Valerie Bertinelli opened up in an
emotional
series of Instagram videos about her ongoing battle to stay sober and face painful emotions head-on.
The 65-year-old actress and former Food Network star, who has been sober since January 2024, shared how she’s been navigating a rough emotional patch without turning to alcohol or unhealthy food for comfort.
“I’ve been going through some really intense, uncomfortable, sad, emotionally excruciating feelings the last few days,” she said through tears. “And I want to drink. I want to numb it. I don’t want to feel it.”
Bertinelli, who has long been
candid
about her mental health and self-image, explained that despite the urge, she’s trying to stay grounded. “My logical mind is like, ‘No, you don’t want to do that. You don’t want to numb it. What will help is just feeling the feelings—getting through to the other side.’”
But, she admitted, even crying has been difficult.
Alongside the struggle with alcohol cravings, Bertinelli revealed she’s also been tempted to binge on unhealthy food as a coping mechanism. “I want to eat it away too. I want something that won’t nourish me, just to escape these f—ed-up feelings.”
Instead, she turned to
something small but meaningful
: watermelon.
In a heartfelt video, Bertinelli encouraged followers to join her in slicing and eating the fruit—a healthier way to process her emotions. “It’s watermelon season, and a watermelon will make me feel better, but it won’t numb my feelings,” she said, visibly choked up.
As she cut the fruit, she told fans, “I’m going to feel my feelings while I slice the watermelon.”
The Emmy-winning actress
emphasized
the value of sitting with painful emotions. “I’m not going to talk about where the feelings came from, but I will say this—when we suppress or numb them, they just get stronger. And then we feel shame for numbing them, which only makes things worse.”
She added, “We just want to be. If we’re sad, we just want to be sad.”
Choosing watermelon, she said, felt like a loving gesture to herself. “It has vitamins, water, fiber, minerals—and I’m not numbing my feelings. I just feel sad right now. And I’ll get through it. So can you. We don’t need alcohol or food to bury what we feel.”
In a later clip, holding a
container
of the sliced fruit, she added, “Feelings are information. So now, when I want to wallow, I’m going to take a bite of watermelon and ask my feelings what they’re trying to tell me.”
She captioned her post with a message of encouragement:
“Feel your feelings. Do your best not to numb them. Feelings are information. Ask them what they need. Feel them. Get to the other side.”
Bertinelli followed up with a grateful message to fans who had shared their own experiences in the comments.
“Sometimes I forget how many
amazing
people are out there,” she said. “It’s such a gift to not feel alone in what you’re going through. Thank you for supporting me, and each other.”
Laughing, she admitted, “I ate the whole watermelon that day—and I’m not ashamed. Because I felt my feelings, I made it through, and I’m in a better place now. I’m just grateful.”
She also addressed critical comments with grace: “If my videos upset you, that’s OK—you don’t have to watch. But to the rest of you, thank you. I love that we’re doing this together.”
