Valerie Bertinelli recently shared a humorous yet embarrassing memory from the 1980s involving her late ex-husband Eddie Van Halen. She recounted how hotel staff mistook her for a prostitute during a trip. The actress and cookbook author shared this story on the Where Everybody Knows Your Name podcast.
The incident occurred when Bertinelli and Alex Van Halen’s wife at the time were trying to return to their hotel room after spending time at the bar.
“I don’t remember a lot about the ’80s, but I do remember this story,” Bertinelli said. “Ed and Al, his brother, had gone downstairs and Al’s wife at the time had said, ‘Let’s go down and join them.’ So, we go down to join them, and then we’re at the bar, whatever. And then the boys go back upstairs, and we said, ‘Okay, we’ll join you later.’ And we were having fun at the bar.”
The situation became awkward when the two women attempted to use the elevator to return to their rooms.
“I go to the elevator to go up to the room and they’re like, ‘No, no, why? What’s happening? Why can’t we go up?’ ‘No, no, no, no.’ And they were trying to tell us that prostitutes aren’t allowed on the upper floors,” she continued. “I was like, ‘No, no, I have a wedding ring.’ And at that point when I was traveling, I wouldn’t wear my actual wedding ring. I just got it like fake from whatever movie I did. They would not let me up.”
Bertinelli had to call Eddie Van Halen from the lobby to resolve the misunderstanding.
“I had to leave the elevator, get on the phone cuz there were no cell phones in the early ’80s and call Ed in the room and said, ‘Can you come down and get me? Because they won’t let me up. They think Valerie and I are prostitutes,'” she explained. “So, yeah, I’ve been mistaken for a prostitute before.”
This amusing anecdote offers a glimpse into the early years of one of rock music’s most famous couples. Their relationship began with an equally memorable first encounter.
Ultimate Classic Rock reported that the couple’s courtship started when Bertinelli’s brother dragged her to a 1980 Van Halen concert in Shreveport, Louisiana. The then-20-year-old actress was backstage when she first met the legendary guitarist. This sparked a romance that would captivate fans for decades.
Their relationship moved at lightning speed. Woman’s World noted that the pair married just eight months after their initial meeting. The couple tied the knot on April 11, 1981, during the height of Van Halen’s popularity and Bertinelli’s success on the television series “One Day at a Time.”
The marriage lasted for two decades. The List documented that they remained spouses for a solid 20-year span before separating in 2001. The couple’s divorce was finalized in 2007. They maintained a relationship as co-parents to their son Wolfgang Van Halen.
Despite their eventual separation, stories like the hotel incident demonstrate the lighter moments that defined their relationship during Van Halen’s touring years. The anecdote also highlights the challenges faced by rock stars’ partners during an era when the music industry’s lifestyle often led to misunderstandings and assumptions about the people surrounding famous musicians.
