Valeria Bertinelliin new man entered the chat. Writer Mike Goodnough – who also goes by the name Hoarse whisperer – presented a sweet tribute to the actress and their budding relationship.
“I’m Valerie Bertinelli’s boyfriend… and that may very well be one of the most surreal sentences I’ve ever written. But it’s true… and nothing about our real relationship feels surreal. It just feels… good… luck… a gift,” he wrote in a Wednesday post on his Hoarse whispers Substack.
“Life is crazy, kids. I love her completely and I feel so grateful for the gift of that feeling, for the gift of her,” he added. “So, the little rumor that’s been going around, consider it happily confirmed.”
The writer sweetly added, “I just adore her. I’m so happy we’re together.”
The post began as a tongue-in-cheek response to rumors surrounding his involvement with the star, joking that “the gossip itself borders on madness.” He then confirmed the news and shared a photo of himself sitting with Bertinelli’s two cats.
The revelation comes after Goodnough joined Bertinelli for a recording from Monday’s episode of The Drew Barrymore Show as she promotes her new cookbook, Indulge.
“I wasn’t going to date. I was going to die alone with my six cats and my dog and be very happy alone,” she joked on the program. “He shouldn’t have come into my life and here he is, 10 years younger.”
She continued, “He’s amazing. He’d like to think he’s complicated and brooding, but he’s thoughtful and kind and ridiculously talented. He’s an incredible writer. He’s beautiful, like, so hot. He does that for me.”
Bertinelli, 63, also shared new details about how they met.
“I actually started following him on Twitter in 2016 or 17,” she said. “He has a really incredible following on Twitter. He’s very funny, very bitter and political at that time.”
The star noted that she “had a little butterflies in her stomach” at the time, but that he didn’t follow up with her for about two years.
“And then he started DMing me every now and then and started following my Instagram account,” she recalled. “So he would just text every now and then, just kind, little, nice comments. Nothing aggressive… like very friendly. He also didn’t want to get involved with anyone.”
After their chats went from DMs to texts, phone calls, and FaceTiming, they finally planned to connect in person.
“I met him in New York a month ago and just left,” Bertinelli said.
After the show, the former Food Network host shared a paparazzi image of the two walking together outside the studio.
“Hiding in plain sight,” she wrote in Threads.
“I have no idea who the security guard is, but you look great,” your boyfriend commented.
Bertinelli was married twice. She married a rock star Eddie Van Halen in 1981 — and they shared son Wolfgang, 33. Although the couple divorced in 2007, they remained friendly and Bertinelli was by Van Halen’s side When he died due to complications from throat cancer on October 6, 2020.
She was also married to financial planner Tom Vitale from 2011-2022.
Last month, Bertinelli’s son took the stage at the 96th Academy Awards to play guitar alongside Guns N’ Roses’ shredder Slash in Ryan Gosling’s epic performance of “I’m Just Ken.”
“I mean, people are going to get tired of it, but I don’t care because I’m very proud of him,” Bertinelli he told ET with a laugh in reference to constantly bragging about his son. “He went through a lot of adversity during all of this and I’m really proud of the way he handled it.”
Parenthood may be something she and Goodnough bonded over, as the writer describes himself as a “dad” in the first line of his Substack bio. He adds: “Parent level: expert.”
RELATED CONTENT: