Valerie Bertinelli gets choked up talking about Eddie Van Halen
Valerie Bertinelli onstage presenting a culinary demonstration at the Grand Tasting presented by ShopRite featuring Culinary Demonstrations at The IKEA Kitchen presented by Capital One at Pier 94 on October 12, 2019 in New York City. Credit: Getty Images for NYCWFF/John Lamparski
Actress Valerie Bertinelli became tearful Monday morning discussing her ex-husband, the late rock icon Eddie Van Halen, and their son, musician Wolf Van Halen, following their first holiday season after the elder Van Halen's death.
On NBC's "Today," the "One Day at a Time" and "Hot in Cleveland" star, 60, found herself feeling overwhelmed as she chatted with the show's co-anchors at the start of her guest cooking segment. "I don't know why I'm tearing up," she said, then in response to Hoda Kotb asking how she and 29-year-old Wolf have been since Eddie Van Halen's death from cancer in October, Bertinelli replied, "It's been rough. Very bittersweet. We're doing OK. We spent the holidays together," she said of herself and her son. "I'll see him later today. We've been spending a lot of time together."
She added of missing Eddie Van Halen, with whom she remained close, "It's hard. I've gone to text him a few dozen times. It's like, 'Oh, no, I can't text him right now.' " The couple wed in 1981 and separated in 2000, with Bertinelli not filing for divorce until 2005. It was finalized in December 2007, and both remarried.
