Valerie Bertinelli Admits She Can’t Remember The ‘80s: “I Was Checked Out”

Valerie Bertinelli may have lived through the ‘80s, but don’t ask her to recall much about it. During an appearance on The Drew Barrymore Show on February 3, the One Day at a Time star, 64, admitted she was “mentally checked out” during that decade.

“Oh my God,” Valerie gasped as Drew Barrymore showed an old photo of her during a segment called “Memory Bank.” In the picture, a young Valerie posed in a portrait studio wearing a blue brocade top with shoulder pads, white sneakers, and leg warmers, her shaggy bangs and layers giving her the ultimate ‘80s look.

“That doesn’t even look like me,” she laughed. Drew pointed out that Valerie was wearing a ring in the picture, which made her pause for a moment before realizing, “I think we were married. Yeah, I was married to Ed there.”

She was, of course, talking about her late ex-husband, rock legend Eddie Van Halen. The two were married from 1981 until 2007 and had their only son, Wolfgang, in 1991. Eddie passed away in 2020 after a battle with throat cancer.

Drew couldn’t help but notice that Valerie also had what she called “Ed hair” in the throwback photo. Valerie agreed, remembering how she and Eddie used to share clothes and even started looking alike. But beyond that? The details of the decade are a blur.

“I don’t remember anything about the ‘80s,” she admitted after saying, “I look at that and think: ‘That is a puffy face, and someone who needs to start taking care of herself.’”

Valerie also opened up about the guilt she used to carry over her past, particularly the choices she made as a young woman. “For the longest time, I felt guilty about the things I experimented with and what I tried when I was young,” she said.

Drew, who has been open about her own struggles, jokingly said, “That’s such an ABC after-school special term. Were you ever in an ABC after-school special?”

Valerie wasn’t, but Drew was. “I was an after-school special. By the way I was the ‘Just Say No’ girl with Nancy Reagan. Until I just said yes,” she stated.

Looking back, Valerie has learned to be kinder to herself. “We coped the way we knew how to cope with a really challenging, strange life,” she said. “And also we have to start giving ourselves grace for just trying to learn through.”

This isn’t the first time Valerie has been candid about her past. In her 2008 memoir Losing It: And Gaining My Life Back One Pound at a Time, she revealed that she and Eddie even had a vial of cocaine with them while filling out pre-marital questionnaires for a priest. “It doesn’t really bode well for a marriage, I don’t think,” she later said in an interview.

More recently, Valerie has made changes to her lifestyle, including cutting back on alcohol. “I would go out and have a fun time, drink, and the next day, I’d be so sad. Because there was so much sadness in my life, and alcohol amplified it,” she told PEOPLE in April 2024.