Valerie Bertinelli Battles Weight, Joins Jenny Craig

Thursday, April 05, 2007

Valerie Bertinelli is the newest spokesperson for the Jenny Craig weight loss program. She will be joining comedian and actress Kirstie Alley in commercials documenting her weight loss success.

Valerie Bertinelli came to fame during the late 1970’s in the television sitcom, One Day at a Time. One Day at a Time was just one of a host of ground breaking television shows (such as Good Times and All in the Family) which covered previously tabooed subjects such as drugs, racial tension, and sexual relationships. 

Valerie Bertinelli was cast in the series as the cute, bubbly girl next door whose mother was a divorcee. Valerie played the smart kid with the wild, extroverted older sister.

Her girl next door image was tarnished a bit when she started dating rock n’ roll wild man Eddie Van Halen (the famed guitarist from Van Halen). One of the most popular rock n roll bands at the time; Van Halen was as much known for the wild parties and sexual exploits, as for their rock music.

Bertinelli states that it was during this period that her weight problems first started.  Bertinelli tells ET’s Jann Carl, “I came back to ‘One Day at a Time’ super-thin and they were, ‘What happened to you?’ I just lost the weight and then I gained it back and then I lost it again and gained it back. That’s been my life basically.”

Bertinelli and Eddie Van Halen would later get married only to get divorced several years later.

Bertinelli continued to gain weight and is now a size 14. She states that she was embarrassed by her size and stayed in doors; refusing to go to Hollywood events. She even chose to pay to go to the movie theater just to avoid the red carpet at movie premieres.

As for dieting; Bertinelli states that she often thought about it, “I drove by the Jenny Craig center so often, I’m like, ‘I should do it. Kirstie did it,. She did such an amazing job and she’s so funny. She made it look like it was fun to do, and I should do it.”

Bertinelli has finally come public about her weight problem and is committed to the Jenny Craig weight loss program. She will be filming one commercial about every month. Each commercial will document her weight loss success.