Valerie Bertinelli Is in Love Again After Tom Vitale Divorce

More than two years after her split from Tom Vitale, Valerie Bertinelli says she is “in love”!

Without revealing her new man’s identity, Valerie gushed to People magazine, “It’s a seesaw of emotions because I was adamant I was never falling in love again."

“I was supposed to die with my six cats and my dog,” Bertinelli quipped, “and very happily live the rest of my years alone — I'm good alone.”

Though she’s not ready to share the name of her man, he is a writer on the East Coast who she met on Instagram years ago.

She said, “It was strictly platonic, but there was something about him that I connected with that felt familiar.”

Of their relationship, Valerie noted, “My belly is flip-flopping. This was not supposed to happen.”

They became romantic just recently after connecting on the phone. She emphasized, “It feels incredibly right.”

“I found joy first," Bertinelli added, "and then a man entered my life."

According to Valerie, it has “taken a long time” for her to feel ready for another relationship after her divorce from Vitale and death of her first husband Eddie Van Halen.

She explained, “I got more intentional about my healing. That meant a lot of walks with [my dog] Luna, a lot of therapy sessions, a lot of learning that I deserve to feel good.”

During her healing process, she worked on a cookbook called “Indulge.” She shared, “The cookbook was an offshoot of the emotional and mental healing I‘ve been doing. First came the work. Why I thought I didn't deserve to be loved. Why I was using food to numb my feelings. All the drama and trauma I hadn’t dealt with — with Ed and my last marriage.”

Last month, Valerie broke the news on her romance with her mystery man. She told USA Today, “I’ve met someone. And I’m incredibly grateful for him. It’s unlike any relationship that I’ve ever experienced with a man. I don’t want to say too much, but I feel incredibly blessed and lucky to have met him, because I wasn’t expecting it!”

Along with saying that the romance “came out of left field,” she raved, “He’s very special.”

That same month, "Extra's" Billy Bush interviewed Valerie and her son Wolfgang Van Halen at the 2024 Oscars, where he was nominated for his work on "Barbie."

She told Billy, “Could I be more proud of my boy?”