and his ex-wife and son were both by his side at the time. The former couple were on good terms before his death, even attending each other's second weddings.
"I continued for years to rewrite the facts in my head and build them into some sort of fantasy. But now I know we were never going to get back together," Valerie stated in a previous interview. "We were becoming kinder souls to one another. Our bond was the unconditional love we had for our son.”
Wolfgang opened up about his relationship with his dad in an episode of Behind the Music. "I had the honor of being asked to tell my story on Behind The Music," he wrote in a post on X (formerly Twitter). "It was difficult, but also incredibly cathartic being able to reflect on my experiences, the incredible people I’m blessed to have in my life and most importantly, my bond with my father. I don’t normally talk so openly about things, so this was new for me."
