At 63, Valerie Bertinelli Confesses She Finds Aging & Adjusting To ‘Sagging’ Body Hard As Fans Rally Around Her

Dec 12, 2023 by apost team

The issue of beauty enhancements and body modification procedures among celebrities is a controversial topic due to how fans and critics perceive it. Many celebrities have come under scrutiny for how their physical features stand out, often breeding questions on whether they have gone under the knife. Sometimes, critics could get cynical to the point of shaming celebrities. TV star Valerie Bertinelli faced such a dilemma on social media when a social media user made a snide remark about her face. 

However, Bertinelli, who isn’t new to such situations, addressed it head-on with grace. On July 16, 2023, the star shared a TikTok clip addressing the public on the dangers of shaming people for their choices. This was the same approach the actress used in September 2022 when she decided to stop judging herself for her weight.   

Bertinelli wrote in her “Enough Already: Learning to Love The Way I Am Today” memoir that even as a teenager, she appeared as the “upbeat, bubbly All American girl” but faced pressure in private. She noted that she would usually compare herself to her fellow co-star, Mackenzie Phillips, who played her sister in the 1970s TV series, “One Day At A Time.” 

However, the movie star’s body image issues go back to her formative years when she watched her dad berate her mom for gaining weight. The “Sidney” star wrote that a teacher once poked her belly and made her conscious of getting fatter. As a child, it made her form an unhealthy opinion about weight gain. Bertinelli felt like gaining weight would make one unlovable.

As an adult, Bertinelli took conscious steps to unlearn that narrative, stating, “your body isn’t what makes you lovable.” The “Valerie’s Home Cooking” star recalled taking steps to get in shape and unlearning the toxic childhood thoughts. In 2009, she appeared on the cover of People magazine. The “Hot in Cleveland” actress stripped down to a bikini, bearing her figure with confidence. 

She opened up about working twice as hard to drop some pounds before posing for the cover but still wore a size large bikini. She said in a 2020 interview that she wished she had worked on her mental shape the same way she worked on her body for the photo shoot.  

In the following years, Bertinelli experienced weight fluctuation, and in 2022, she was ready to stop living by how many pounds she gained or lost. She wrote in her book that “the goal is to live in the moment and not according to the scale.”   

The Hollywood star admitted that it might not be easy to unlearn as she carried the mentality for so long, but she was determined to prioritize self-love. She proved this by stating that she had not checked her weight since completing her book. The star added for good measure that she was done judging herself and wanted to “be kinder and more accepting of myself.”

It is safe to say that the Food Network star did a good job ingraining the importance of self-love as she proved unaffected after a critic on TikTok made remarks about her face and the use of Botox.

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In a clip shared on both her TikTok and Instagram pages, Bertinelli replied to a comment, which read, "The Botox looks great." The actress clarified that she knew it was a sarcastic remark instead of a compliment. Without mincing words, Bertinelli relayed that she had tried Botox, specifically stating it was about six years ago. 

She then inserted an older photo showing her appearance when she tried the cosmetic procedure. The clip started with her using the water glow filter, but before she continued talking, she took it off to show off her natural face. 

Bertinelli noted that the image did not look like her because it changed the shape of her eyebrows. She relayed that she tried getting Botox due to the puffy nature of her eyes. She always wanted deep-set eyes and thought Botox could help her achieve that. The star then focused on the TikTok commenter, stating:

"Because you're trying to shame me, and you're a woman. Like, what made you go out of your way to try to shame me? And I'm not the first person to try to be shamed on TikTok or Instagram or any place. So, we're women. We have to stick together, okay? Don't shame somebody if they want to do something, anything, to make themselves feel better…"

Bertinelli continued as she noted that people could continue using Botox because it looked amazing on them. For the concluding part of her post, the mom-of-one addressed fans in the caption, asking them not to shame the commenter and rather "be kind."

Bertinelli again touched on the topic of looks and aging when she took to her social media in November 2023 to ask her followers whether “anybody out there my age just find it challenging to wrap their head around aging?” The 63-year-old went on to say that because “factually,” she had spent more time being young rather than old, she was finding it difficult to adjust to some of the changes, particularly concerning her body. Among the differences she noted were that while she could still jog up the stairs, she could no longer run up them; she is still able to do deep squats but needed assistance getting up from the position; and she now found the child’s pose “uncomfortable.” She added that in her mind, she still perceived herself as a “young, goofy, let’s-have-fun girl” and that aging was utterly “mind-blowing.”

“I’ve seen parts of my body that are sagging, that didn’t use to sag,” she lamented before pointing to her forearms and saying, “What is that?”

Fans rallied around Bertinelli in the comments, offering the star words of encouragement, comfort and kindness.

“You aren’t alone..were all going through change but mam we are strong!” one user commented, while another said, “Thanks, I needed to know others felt like this.”

Another comment read, “I feel you and I feel it in my bones. I feel young until I move wrong or look in the mirror. Otherwise life is good!”

Another user remarked aging was a “continual mind trip if you ask me,” before thanking Bertinelli for “being real with us 😉”

Some agreed with Bertinelli that aging “really sneaks up on you” and that “aging is just rude,” but many also asserted that it was “a blessing” and thanked her for validating their shared reality. 

Do you relate to Valerie Bertinelli’s thoughts on how aging creeps up on you so quickly? Do you feel it’s more of a blessing or a curse? Let us know, and be sure to pass this on to others who may feel the same, too.