Valerie Bertinelli Speaks Out On Being 'Mercilessly Mocked' For Her Body After 'Hidden Bruise' Was Activated

Valerie Bertinelli is opening up about healing from past emotional trauma caused by body shaming.

Bertinelli, 62, took to TikTok Sunday to discuss a "small hidden bruise" that was recently "activated" when she put on a pair of pants.

The "Valerie's Home Cooking" host said in the video that she had donned pants that she never used to wear and almost put "away forever."

According to Bertinelli, someone from her past commented on the sound the pants made when her legs rubbed together and told her she was "too lazy to do anything about" her body to stop the rubbing issue. She added that this person "mercilessly mocked" her appearance.

At one point, she said she even tried to change the way she walked to silence the pants. But Bertinelli pointed to her choice to wear them once again as proof of how she's healing from the emotional trauma.

"It doesn't matter now because it's in the past," Bertinelli said while smiling. "But hidden bruises are something that emotional, verbal and mental abuse do to you that people can't see but we kind of deal with every day when they are activated."

She continued, "I'm so grateful that the work that I'm doing on healing is working. So it's making me giggle now. ... Now I can wear them, hear that sound and that's the sound of freedom."

She admitted that she was hesitant to share the video as some might dismiss her issues and just tell her to move on. Bertinelli emphasized that what she was doing was moving on from it and was part of the healing process.

"This is called moving on. This is called healing," she said. "And to all of you that can identify with this and feel seen, welcome."

The "Hot in Cleveland" star has long been open about her struggles with maintaining a positive body image. In December 2021, she shared an emotional video in which she got candid about her body image and weight issues.

"I'm standing out in the rain because I'm doing my best to distract my mind from spiraling to a place of self-loathing because I saw a picture of myself today that made me want to do that," she said.

Bertinelli added that she wasn't sure if she would ever get to a place where she would be happy with her body.

"I am not where I want to be right now, body-wise. I don't know if I ever will be, but when I see it right in front of me, it really does send me down that path. And I am doing my best to be positive and more full of joy, and hopefully, my body will follow along. I'm not there yet," she said.

Meanwhile, Bertinelli's recent TikTok post came a week after she reflected on her divorce from ex-husband Tom Vitale following a rolfing session.

"I'm over the narcissist. I'm long over the narcissist. What I'm working on is what made me tolerate the intolerable?" she shared on Instagram. "...That question just was a lightbulb. What made me tolerate the intolerable? So, by searching for that -- by healing that -- I have just put a better life forward for myself. I'm more joyful. I'm more happy. A life that I already have that I'm grateful for, but a life that I can truly enjoy. Because then I finally feel like I deserve it."

Bertinelli added, "We all deserve to have a beautiful life. And it starts here, within. I want you all to feel that for yourselves 'cause we all deserve it. So yes, I have moved on from the s----y part, and I'm going into the really hard, hard part that has the most benefits to it."

Bertinelli and her husband of 10 years parted ways in 2021. They finalized their divorce in November 2022, with the actress paying her ex over $2.2 million as part of the settlement.

Bertinelli announced the news via a video on Twitter in which she can be seen giggling while saying, "I am happily divorced. God, finally, it's finally over."