Signs Valerie Bertinelli's Split From Mike Goodnough Was Messier Than They Let On

Actress and author Valerie Bertinelli has been open about her struggles in life, but she's been a bit more coy about her complicated relationship history. She was famously married to Eddie Van Halen from 1981 to 2007 and the two remained good friends until Val Halen's death in 2020. Bertinelli began dating Tom Vitale in 2004 and married him in 2011 before separating in 2021. When the divorce was finalized, Bertinelli called it "the second best day of her life" in a video on X, formerly known as Twitter (via ET), all but confirming how stressful the breakup was. She found love again with writer Mike Goodnough, but their breakup appeared to be a tense one as well.

Followers took note of both Bertinelli and Goodnough posting to social media about betrayal and focusing on self love, thinking the former couple were attacking each other with cryptic posts. In an Instagram post on April 1, 2025, Goodnough said his social media activity had nothing to do with Bertinelli. However, he did take a swing at her posting history in a lengthy post of his own. "While I am disappointed in the array of hostile, dishonest, and uncalled for backhanded swipes she continues to take at me, there is no war between us. She just won't stop shooting," he said. "Valerie is in a war with her ghosts. I'm just the guy who catches the bullets. And that isn't new." Ouch, sounds like the romance these two had was less than ideal. 

Valerie Bertinelli revealed she had a new man in her life in early 2024. She later confirmed her new beau to be Mike Goodnough, whom she met through Instagram a few years ago and began a friendship which eventually turned into something more. They broke up in the fall of 2024 and based on their tense social media back and forth, it's unlikely that Bertinelli and Goodnough are in good standing post-split. 

At first, it seemed that distance was responsible for their split. But in the months that followed, both parties made reference to Bertinelli's traumas as the source of the breakup. In a now-deleted Instagram post that was published in February 2025, Bertinelli reflected on the problems she faced in previous relationships. She did not name the former lover that inspired her posting but did say in her caption (via Page Six), "You're on the same team. You're not working *against* each other, you're working *with* each other." Bertinelli made a post dedicated to Goodnough in March 2025, celebrating one year since the two met in person. The post was extremely complimentary, but has since been deleted from Bertinelli's Instagram page. 

After their breakup, the Daily Mail alleged that Goodnough had dated Bertinelli for the wrong reasons. According to the publication, "friends raised concerns that he was more invested in her fame than their relationship." A source told the magazine that the dynamics of the relationship were unbalanced, saying that Bertinelli "essentially became involved with a fan rather than someone who genuinely wanted to know her for who she is."