Valerie Bertinelli Admits Posing Nude at 65 Was ‘Terrifying’ But She Faced the Fear Head-On

May 05, 2026 by apost team

Valerie Bertinelli has never shied away from a hard conversation — but posing completely nude for the cover of her memoir took a different kind of courage altogether. The 66-year-old actress opened up about the decision during a live Q&A at the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books on April 18, 2026, and what she had to say about her body, her age, and decades of self-criticism is the kind of honesty that stays with you.

For Bertinelli, this moment has been a long time coming. She spent years in the public eye being scrutinized for her weight — losing it, gaining it, losing it again — and she has been candid about how damaging that cycle was. The “Getting Naked” book cover, she said, was never just about being undressed. It was about finally arriving somewhere she had been trying to reach for a very long time.

In a conversation with PEOPLE in March, Bertinelli reflected on how the nude shoot compared to a far more scrutinized moment — her 2009 PEOPLE bikini cover, taken after she lost around 40 pounds as a Nutrisystem spokesperson. “I was a good 20 pounds thinner and my body was definitely tighter but I think it felt better doing this,” she said.

The difference, she explained, was less about what her body looked like and more about where her head was. “I have felt bad about myself for too many decades. I’m going to feel good about myself now,” she said firmly. “Part of me also feels like at this age, if I can look good, do it. And I don’t know what I’m going to look like when I’m 80 but at 65 it looks pretty f---ing good.”

The shoot itself took place at Bertinelli's home, surrounded by a team she had worked with for years — hair, makeup and, as she joked at the Festival of Books event, “wardrobe.” She arrived on set in a big sweater, easing into the moment slowly before making the decision to go for it.

“At a certain point, I just said, ‘I’m just gonna do it,’” she recalled.

It’s a pattern Bertinelli has come to recognize in herself. When fear shows up, she doesn’t avoid it — she walks straight through it.

“I’m one of those people that if I’m really afraid of something, I’m like, ‘Why? What are you so afraid of? What is it gonna hurt you? Just do it. Who the f--- cares?’” she explained. She told PEOPLE that same instinct guided her through the cover shoot.

“I’ve got this weird quirk that if I’m afraid of something I’m going to walk right through it. And I did.”

She’s also been clear that it was a one-time thing.

“I’m not gonna do it again,” she said with a laugh at the Festival of Books. But in the same breath, she acknowledged just how much the experience meant. “It was interesting to walk through that fear and get to the other side of it,” she said.

The idea, she explained, came to her mid-conversation with her editor. She had already titled the book “Getting Naked“ — and once the thought crossed her mind, there was no talking herself out of it.

“Once it was out of my mouth, I kinda had to do it,” Bertinelli said. “It was terrifying.”

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