Hot in Cleveland alum Valerie Bertinelli took to Instagram to share a refreshingly unfiltered selfie in her underwear, with a caption admitting to a roller coaster ride in 2024 with her body. “At some point, I will talk about the madness my body has been through this year,” the 64-year-old sitcom star wrote.
“But right now every lump bump wrinkle and saggy part of me just feels acceptance and simple appreciation to be standing in front of a mirror in a hotel bathroom in downtown Manhattan ready to color my roots late on a Monday night,” she said in reference to some good old box dye in her hand.
While some comments under her post screamed parasocial overstepping, many people respectfully engaged. One fan wrote, “Well, you look amazing. And your post is relatable. Who else with your status does their own hair? Makes you seem like a bestie To the haters and trolls, stop yapping. No one cares for your input. Try to grow some class, maybe?”
Those aforementioned oversteps prompted Bertinielli to make a follow-up post two days later. Under a mirror selfie, she first thanked her online community for connecting with her, “First of all, to those of you who felt a connection to my prior post and identified with what I was talking about, (empowering ourselves to focus on our own self-acceptance and self-love), thank you and thank you for your kindness. I see you. We are in this together.”
Bertinelli then addressed the trolls, asking them to not judge themselves as “harshly” as they judge others. “I have dealt with judgment my entire life starting from when I was a young girl. It has taken me a long time to realize that my judgment, with patient discernment, is the only judgment that counts,” she wrote.
Asking for grace and switching to the more meaty topic of how she navigates life in her 60s, she added, “More importantly, what is my character like? Am I kind to people? When I’m not kind, what is in my way? Is it my ego or my emotions? Or both? How can I change and grow to be the best version of me today? In this body.”
Bertilleni admitted she has no power over how other people perceive her, but also that she now “finally” has no interest. Referring to “physical setbacks” that plagued the first eight months of her 2024, she said “I don’t care what you think of my body. I don’t care what you think about my posting about it.”
The actor then looked back to her 20s, revealing she “hated” her body during that time and how much of a shame she finds that now. After three years of what she calls emotional labor, Bertinelli “wouldn’t trade” her body now for her 20-year-old one.
Considering Bertinitelli’s public struggles with body confidence and anxiety, a divorce announcement in 2022, and overly-involved fans chirping in, we can all hope the self-love and kindness preached in her moving captions only increase. Every wrinkle we earn in this life is proof of years lived and wisdom gained — two things many people are not lucky enough to arrive at.
Published: Dec 6, 2024 10:24 am