Valerie Bertinelli Opens Up About Being Sexually Assaulted When She Was 11

Actress and former Food Network host Valerie Bertinelli has opened up for the first time about being sexually abused when she was 11 years old, revealing how it took a long time to get over the “shame” of it.

Speaking to People ahead of the release of her new book, Getting Naked, in which she writes about the abuse, Bertinelli said, “I had no plans to reveal this. This was going to be a book about teaching people how to love themselves. I did not know that I would go this far.”

The 65-year-old actress added, “I guess because I’m healing from it, it’s not so scary anymore. I can say it out loud. I was sexually assaulted. It doesn’t feel like it owns me anymore.”

Bertinelli began acting as a child, making her screen debut in a 1974 episode of the CBS drama Apple’s Way, when she was 14. She had her breakout role as Barbara Cooper Royer on the sitcom One Day at a Time, for which she earned two Golden Globes. More recently, she’s known for hosting Valerie’s Home Cooking and Kids Baking Championship.

When it comes to her new book, out on March 10, Bertinelli described it as “getting naked with who I am, emotionally, physically” and “getting to the parts that I thought were shameful and come to find out they’re not.”

The chapter of the book that details the abuse opens with a photo of Bertinelli when she was 11. She told People she wanted to include that “because that was the little girl that was sexually abused. And it boggles my mind that this little girl was taken advantage of that way. It boggles my mind because it’s still happening… and I’m furious about it.”

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Bertinelli revealed how it’s taken her at least a decade to come forward about what happened to her. She first opened up about it to her therapist, but said “it got worse before it got better,” admitting that she “ate a little bit more, drank a little bit more.”

Now, she has more clarity, explaining, “When you stop eating things for comfort, stop drinking alcohol, it exposes your feelings. You can deal with them or not. And I chose to deal with them. I don’t feel shame about it anymore. I’m pissed off that it happened. Nobody deserves that.”

The Daytime Emmy winner had a setback in 2024, noting how she had a “huge anxiety attack” that “brought her to her knees.” She realized she still had more work to do.

“All of that shame had nothing to do with my body,” she stated. “It was just something to take out my shame on. My poor body. I was so mean to it. I just needed to get all those voices out of my head.”

If you or someone you know is the victim of child abuse, contact the Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline at 1-800-4-A-Child (1-800-422-4453). If you or a loved one are in immediate danger, call 911.

If you or someone you know is the victim of sexual assault, contact the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network‘s National Helpline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673). If you or a loved one is in immediate danger, call 911.