Valerie Bertinelli’s 54-Yr Secret Exposed

For a long time, Valerie Bertinelli was America’s girl round the corner, a sitcom star with seemingly effortless warmth.

Nonetheless, behind the laughter and longevity was a personal battle she never planned to share.

Now, at 65, she is speaking publicly for the primary time a couple of childhood trauma that shaped her life and her healing journey.

Valerie Bertinelli didn’t set out to put in writing a confessional. The truth is, she insists the revelation at the guts of her recent book was never a part of the blueprint.

“I had no plans to disclose this,” Bertinelli told PEOPLE. “This was going to be a book about teaching people methods to love themselves. I didn’t know that I’d go this far.”

Yet as she worked on “Getting Naked,” set for release on March 10 by Harper Wave, the story she had carried for 54 years demanded space.

For the primary time, she is revealing that she was sexually abused at 11 years old.

“I suppose because I’m healing from it, it’s not so scary anymore,” Bertinelli shared. “I can say it out loud. I used to be sexually assaulted. It doesn’t feel prefer it owns me anymore.”

The admission marks a profound turning point for the actress, who built her profession on relatability and resilience but kept this chapter tightly sealed.

Bertinelli describes her memoir as an exercise in radical honesty.

“It’s about getting naked with who I’m, emotionally, physically,” she said. “It was really about attending to the nitty gritty and attending to the parts that I assumed were shameful and are available to seek out out they’re not. They’re all types of various facets of what makes us who we’re.”

To introduce the chapter detailing her abuse, she made a deliberate alternative.

She “purposely” included a photograph of herself at 11 years old “because that was the little girl that was sexually abused,” she said. “And it boggles my mind that this little girl was taken advantage of that way. It boggles my mind since it’s still happening … and I’m furious about it. And we want to start out speaking up and saying, ‘Enough.’”

For Bertinelli, the image isn’t about shock value but about honoring the kid she once was and confronting the anger that replaced shame.

Her decision reframes her narrative from considered one of secrecy to considered one of advocacy.

The journey to that moment was neither quick nor easy. “It’s taken me 10 years at the least,” she explained of her decision to return forward.

Bertinelli added, “The very first time I said it out loud to my therapist, I assumed I’m going to feel higher now. It got worse before it got higher. I possibly ate a little bit bit more, drank a little bit bit more. If you stop eating things for comfort, stop drinking alcohol, it exposes your feelings. You’ll be able to take care of them or not. And I selected to take care of them. I do not feel shame about it anymore. I’m pissed off that it happened. No person deserves that.”

Her words reflect a truth many survivors recognize: healing is never linear.

For Bertinelli, confronting trauma meant stripping away coping mechanisms and sitting with emotions she had long avoided.

That reckoning intensified in 2024, a yr she describes as especially difficult.

“I had an enormous anxiety attack at the tip of 2024 that brought me to my knees,” she revealed. ”And I assumed I’m not getting anywhere. I needed to do more work.”

What followed was a deeper excavation of long-held insecurities, particularly round her body.

For years, Valerie Bertinelli publicly wrestled with weight fluctuations and body image scrutiny.

Now she connects those struggles to something way more profound.

“All of that shame had nothing to do with my body,” she shared. “It was just something to take out my shame on. My poor body. I used to be so mean to it. I just needed to get all those voices out of my head. As I used to be going through that, I’m pondering persons are going to wonder, why do I actually have a lot self-loathing? That’s not normal. It’s because trauma happened in my childhood for essentially the most part. I can’t speak for anybody else however it’s pretty textbook.”

Asked to recollect who she was before the trauma, she said softly, “I loved to paint, read, play with my Barbies, and ride my bike across the block. I loved my cats. I used to be just a little bit girl.”

The simplicity of that memory stands in stark contrast to the burden she carried afterward.

Looking back today, she offers a quiet declaration, noting, “I’m a survivor.”

Even amid painful reflection, Valerie Bertinelli’s story doesn’t end in darkness.

Fans have followed her since she was 15 on “One Day at a Time,” through “Hot in Cleveland” alongside her late friend Betty White, and more recently as a part of the Drew Crew on “The Drew Barrymore Show.”

She calls her work with Drew Barrymore “an oasis,” crediting the show as a source of comfort and renewal.

Beyond the studio, she leans on the love of her son, Wolfgang Van Halen, and finds one other sort of therapy within the kitchen.

Her recent digital platform, “Valerie’s Place,” reflects that desire for connection. She said, “I would like to construct a community where everybody is welcome. It’s a spot where people can are available to my kitchen and cook with me because I’ve missed that quite a bit.”

After 54 years of silence, Bertinelli’s voice is regular. The shame is gone, replaced by anger, clarity, and purpose.

What stays isn’t just the story of what happened to her, however the strength it took to finally say it out loud.