KEY POINTS

  • Valerie Bertinelli shared an emotional video addressing comments from online trolls telling her she needed to lose weight 
  • The Food Network host said that people who put on weight may be "going through some things"
  • Bertinelli said she's done her best to lose weight and keep it off but has not been successful

Valerie Bertinelli has opened up about receiving an online comment from a viewer that upset her.

In an emotional video, the "Valerie's Home Cooking" star said she made the "mistake" of reading the comments on some of her recipes online and saw a message from one person who told her she "needed to lose weight."

"Because see, I don’t have a scale or I don’t have clothes that I’m trying to put on every day, and I don’t have mirrors so I don’t see what’s become of me," she said sarcastically in the video she uploaded on Instagram. "So I needed that help to let me know that I need to lose weight."

The Food Network host went on to slam the troll for being unhelpful. She spoke about her struggles with shedding pounds, saying that if she could "lose the weight and keep it off," she would.

"You’re not being helpful," she said. "Because when you see somebody who has put some weight on, my first thought is, ‘That person is obviously going through some things.'"

Bertinelli continued, "But since I haven’t been successful with that my whole entire life — at 61, I’m still dealing with [it]. You think I’m not tired of it, lady? Not f–king helpful."

Bertinelli accompanied her post with a caption about body-shaming. She asked her followers for compassion and encouraged others to be more kind and patient with one another. She also explained why she shared the video on her Instagram page and not on her Stories.

"aren’t we tired of body shaming women yet?! smh," she asked "I was going to delete my stories because it’s a little embarrassing and scary to be so vulnerable. But then I realized it was hitting a ‘good’ nerve with so many of you who were so sweet to dm and share your same vulnerability and struggles."

She continued, "We all could use a little more kindness and patience and grace, because we just never know what someone else is going through. So here it is. Not deleting. Owning it."

Bertinelli has had a tough year amid the pandemic. She lost her ex-husband Eddie Van Halen in October 2020 after he succumbed to throat cancer. The exes were married from 1981 until 2007 and share a 30-year-old son, Wolfgang, Page Six reported.

Valerie Bertinelli (2010)
Actress Valerie Bertinelli finished the 2010 Boston Marathon with a time of 5:14:37. REUTERS