Valerie Bertinelli Reveals She Was Sexually Abused as a Child: ‘It Doesn’t Own Me Anymore’

Valerie Bertinelli recently opened up about some painful memories, revealing that she was sexually abused as an 11-year-old child.

“I guess because I’m healing from it, it’s not so scary anymore,” Bertinelli, 65, said in an interview with People published on Wednesday, March 4. “I can say it out loud. I was sexually assaulted. It doesn’t feel like it owns me anymore.”

While the One Day at a Time alum said that she initially “had no plans to reveal” the abuse in her upcoming book, Getting Naked, it was part of her “new truth.”

“It’s about getting naked with who I am, emotionally, physically,” she told the publication about the book. “It was really about getting to the nitty gritty and getting to the parts that I thought were shameful and come to find out they’re not. They’re all kinds of different facets of what makes us who we are.”

Bertinelli added that she “purposely” included a photo of herself at 11 years old in the beginning of the chapter that addresses abuse “because that was the little girl that was sexually abused.”

However, addressing the issue wasn’t easy.

“It’s taken me 10 years at least,” the former Hot in Cleveland star said. “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.”

She continued, “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.”

Bertinelli’s book hits shelves next week on March 10.