Valerie Bertinelli Reveals She Was Sexually Abused at Age 11

Valerie Bertinelli is opening up about her childhood.

The 65-year-old actress and TV personality is releasing her new memoir Getting Naked on March 10, and disclosed candid details about abuse she faced at just 11 years old.

Keep reading to find out more…

“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,” she said of opening up about it in her memoir to People.

The chapter includes a photo of herself at that age, “because that was the little girl that was sexually abused,” she explained.

“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. And we need to start speaking up and saying, ‘Enough.’”

“It’s taken me 10 years at least. The very first time I said it out loud to my therapist, I thought I’m going to feel better now. It got worse before it got better. I maybe ate a little bit more, drank a little bit more. 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,” Valerie added.

By 2024, she faced a “huge anxiety attack.”

“I thought I’m not getting anywhere. I needed to do more work,” she reflected, noting that she was taking out the shame on her body.

“I just needed to get all those voices out of my head. As I was going through that, I’m thinking people are going to wonder, why do I have so much self loathing? That’s not normal. It’s because trauma happened in my childhood for the most part. I can’t speak for anybody else but it’s pretty textbook,” she noted.

Last year, she confirmed her breakup from ex Mike Goodnough.