Valerie Bertinelli is Still Fighting 'Demons' From 'Toxic' Marriage to Tom Vitale
Valerie Bertinelli and Tom Vitale were married for 11 years, yet despite that amount of time spent loving one another, things still ended pretty badly. Bertinelli famously referred to Vitale as The Narcissist and said she doesn't know why she spent so long tolerating "the intolerable" with him. Just prior to their divorce getting finalized, she told Hoda Kotb on Today that she couldn't "imagine ever trusting anyone again to let into my life."
Even to this day, that relationship has left her with a lot of emotional scars. "I have heard that being in a relationship after healing from a toxic one will bring out some triggers you didn’t know were still buried," she said in a vulnerable Instagram post. "And ain’t that the truth."
"Learning to trust again after having that trust destroyed is not an easy thing," she continued. "Those demons want to protect you from being vulnerable and emotionally exposed ever again."
Valerie Bertinelli Navigates Life With Her New Boyfriend
Despite the demons from the past, Valerie has fallen in love again, and this time with someone out of the public eye, a writer named Mike Goodnaugh. The pair went public with their relationship just a few months ago in April, and just based on her Instagram posts, she's never been happier.
"This man is worth fighting the rest of my demons for," she said at the end of her Instagram caption. "He is the most thoughtful, kind, gentle, intelligent, funny, and grateful man I’ve ever met."
"And look at him," she added. "I mean..."
You're never too old to fall in love with someone new!