Valerie Bertinelli Gets Engaged

Valerie Bertinelli is getting married again.

Just three years after finally ending her marriage to rocker Eddie Van Halen (though the two split long before), the veteran TV actress has revealed she will marry her longtime love, Tom Vitale.

Valerie revealed to AARP Magazine’s July/August issue that Tom, whom she has dated for six years, proposed during a recent trip to Italy.

“We’d talked about getting married,” the star told the mag. “But I was still shocked. It was sweet when he asked me, because he was so scared. I was like, ‘Are you kidding me?’”

In fact, the actress said that after her split with Eddie, with whom she has one son – Wolfie — she had no plans to walk down the aisle, or even to find love again.

“After Ed and I separated, I thought, ‘I’ll finish raising my son, and I’ll go away, have about 40 cats, and just get nice and fat.’ I thought I would be alone for the rest of my life, because I didn’t want the responsibility. Relationships are too hard,” she continued.

Tom seemingly made it easy, however. Even before she dropped more than 50 pounds with Jenny Craig, for whom she is a paid spokesperson, Tom fell for the actress hook, line and sinker.

“I’ve never felt more beautiful at any weight than when Tom looks at me. He loved me no matter what,” Valerie said. “In his way, he’s teaching me to love myself just as I am.”

Valerie and Tom will walk down the aisle this fall, and Tom is actually planning all of the details.

“He already knows the different kinds of bells he wants to go off during the ceremony,” she told the magazine.

Tom’s planning help will no doubt free up more time for Valerie, who is currently filming her new sitcom with TV legend Betty White, TV Land’s “Hot In Cleveland,” which premieres on June 16.