Valerie Bertinelli’s memory is a little hazy when it comes to the ’80s.
The “One Day at a Time” star appeared on “The Drew Barrymore Show” Monday, looking back on photos from the decade, including one taken following her marriage to the late Eddie Van Halen.
“I look at that and I think: ‘That is a puffy face, and someone who needs to start taking care of herself,’” she said.
VALERIE BERTINELLI ENCOURAGES FOLLOWERS TO ‘BEGIN AGAIN’ IN THE NEW YEAR
Bertinelli added, “I mean, that was the ‘80s though. I don’t remember that. I don’t remember anything about the ‘80s.”
The former Food Network host admitted she had some regrets about some of her behavior at the time as well.
“For the longest time, I always felt guilty about the things I experimented with and what I tried when I was a young girl,” she said.
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Barrymore gently teased her, saying she sounded like “an ABC Afterschool Special,” adding she had starred in one called “15 and Getting Straight.”
“By the way, I was also the ‘Just Say No’ girl with Nancy Reagan,” she noted, with a pause before saying, “until I just said yes.”
Bertinelli said she’s made peace with her past decisions, acknowledging Barrymore has as well.
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“Listen, I forgive us [for] all of that,” she said. “We coped the way we knew how to cope with a really challenging, strange life. And also, we have to start giving ourselves grace for just trying to learn through stuff.”
Barrymore agreed, “We hurt ourselves far more than others.”
Bertinelli celebrated a year of sobriety earlier this year after doing her first Dry January in 2024.
“I have decided to go Dry January. I like it so far,” Bertinelli announced on her Instagram story at the time. “I’m doing it for two reasons. One, I want to try and cut down the cravings for my sugar. And I think alcohol exacerbates that.”
Secondly, she said, “I want to calm down the cortisol in my body that has been raging for the last five, six years. I’ve been in fight, flight, freeze, fawn mode. And I want to go into rest and digest,” she shared. “I think cutting alcohol will help me do that.”
One month later, Bertinielli was already thrilled with her results, sharing on TikTok that she had lost weight.
“These jeans that I’m wearing were so tight a few months ago that I couldn’t comfortably button them. Now, they’re so loose it’s time for me to go down a size,” she said in a video at the time.
In 2022, she also admitted to trying drugs during her marriage to Van Halen, telling Rob Lowe on his “Literally” podcast, “I am a prude now, but I [partook] as well for a few years there until I just couldn’t take it anymore. Cocaine was everywhere and easy to get.”
