Valerie Bertinelli's Surprising Revelation That Her Eddie Van Halen Marriage Wasn't a Fairy Tale

Valerie Bertinelli’s marriage to Eddie Van Halen lasted for over 20 years before they separated in 2001 and divorced in 2007. The couple shared one son, Wolfgang Van Halen, 33, who kept their bond close up until Eddie’s death from throat cancer in 2020.

While fans have always been led to believe that Bertinelli and Eddie were soulmates despite their marriage not working out, the 64-year-old actress is setting the record straight — and it’s rather shocking. She shared the revelation with her Instagram followers after watching Wolfgang’s recent episode of Behind the Music on Paramount+. She explained that watching the episode was “not easy” and she “stopped it many times because it was just too brutal to watch for many reasons.” Bertinelli added, “One, seeing Wolfie’s pain. Two, seeing what a better job I could have done as a parent even though he turned out magnificently. I made a lot of mistakes. And three, seeing what I had turned of Ed’s and my relationship — into some sort of fantasy, soulmate recreation of history.”

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Yes, she loved the Van Halen guitarist with all of her heart, but his destructive use of drugs and alcohol, along with his infidelity, destroyed their relationship. She continued, “[It was] nothing that makes you feel loved and wanted and cared for. Nothing that would scream soulmate, that’s for sure.” Even after they divorced, they kept up their friendly relationship through his illness, and even in death. “But after Ed died, I was more than willing to put myself in the grieving widow category for a man that I hadn’t lived with for 20 years,” Bertinelli said with tears in her eyes. “What we had together was this beautiful son that we both unconditionally loved.”

The couple met at one of Van Halen’s concerts in 1980 and married eight months later — rock and roll’s bad boy getting hitched to TV’s sweetheart was quite a scandal back in the day. However, the cute duo gushed about their nuptials to People. “I don’t think the other guys like [my getting married] too much. But I love it. Best thing I’ve ever done,” Eddie said in 1981. She agreed with her new hubby, “Even when I feel sad now, I’ve never felt more fulfilled. It’s crazy. I never thought anything could be this wonderful. Everything, good or bad, is… euphoric!”

While their love didn’t last, Bertinelli is proud of the son they raised together. “That’s what I got out of that marriage was Wolfie, the best thing that ever happened to me,” she summed up in her Instagram post. “Not a soulmate.” Bertinelli was finally able to correct her romantic history for the final chapter.

Before you go, click here to see surprising celebrity couples we never saw coming.

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