Valerie Bertinelli Exposed Details About Her Forgotten Fling With This Major Hollywood A-Lister

The timeline of Valerie Bertinelli's relationships is a bit complicated. While the actor has only been married twice, she's had a string of high-profile dalliances. She married rockstar Eddie Van Halen in 1981, and got divorced in 2007. Then she married Tom Vitale in 2011, and got divorced in 2022. Two years later, the star met Mike Goodnough, and everyone thought she had met the one. "It's a seesaw of emotions because I was adamant I was never falling in love again," Bertinelli told People. However, the pair parted ways 10 months later.

But just before Valerie Bertinelli and Eddie Van Halen began their relationship, the actor had a fling with a major Hollywood A-lister and Oscar-nominated director: Steven Spielberg. The pair met around 1980 when Bertinelli read for "Raiders of the Lost Ark," which ended with the director asking her out on a date.

The truth about Valerie Bertinelli's relationship with Steven Spielberg was shared on "The Drew Barrymore Show" in April 2025. Although their former romance was not a total secret — Bertinelli wrote about it in her 2008 memoir "Losing It" — Barrymore appeared flabbergasted by the news, having known Spielberg from their work together on "E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial" in 1982. "How have we never talked about this?" Barrymore screeched.

Bertinelli asserted that the pair had fun while dating in the 1980s, and recalled going to the Academy Awards with the director, who was already know for movies like "The Sugarland Express," Jaws," and "Close Encounters of the Third Kind." According to Bertinelli, the romance lasted three or four months, or "a New York minute," as she put.

The actor also offered some details about their breakup. "He still has a bowling shirt of mine," Bertinelli remembered, switching her gaze to the camera and pointing. "I didn't get it out of the closet when we broke up, so I would like it back," she quipped, addressing Spielberg directly.