Eddie Van Halen Was 'Not a Soulmate,' Valerie Bertinelli Says, Admits Marriage Fell Into 'Drugs, Alcohol and Infidelity'

Watching her son Wolfgang Van Halen's recently released Behind the Music episode has prompted Valerie Bertinelli to speak up about her relationship with her late ex-husband and Wolfgang's father, Eddie Van Halen.

"I was finally able to watch Wolfie's Behind the Music. It was not easy," she revealed in a video posted to Instagram on Thursday. "I'd stopped it many times because it was just too brutal to watch for many reasons."

"One, seeing Wolfie's pain. Two, seeing what a better job I could have done as a parent even though he turned out magnificently. I made a lot of mistakes," she added.

"And three, seeing that I had turned Ed's and my relationship - into some sort of fantasy, soulmate recreation of history," the actress says.

"I fell in love with him when I was 20, and it rapidly declined into drugs and alcohol and infidelity. Nothing that makes you feel loved and wanted and cared for. Nothing that would scream 'soulmate,' that's for sure."

"But after Ed died, I was more than willing to put myself in the grieving widow category for a man that I hadn't lived with for 20 years," Bertinelli says with tears welling in her eyes. "What we had together was this beautiful son that we both unconditionally loved."

"That's what I got out of that marriage was Wolfie, the best thing that ever happened to me," Bertinelli concludes. "Not a soulmate."

 
Eddie, who co-founded Van Halen with his drummer brother Alex, died in October 2020 from complications of throat cancer. He was 65.

The Wolfgang Van Halen episode of Behind the Music is now streaming on Paramount+. Aside from focusing on Wolfgang, the episode also delves into Eddie Van Halen's drug use, cancer battle and death, as well as his relationship with Bertinelli and their eventual split and divorce.

Wolfgang also shared his feelings about the episode in a post on X, along with sharing a trailer from the show. "I had the honor of being asked to tell my story on Behind the Music," Wolfgang posted on X, formerly Twitter. "It was difficult, but also incredibly cathartic being able to reflect on my experiences, the incredible people I'm blessed to have in my life and most importantly, my bond with my father. I don't normally talk so openly about things, so this was new for me," he added.

"Thank you to [executive producer] Alex Castino for making the process as easy and as comfortable as possible and thank you to Behind the Music and @paramountplus for deciding that my story is worth telling."