Before her breakup from Mike Goodnough, Valerie Bertinelli revealed the most difficult aspect of their relationship that she was adjusting to.
Mike, 54, is located on the East Coast, while Valerie, 64, lives on the West Coast. During their relationship, the couple established the three-week rule, in which they never went longer than three weeks without seeing each other. But Valerie admitted it was hard to maintain.
“It’s been challenging,” the Hot in Cleveland actress told People in July. “The summer has been booked full. It is challenging.”
Valerie and Mike first went public with their romance in April, when he confirmed his identity in a post on his Hoarse Whisperings Substack. At the time, a source told Closer that things were getting pretty serious between Valerie and Mike.
“She’s not talking marriage, not yet anyway, but she is considering moving closer to him,” the insider said. “She loves California, but a home on the East Coast would make life easier.”
“She hates being in a long-distance romance because she says it’s easier to not work so hard at it when you’re separated,” the source added.
For Valerie, finding love again was unexpected but she was grateful for another chance at happiness. “She’s a total romantic and would definitely move for love,” the source added.
The Food Network alum publicly professed her love for Mike in an interview with People earlier that month.
“I’m in love,” she told the outlet. “It’s a seesaw of emotions because I was adamant I was never falling in love again.”
Two months later, the duo made their red carpet debut at the 2024 Daytime Emmys, beaming as they held hands on the red carpet.
The One Day at a Time actress expressed that she wanted to keep their relationship low-key after walking the red carpet together.
“A part of me is just like, it’s been so public and now I’m trying to pull back and make it so much less public, and try to keep some stuff for us now,” Valerie said. “It’s like, ‘Oh, but, yeah, I let the cat out of the bag.’ I don’t know. I would like to start keeping it between us and make it a little bit more special.”
“Even though I was so public with it, now part of me wants to just protect,” she added at the time.
However, it seems like things fizzled out between them, as their split was reported on Tuesday, November 5. “They are no longer in a relationship,” a source told People. They were together for 10 months before calling it quits.
Prior to her relationship with Mike, Valerie was married to Eddie Van Halen from 1981 to 2007 and Tom Vitale from 2011 to 2022. With Eddie, Valerie welcomed son Wolfgang Van Halen in 1991.
Sources told Closer in April that Wolfgang voiced some concerns to his mom about her relationship with Mike.
“Even her son, Wolf, who I’ve heard has met the guy, told her to slow down with this guy,” the insider said.
