Valerie Bertinelli lets go of long‑held body shame in an exclusive interview with PEOPLE for this week’s cover, saying, “Even though I have a little pooch, who cares?” The star, 65, reveals that she had breast implants in the late ’80s that were removed in 2024. Bertinelli also shares that she lost too much weight in 2024 due to stress, noting, “I never want to be that weight again either.”
When it comes to getting emotionally naked, Valerie Bertinelli doesn’t hesitate. From letting go of long‑held body shame to posing in the buff for the cover of her new book, Getting Naked (“I thought I might as well expose myself there too,” she tells PEOPLE), to disclosing a “boob job” she had back in the ’80s.
At 65, the beloved star and celebrity chef has found a new freedom in becoming “perfectly imperfect,” a story she shares in her memoir, which comes out March 10 from Harper Wave. “Would I like my body to be more taut and not have this,” she asks with a laugh (while showing her upper arms), “Of course. But I am in my sixties. You know what? My body goes up and down stairs. Downstairs hurts a little bit more. But I can carry my 35‑pound dog [Luna] when she has an amputation [to remove a cancerous mass]. And I can stand watching my son for two hours on stage — and it’s heaven.”
Bertinelli doesn’t weigh herself much these days. “Sometimes,” she says. “After Christmas, I was like, how much did I go up because my jeans are awfully tight. But I’m also not going to drive myself crazy.” Still, she admits it’s taken decades to let go of the negative thoughts that began at a young age. “Being told all those things — ‘Your body isn’t perfect enough. You’re still not 110 pounds.’ Well, who could be 110 pounds? Yes at 15, but no, I’ll never see that weight again and I don’t need to. Because that’s underweight.”
Bertinelli continues: “I lost way too much weight in 2024 because I was so stressed out that I never want to be that weight again either. I’m finally at a comfortable place where my clothes fit. They’re not too big. They’re not too small. I’m just normal. Even though I have a little pooch, who cares?”
She also reveals in the book that she had breast implants back in the late ’80s and had them removed in 2024. “I liked it for a little while and then started to hate it,” she explains. “At a certain point, I had gained and lost so much weight that my boobs were just… I felt like they were down to my belly button. I was like, ‘I just want my small boobs back.’”
After a fall, she had the implants removed and then developed a serious infection, which required a follow‑up surgery. “The look on my doctor’s face when he finally saw me made me think, ‘Oh s—, I guess I should have come in earlier.’ And he took everything out [the implant and the surrounding tissues], and then my breast became infected and started to cave in on itself. It became a crater.”
“I have to have one more surgery to even them out,” she continues. “Me and these guys” — pointing to two of her cats, Henry and Batman, along with Luna — “are the only ones looking at my boobs anyway, but I don’t care because I can’t see without my glasses on… I’ll have to date somebody who can’t see.”
“Anyway, those were my boobs,” she laughs. “Anybody want to date me? It was so serious I just had to find the humor in it.”
Warm, bubbly, and candid as ever, Bertinelli is focusing on what makes her happy: watching her son Wolfgang Van Halen on stage and on tour (his bandmates call her “Mama Wolf”), working on The Drew Barrymore Show as part of the “Drew Crew” of lifestyle experts, returning to home cooking with the launch of her digital platform Valerie’s Place, and watching “Bird TV” (peaceful long videos of birds on YouTube) with her array of cats.
“I’m a senior taking care of seniors,” she says with a happy smile.
Getting Naked by Valerie Bertinelli comes out March 10 and is available for preorder now, wherever books are sold.
