Valerie Bertinelli was married to Eddie Van Halen for more than 25 years, but she isn’t rushing to read Brothers, the new book by Alex Van Halen that came out Oct. 22.
Appearing on The Drew Barrymore Show on Nov. 7, Bertinelli says she was “shaking” just thinking about reading the book, which has been sitting in her house for awhile now. “It’s going to be emotional,” she said. “It’s going to be very emotional, because I love these two men. They are good men and they are very complicated men.”
The actress said Alex told her last year he was writing the book, which surprised her. “He’s a very private man, and for him to do this is extraordinary. And to do it so beautifully — I’m so proud of you, Al. I’m so happy that you wrote your story.”
Brothers is about the relationship between Alex and Eddie, who died of cancer in 2020 at age 65.
“I truly believe that [through the book], people get a different insight into Ed the man, and not the icon, or whatever you think you might know about him,” Bertinelli continued. “He was not that. He was a gentle, gentle soul who went through extreme trauma and Al did, too.”
Bertinelli concluded by congratulating her former brother-in-law on his bestseller.
The One Day at a Time star married Eddie in 1981; they shared a son, Wolfgang Van Halen, leader of the band Mammoth WVH. They were officially divorced in 2007. In 2009, Eddie married Janie Liszewski. Both Janie and Valerie were at his bedside when he died.