Valerie Bertinelli files for divorce from Tom Vitale, cites 'irreconcilable differences'

Valerie Bertinelli filed for divorce from husband Tom Vitale on Thursday.

The actress and Food Network star cited "irreconcilable differences" as the cause for divorce in Los Angeles Superior Court of California documents obtained by USA TODAY. 

Bertinelli, 62, married Vitale, 59, in January 2011.

Nearly nine years after their nuptials, they separated in December 2019 and filed for legal separation in November 2021.

The court documents state the couple had a prenuptial agreement in December 2010 that is "in full force and effect and fully binding on the parties."

Vitale and Bertinelli do not have any children together.

'Love isn't a big enough word':Valerie Bertinelli on Eddie Van Halen, writing 'cathartic' book

The "Valerie's Home Cooking" star spoke to USA TODAY in January and got candid about her relationship with rocker Eddie Van Halen and the troubles plaguing her second marriage, which are documented in her memoir "Enough Already: Learning to Love the Way I Am Today."

Bertinelli refers to Van Halen in the book as a "soulmate," but he isn't her only one. "I think we meet up with with souls that we're meant to work through things together," she says, explaining that she believes part of the pair's purpose was to bring into the world their only child, musician Wolfgang Van Halen (aka Wolfie), 31.

"I just don't feel like I've ever been loved like that, in that way, from anybody else," she shared of her late ex-husband. "I just feel a connection with Ed that I've never really felt with anyone else." 

Bertinelli began writing the book just weeks after the guitarist died Oct. 6, 2020, after a long battle with cancer. 

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While the actress wrote at length of her first marriage, stories involving her second husband, Vitale, are scarce.

"I tried to be really sensitive to Tom and (Van Halen's wife until his death, Janie Liszewski) because they're private people, and I don't want to tell their story," Bertinelli said. "I was just trying to tell the story between me and Ed without being hurtful."

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She described the decision to split with Vitale in "Enough Already" as "a slow, painful one. But we have drifted from the interests that made us a couple and found that those differences can’t be fixed. He is a good man who is going through many of the same issues that I have faced: What can he do to add meaning and purpose to his life? Where can he find joy? What is he passionate about? What has he learned? And what does he do differently going forward? The paths we thought we were on changed."

Bertinelli added that the separation "has nothing to do with Ed" and that her marriage troubles began five years ago. 

"I only want the best for him, but I think I need to be alone," she told USA TODAY. "I don't know what will happen, but right now I just need to be alone."  

Contributing: Erin Jensen