How Valerie Bertinelli Overcame Rock Bottom & Found Happiness Again

Transcript

00:00 2022 was probably the worst year of my life. I've hit rock bottom. I just didn't

00:04 didn't find joy in anything anymore, didn't want to cook anymore and I thought I got to get myself

00:08 out of this. Valerie Bertinelli is feeling happier and healthier than ever on the other side. The

00:14 actress reflected on her emotional journey in a recent interview on the Drew Barrymore show

00:19 telling Drew and co-host Ross Matthews that she's found joy again after what she described as a

00:25 lengthy personal low. Unless and until I was ready to actually feel my emotions and walk all the way

00:30 through them and not numb them with food or alcohol, I wasn't going to change my life and that's how I

00:35 started to change my life and it's taken me two very long years to get here and I'm just so flipping

00:41 grateful to be here. Valerie glowed while sharing how her current happiness followed a difficult

00:46 road of self-discovery which she says began at rock bottom after unhealthy habits and recovering

00:52 from what she says was a toxic marriage. Valerie has been open about the difficulties she experienced

00:58 in her marriage with now ex-husband Tom Vitale and explained why she doesn't hold him responsible

01:03 for the pain she felt in their relationship. I'm still going back on the childhood stuff

01:07 and working on that because it's not I can't just blame my ex-husband for a toxic horrible marriage,

01:12 it's not his fault. What led me to that? Oh childhood, that's the stuff I got to start

01:16 working on. Valerie finalized her divorce from Tom in November 2022. The pair tied the knot in 2011

01:23 after six years of dating and the actress was previously wed to the late Eddie Van Halen for

01:28 more than 20 years. The 63 year old explained on the Drew show that alcohol abstinence and focusing

01:34 on her passion for cooking again has helped her rediscover her true self but a new love in her

01:39 life likely hasn't hurt either. The One Day at a Time star previously told People magazine in an

01:44 April cover story how her love connection with an unnamed new beau has left her belly flip-flopping,

01:50 joking that she had fully expected to spend the rest of her days with her six cats and her dog

01:55 until a spark ignited when she least expected it.

02:01 [Music]