Valérie Bertinelli filed for divorce from her husband Tom Vitale on Thursday.
The actress and Food Network star cited “irreconcilable differences” as grounds for divorce in Los Angeles, California Superior Court documents obtained by USA TODAY.
Bertinelli, 62, married Vitale, 59, in January 2011.
Almost nine years after their nuptials, they separated in December 2019 and filed for legal separation in November 2021.
Court documents say the couple entered into a prenuptial agreement in December 2010 which is “fully in force and of full effect and fully binding on the parties”.
Vitale and Bertinelli have no children together.
“Love is not a big enough word”:Valerie Bertinelli on Eddie Van Halen, writing a “cathartic” book
The “Valerie’s Home Cooking” star spoke to USA TODAY in January and spoke candidly about her relationship with rocker Eddie Van Halen and the issues plaguing her second marriage, which are documented in her memoir “Enough Already: Learning to love the way I am today”. .”
Bertinelli refers to Van Halen in the book as a “soul mate”, but he’s not the only one. “I think we’re meeting souls that we’re meant to work with together,” she says, explaining that she thinks part of the couple’s goal was to bring their only child, musician Wolfgang Van Halen (aka Wolfie), 31.
“I just don’t feel like I’ve ever been loved like this, this way, by anyone else,” she shared of her late ex-husband. “I just feel a connection with Ed that I’ve never really felt with anyone else.”
Bertinelli began writing the book just weeks after the guitarist died on October 6, 2020, after a long battle with cancer.
Celebrity splits:Sean Penn and Leila George finalize divorce after having ‘COVID marriage’ in 2020
While the actress has written at length about her first marriage, stories involving her second husband, Vitale, are rare.
“I tried to be really sensitive to Tom and (Van Halen’s wife until his death, Janie Liszewski) because they’re private people, and I don’t want to tell their story,” Bertinelli said. “I was just trying to tell the story between me and Ed without being hurtful.”
“I never loved him more”:Jennifer Gray Resumes Her ‘Out of the Corner’ Story, Talks Clark Gregg Divorce
She described the decision to split from Vitale in “Enough Already” as “a slow and painful decision. But we drifted away from the interests that made us a couple and found that those differences couldn’t be resolved. is a good man who is going through many of the issues I have faced: what can he do to find meaning and purpose in his life? where can he find joy? what excites him What has he learned And what is he doing differently the paths we thought we were on have changed.
Bertinelli added that the split “has nothing to do with Ed” and that her marriage problems started five years ago.
“I only want the best for him, but I think I need to be alone,” she told USA TODAY. “I don’t know what will happen, but right now I just need to be alone.”
Contributor: Erin Jensen
