"You’ll always hold a very special place in my heart" — Valerie Bertinelli breaks silence over her split from Mike Goodnough

Valerie Bertinelli recently opened up about her breakup with lifestyle writer Mike Goodnough.

The One Day at a Time star took to her Instagram account to pen down a post dedicated to her former beau. Bertinelli shared a picture with Goodnough and wrote how she is “irreversibly changed by him for the better.” They were in a long-distance relationship and met in person just a year back. The actress proclaimed in her post,

“I know I am becoming a much stronger and more benevolent human for having met him and spent time with him.”

In the post, Bertinelli praised Goodnough’s writing, talking about how she was “initially and immediately attracted” to it. She further described it as “heartfelt, authentic, smart, funny, sensitive, caring, and from the soul.” She continued,

“The human being [Goodnough] in person is exactly as heartfelt, authentic, sensitive and caring as his writing. // And wickedly witty. 😂 // I feel so lucky to have gotten to know him, and to really see him and soak up his insights. I value all of our long conversations and they have lead me to interesting and fascinating places I rarely thought to go.”

The actress and TV host reflected upon the experiences and conversations she had with her ex-boyfriend. Valerie Bertinelli believed that Mike Goodnough helped her overcome “some old childhood wounds.” The 64-year-old also encouraged her followers to subscribe to the writer’s substack, Hoarse Whisperings.

She concluded her post by addressing the breakup.

“Thank you, Mike, we may no longer be a couple, but you’ll always hold a very special place in my heart. // Love you. ♥️”

In the past, Goodnough was also featured in multiple Instagram posts of the Valerie's Home Cooking host.

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More about Valerie Bertinelli’s relationships and dating history

The Hot in Cleveland star has been married twice while also being in brief relationships at different points. Canadian musician-actor Paul Shaffer made the revelation in 2009 with his memoir that he went on a “few fun dates” with Valeria when she was 16. Their relationship reportedly didn’t last longer than that.

In her memoir Losing It, Valerie Bertinelli revealed that she had a fling with the celebrated director Steven Spielberg during the late 1970s when she was 20 years old. After their brief relationship ended, the romance between the actress and Eddie Van Halen commenced. They married in 1981 and raised a son, Wolfgang (born in 1981).

After two decades of their marriage, Van Halen and Bertinelli parted ways, and the latter started dating financial planner Tom Vitale in 2004. The divorce between the rock star and actress was finalized in 2007. Four years after her legal separation from Eddie, Valerie married Vitale. They didn’t have a child together and separated in 2021.

Valerie Bertinelli officially divorced Tom Vitale in 2022 and started dating Mike Goodnough in early 2024. The romance between the Iron Chef America judge and the Hoarse Whisperings writer brewed after their online interaction. The actress opened up to People about her newfound love in April 2024.

“It was strictly platonic, but there was something about him that I connected with that felt familiar. A comfort level. He felt like a kindred spirit.”

In October last year, People reported that Bertinelli and Goodnough parted ways after dating for 10 months. An insider told the magazine,

“They are no longer in a relationship.”

The TV star didn’t address the breakup for months but posted about her former partner in March 2025.