The actress, 63, revealed to USA Today in an interview published Wednesday, March 13, that she’s dating someone “very special” following her divorce from .
“It’s unlike any relationship that I’ve ever experienced with a man,” the One Day at a Time star shared. “I don’t want to say too much, but I feel incredibly blessed and lucky to have met him, because I wasn’t expecting it!”
Bertinelli added that she didn’t have high hopes for finding love after splitting from her husband of almost 11 years. “I was going to die with my six cats and my dog and be incredibly happy doing it,” she said. “So this came out of left field, and I’m grateful it did.”
The Emmy-winning performer credited her successful new romance to the work she’s done on herself over the years. “This would not have happened three years ago, four years ago, last year ― it wouldn’t have,” she explained. “And I feel incredibly lucky to have met him and made a connection with him.”
Bertinelli filed for divorce from Vitale in May 2022, citing “irreconcilable differences” in her legal documents. The pair, who began their romance in 2004, were introduced through Bertinelli’s brother Patrick. Six years later, Vitale popped the question while vacationing with Bertinelli in Florence, Italy.
“If the time wasn’t right, I wouldn’t have asked,” Vitale told AARP after news broke of their engagement. “We’re both still a little afraid of commitment, but then we were over there, and it was like our souls were calibrated.”
Bertinelli added, “We’d talked about getting married, but I was still shocked. It was sweet when he asked me, because he was so scared. I was like, ‘Are you kidding me?’”
Following their split, Bertinelli has been candid about her healing process via social media, sharing an Instagram video in February 2023 about the benefits of rolfing, an alternative medicine that involves soft tissue massage.
“I believe that a lot of emotional pain is stored in the body, and I’m doing my best to heal from it in every way — my therapy, my journaling, my meditation, rolfing,” she explained.
She also playfully took to TikTok to share a video of herself alongside the caption, “When someone asks if I’ll start dating again…” In the clip, she laughed and mouthed, “F–k no.”
Bertinelli amended that statement on Monday, March 11, reposting that clip on X and offering a winking nod to her new relationship. “This didn’t age well 🤪🥰,” Bertinelli quipped.
