, where she detailed her complicated but enduring love for her late first husband, Eddie Van Halen
Valerie has been candid on social media about the importance of emotional safety and what can "make or break" a partnership, often alluding to the split without naming names directly. She has emphasized her focus on healing from past trauma and choosing her own peace. Intimate Context & Background
and Mike Goodnough went public with their romance in early 2024, after connecting through social media . Goodnough, a lifestyle writer on
Following the public end of her relationship with Mike Goodnough (the writer known as The Hoarse Whisperer
In a heartfelt post, Goodnough stated that he loved Valerie more than anyone he had ever chosen in a relationship, making the dissolution "by far the most painful experience" of his life. He later described the end of the relationship in harsher terms, using words like "abject cruelty" and comparing the emotional fallout to a "beatdown". Valerie Bertinelli's Perspective: