The Three Questions with Andy Richter - Valerie Bertinelli

Episode Date: March 1, 2022

Valerie Bertinelli joins Andy Richter to talk about starting out on One Day At A Time, marrying Eddie Van Halen, working with Betty White on Hot in Cleveland, and more!

Hey, guys, it's Andy Richter here. Before we get to today's episode with Valerie Bertinelli, which is a great one, I just wanted to let you know that this show, The Three Questions, will be taking a little break, and we will be back very, very soon. Thank you so much. This has been another wonderful year, and I really appreciate all the listeners taking their time to listen and talk about this podcast. And we will be back soon. Thanks.

Hey, everybody, it's Andy Richter. And this is the three questions. Once again, still the three questions. I haven't thought of any extra ones. Still just three. But it doesn't cost any more. I am talking today with somebody that I've gotten the chance to know and work with and who is just awesome and talented and very multifaceted. You know, a lot of these actors are just one thing, not her. She's like at least three things. I'm talking to Valerie Bertinelli today.

Hi. Hi, Andy. How are you? I'm good. I'm good. I'm so glad you could do it. We had to reschedule. We had a mix-up before, so this is a redo.

I can chew gum and talk at the same time. I am multi-talented. No, I just meant because, you know, you're well, you're you were an actress in so many television shows. And but you're also like yourself and not a lot of people can handle that. Like that was one of the things of, you know, on TV, you know, like, you know, you have, you know, you're cooking shows and stuff. you know like you you know you have oh you know you're cooking shows and stuff and i know like i you know it was always shocking to me how many people that would come on the on the conan show that were big actors that were absolutely terrified and nervous about having to be themselves and have to think of stuff to say you know it's just oh yeah yeah because they're so used to being

yeah the scripts are you know yeah yeah yeah yeah but you know what i think was anybody shocked that um you know because you did the conan show for so long that you were also an actor yes it is well i started out to be an actor and then people didn't know you from that they didn't conan show the first time i left the conan show in 2000 and my first sitcom andy richter controls the universe our first table read for the pilot at paramount the president of paramount came up to me afterwards and said wow you can really act and i was like fucker that's what you're paying me for what are you paying me for if you like hiring somebody to pay you a compliment i know and it's like, fucker, that's what you're paying me for. What are you paying me for? Like hiring somebody to paint. I love how you think they're giving you a compliment.

I know. And it's like, you know, it's like somebody, you pay somebody to paint your house and you're like, hey, you guys can paint. Yeah, that's the deal. That's what we do. So, you know, people, I mean, the way people think about you in show business is such a dumb, it's so dumb and it's so easy and they just put you in one place and that's it. And then it's like, oh, really? Oh, you do that, too. You know, so.

Well, and it's always been like that since I've been doing this since I was 11, 12 years old. And I started off in a comedy and one day at a time. And then I wanted to do TV movies. I wanted to do dramas. Well, can she do a drama? Yeah. You know, we don't know if she can do a drama until I did my first drama. And then when one day at a time was over and all I did was TV movies for a while, then I wanted to do a sitcom.

Like, well, I don't know. Can she be funny? Because all she does, I was like, oh, for Christ's sake. I know. I know. They just know you for the last thing you did, you know? Right. Well, and it's such a fear based, like, I don know should i should i say i like this person and that i you know put my stock in this person what happens if they don't work out and somebody above me disagrees you know it's so fear-based now start with about that because you did you've been doing this forever and yes i'm old and well that's you know that's not what i meant uh but i mean i'm there with you i'm pretty fucking old too it's like when somebody somebody just yesterday was talking about a friend of mine was talking about her niece and said something about like that she was and she's now like working

in production and becoming really successful and she said like and and this friend of mine is about my age and a little younger and she said and she was born in 1996 and she's like and she's and i was like i was on tv for three years in 1996 and this is an adult out there setting the world on fire in 1991 it's crazy when you hear these things or people that people that I'm sure you get this too. I loved you when I was a kid and they're like grown people with children themselves. It's like, okay, I get it. I know I've been around, but I'm okay with that. Cause I actually have been around since, you know, and I am, I am too. It doesn't, I, and I certainly, you know, I certainly am not, uh uh trading on my looks anyway

so it's not it's not like i'm i'm worried that you know oh no my jowls you know it's kind of like it's part of the process um but you started doing that now here's another thing because i just you started doing this as a kid and you are normal and well-adjusted. And I do think that that can be like, you know, no, I think so. Well, you are sitting in front of literally 600 bottles of wine. So I am in my wine cellar. I tell you a little something about me. Maybe, maybe that's, you know, maybe you're self-medicating who knows, but you know, do what you gotta do. I have been known to do that in the 80s. Yes.

Yes. Yes. Me too. So, I mean, were your parents at all worried about getting you into show business and having you be a performer, you know, that young? Because it was young, right? Yeah. I was around 11 when I started taking acting lessons and started going up for commercials. I got my first commercial. I think I was 12 for JCPenney's.

I was cast in one at a time at 15. I just turned 15. I think they were just like, oh, let's see how it goes. But they there was at one point where I said, I can't take this. I don't want to do it because I went on like almost a hundred commercial interviews and I wasn't getting anything. I was rejection after rejection, after rejection, after rejection. And my mom came and she would always come to pick me up during art class, which is my favorite class in school. And I got so pissed one time. It's like, why are you taking me out of this class? I love this class. She goes, listen, I don't want to do this either. If you don't want me to, I don't want to stop my

day and have to take you to this thing. So if you don't want to go, I'm fine with that, but don't yell at me because you won't want me to take, I'm like, okay, okay, okay, okay, okay. So, and for a while I did stop. My dad, we all moved to Oklahoma city because my dad was, my dad worked for General Motors and he was, he was going around to different, you know, they move people around a lot back then. And we moved there and I thought, oh, that's it. I'm not going to be an actress any longer. And then we moved back because something happened with the plant out in Oklahoma City. And we moved back here.

So you were in California and moved back to because I know you were were born in like. We were in California in 1974 or 5. We moved to Oklahoma for like four or five months. And then we moved back. 1975. We moved back. Yeah. And then I got the job. What was your, what was your urge to be an actress? Like, what was, what was it about it?

Like, were there, was there somebody that you knew, a kid that you knew that was performing? Are there performers in your family? Yes. There was a girl in school and she was very popular and i was not and um it just looked really interesting and i was one of the shyest people i mean when you talk introvert this is what fascinates me about humans is so many people that I know in the business are introverts and, um, the extroverts are like, oh, I get it, but I don't meet very many of those. Um, Wolfie, my son is an introvert. Ed was an introvert. You are an introvert. Um, most of the people I meet were or are. And I wanted to not be shy anymore.

I wanted to come out of my shell, as I put it. And there was something about me that always, from a very young age, said, well, if it scares me, I want to do it. I want to see if I can do it. I want to test myself and see if I can do it. And so I would always do it. And it was the same thing with scripts. And I hated every moment of it when I would, like can do it. And so I would always do it. And it was the same thing with scripts. And I hated every moment of it when I would like do it. And I used to, it used to be a thing where I would be on the set and know I'd have a very challenging scene coming up. And I didn't want

to do the scene because it was the scene that made me take the movie. And I knew it was going to be really hard to do, but I did it anyway. And right before the scene, the days coming up to it, I would look at anybody else and think, oh, I wish I was, I wish I was the focus puller. I should be the focus puller today. You know, and then there was days where I'd see the focus puller sweating because they were having a tough day because whatever they had to do that day was a challenge. And I started realizing, oh, well, she, all of us have really difficult things to do at some point in our jobs. Yeah. So it just it you know, so I kept on going for the fear based thing. And I don't know what that is about me because I still don't feel like.

I do that, and yet I still do it. Did it translate into like risk taking? Like were you like a teen that would, you know. Climb power towers and, you know break into the school or whatever. No, maybe I drove fast a little bit. But no, I mean, I remember taking the car out. I was still like a little over 15, and I only had my driver's permit. My parents had gone out, and I had a car.

I had bought the car because I had just started one day at a time, so I had some money. I had bought the car because I had just started one day at a time. So I had some money and I took my car out and I, every cop car I saw, I thought I'm going to get pulled over. I'm never going to drive again. I'm going to get pulled over. So I would have this inner voice that was like, you're a bad person. And then my other part of me was like, let's try it. Let's just try it. I literally had an angel and a devil on my shoulder. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I was kind of, you know, I was a smart ass and I was constantly questioning.

And I certainly, like, as a kid, and I mean, you know, i could be such a fucking smart ass asshole and spent so often like sitting out in the hall just because you know but i also like i also learned the power of pissing a teacher off and then if you can make them laugh like as they're getting pissed off it fucks them up like they're like totally like they're like oh and then they start laughing start laughing. But I was so I was, you know, big shot in class talking to teachers, but out in the world, terrified of getting in trouble. And I don't know, looking back on it, I'm like, what did I think was going to happen? Like, you know, what did I think was when kids, you know, would like go out to the deserted farmhouse and run around inside it at night, like in the pitch black. Oh, no. Yeah. I'd be like, I can't do that.

And it wasn't even so much that it was scary. It was like, what if the cops come? Like, what do you think they're going to do? Throw you in jail forever? They're going to call your mom. You know, it's not the end of the world. Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah. world yeah yeah yeah um so did uh did it did it put distance in between you and kids when you were you know a teenager and started acting and you were on tv like was that weird well i still went to school um like i i went to granada hills high in the north valley um up until the second semester of the, I think the 11th grade, 11th grade. Yeah. Um, because for part of the semester I could stay in school and the other part of the semester I got, um, I was taught on class tutored. Yeah. And then the school said it was just, it, I couldn't do that any longer. So I had to go to, I went for the last semester of 12th grade, I went to Hollywood professional school, which is which I still don't even remember much about that school. Yeah, yeah.

I never got to graduate with my class, which was kind of messed up. Yeah. And you were studying acting too alongside it or was that earlier? I was studying with different, yeah, different coaches. I went through three or four or five different coaches that taught me different methods. And I read a lot and fascinating stuff. I would always do a lot of research about what I thought the character was. And I thought I was, I don't know.

I think I thought I was more smarter than I actually am. Well, you know, you're taking it seriously, especially as a kid. You want to, you know, you're a kid in a grown-up's world and you're seeing all these accomplished professional people. And you're thinking, well, I got to, I better do some more work for this rather than just be like, oh, it's a teen girl. I'm a teen girl. I'll just do what I feel, you know? Right. Well, with Barbara Cooper, I literally, I mean, it literally was me. I was basically playing me.

Elton John. I remember. Yes. I remember as watching that show as a kid and just seeing like like knowing Valerie Bertinelli loves Elton John and her character on the show loves Elton John. You know, it's just like part of the show. And then all of a sudden there were Van Halen posters in her bedroom. I remember that, too. Yeah. And so did you have do you have siblings? I don't know if you do. I have three brothers, one older and two younger. And how did they feel about their showbiz sister? It didn't do anything. I mean, they still treated me like shit. And they're both the way brothers do.

Yes, of course. Of course. Of course. Did you have like what did you when you set out to do it did you have something in mind like a particular kind of like did you want to be meryl streep or did you want to be no i knew i could never be i was never great at accents i couldn't cry on cue yeah um i i knew i would never be the greatest but i knew that I had, um, maybe I still don't know. I mean, I, maybe I'm just beginning to know that I, I have, I have a vulnerability or, or, um, I ha I have something people can relate to. I kind of, I look like your next door neighbor. I look like somebody that like, I look familiar. And I think there's something when somebody looks familiar, it makes you feel more at ease.

And I think that's what I have. I have a familiarity. You do. There's a wholesomeness, especially when you were young. I mean, on one day at a time, you look like you just popped out of a breakfast ad commercial you know like um yeah now you were kind of like a teen sex symbol at 15. I certainly didn't think I was was it but I mean you had they had to be aware of like no really did somebody just capture from that yeah yeah no there was no social media back then.

So how was I to know that? Yeah. So the magazines, like the teen magazines, it didn't get names or it just seemed innocent and everything? Yeah. To me, it did. Yeah, yeah. Because everybody had a crush on you. I mean, you probably know that now.

I had no idea. Yeah, yeah. I'm only finding this out in the last decade or so. Yeah. It's just like, oh, well, that's lovely. Somebody should have let you know. Now that I look like this and I'm old, it out in the last decade or so. Yeah. It's just like, oh, well, that's lovely. Somebody should have let you know. Now that I look like this and I'm old. It's like, thank you.

You are beautiful. You stop it. You expect me to look this way and I look this way. I will not allow you to talk bad about my friend Valerie. So, well, now, going through like just how long was one day at a time? Nine years. Nine years. Yes.

I literally started that program. I was 15 years old, a literal virgin in every sense of the word. And I ended the show at 23 married. Wow. To Eddie Van Halen. Wow. I mean, what an arc. That is an arc. That is an arc. Now, within within the nine years of that show, I mean, is it you know, people always say and it's usually a trope about like, oh, a film crew and a film set. It's like a family. And like, yeah,

sometimes it is. But a lot of times it's not i mean you don't get paid to be in your family uh you know you don't get double overtime when you're with your family for 16 hours um but uh was that i mean was that a happy journey throughout the whole thing with it yeah well mostly for sure i mean it was painful for mac for for some of it. Yeah, yeah. And Mackenzie still to this day, I feel like she's my sister. Yeah. We still talk. And she was such a sister to me, is such a sister to me. She would spend the night at my house.

I would spend the night at her house. I just thought she was the coolest person in the world. And she still is. I mean, what she's doing with her life now is just she's just she's so what's she what's she doing i honestly don't know she's helping people in recovery and she's still an amazing actress she was an orange the new is the new black she's still oh right and she and she is helping people she is recovery um a specialist yeah she's amazing at it yeah um and um And Bonnie was like a second mother.

She invited me out to be with her in New York during the hiatus, after the first season. And I went out and it was just, it was great to be with someone. I mean, Bonnie, remember, I was 15. Bonnie was only 31 when we started that show. She was so young. Yeah. So she wasn't really old enough to be my mother.

But so it was like being with this really cool older sister that really felt motherly towards me. Yeah. It was great. I mean, but Bonnie was also really sweet and conscious of making sure my mother

didn't feel left out because as a teenager, girls can be really shitty to their moms. Oh boy, can they? Yeah. So I have a 16 year old. And I was one to their moms. Oh, boy, can they? Yeah. And I was one of those teenagers. Oh, okay.

So, you know. Yeah. Yeah, Mackenzie, that, I mean, it's probably a good thing that she was in a show that did have some kind of stability within it because her childhood. Oh, messed up. It's just like she i just my heart bleeds for her and i'm in i mean that you know i mean that really like yeah i just can't imagine love talking to her you would love love having her on your show she's a really make a

note of that yeah um yeah because just the stories of like her childhood is just like i how you can get through that and not be, you know, there's a couple of people. I don't know how you don't, I don't know how you don't use drugs when you've, when you've been through what she's been through. Exactly. But to come out of the other side,

the way she has is just. Yeah. It's good. Do you think that like the stability that was provided by that show was helpful? I don't know. I don't know. That's definitely a question for her. But I can't imagine

it wasn't. I know that we all loved her as if she was part of our, like she was my sister. Bonnie loved her as if she was, you know, her daughter. Pat loved her. we all really wanted the best for her norman was so good to her really wanted the best for her yeah um how did you meet eddie i know you've probably told the story a thousand times and you know how did that evolve i mean did he see you on the show and call his manager and say no iowa bring me valerie burton. He was so shy. He would have never. Um, uh, my brothers lived in Shreveport, Louisiana, and they were playing, um, the stadium out there. Um, the arena, uh, this was during the actor strike in 1980. Yeah. 1980, August of 1980. What were your brothers doing in Shreveport?

My parents, well, GM, they moved out there to open a play in Shreveport. All right. So I would go out there a lot anyway. And my brothers called up and they said, listen, this band's playing out here and we can actually get backstage passes if you come out and promise to all hand them bags of M&Ms. I'm like, what? What are you talking about? Who is this band that they need M&Ms? And so David said that there's an 8-track cassette in the back of your Corvette that I left. Go check that out because the band's really amazing.

Just that sentence is fantastic. There's an 8-track in the back of the Corvette. Oh, oh. It was a 78 Corvette. Wow. Was it red? No, it was brown. I love that Corvette. And I had kept that for quite a while because this was in 1980 that we went out. Anyway. Yeah. But it was the 25th anniversary edition of the Corvette. Oh, wow. So my dad worked for General Motors. Right, of course. You got a deal.

Yeah, you get a deal. You get a family discount. Yeah, you got to get the most TV star car that your dad has a discount on. Well, my first car was a Chevette. Oh, really? Yes. Oh, those were shitty.

A friend of mine had one of those. You could take that thing apart with your hands i loved it so you put the a-track report yeah and we go would you put the a-track in did you're like all right i thought it was amazing yeah and listen and i'm linda ronstadt elton john all day long okay and then listen this been like what this is amazing i also had a little bit of a who and led zap and i liked every so often i would listen to them so they were right up my alley um so i said sure and then i saw a picture of ed and i'm like oh he's cute i will definitely go meet this guy if i get to meet him yeah yeah crazy charisma on that guy, too. Oh, that smile. Like, easy charisma.

He had no idea. It oozed out of him. He had no idea. He was so freaking shy. Yeah, yeah. He just smiled a lot. Because he was an innately happy guy that was in a lot of pain. Oh, really?

Yeah. Yeah. He had a really tough life. So when you met him, I mean, do you hit it off right away? You know, and are you are you going there thinking like, I'm going to meet that cute guitar guy? Mm hmm. Yeah, that's in your head. Yeah, yeah.

Sure. Yeah. And then I meet him and sparkly eyes, cute, impish grin. I'm like, oh, yeah. I mean, gaga over him. Yeah. Sure. And he's so shy. He barely says three words to me um before

the show they put me up on stage where his um where he tunes his guitars on the side of the stage when he comes back and forth and he kept smiling at me and he was just so adorable yeah yeah um it's funny over 40 years later i can can still see that smile, feel the stage. I can smell it. It's just, it's really cool. Are your brothers up there with you? Do they, do they get to tag along? They're walking around. They're like, like so crazy about it all. They're just loving everything. Then after the show we're backstage and talking and I had given them all, you know, I had given it to Al was very sweet Mikey was a

sweetie pie Dave was Dave Dave was gonna Dave the way he gave yeah he is a parade float yes yes and I was respectful but I just didn't I was like I don't understand this guy but that's cool he's a very cool showman I like the way he sings it's like cool lyrics okay yeah um but i was really like i wanted to like hang with the guitarist yeah and we did after the show and we talked a little bit and then we went back to their um motel it was literally a motel um you know where the doors open to the outside it was in tree fort yeah is this their first. Is this their first album? Is this their first album? This is Women and Children First, the third one.

Yeah. And then, you know, usually the band takes off, you know, around midnight. That's what happens with the Wolfies too now. And we just hung out until the band took off on their bus. And then I gave him my number and I waited for him to call. Three days later, he finally called me. Yeah. We didn't have cell phones back then.

I couldn't text him. Absolutely. Otherwise, I would have called him. And what's the age of you guys at this point? I was 20. He was 25. Okay. And so he calls, leaves you back in LA and says.

No, he was like in, I want to say, I don't know, somewhere around there. Maybe it was in Baton Rouge or Oklahoma, somewhere around there. You know, they were on tour. Yeah.

And he said, I was just embarrassed to call. I didn't know if you really wanted me to call. And I'm like, of course I wanted you to call. And we talked for a little bit. And then from then on, we would talk all the time. I would go out to visit him. When he was on break from the tour, he came and stayed with me. And that was it. Yeah. And when does it, when, like, at what point does it kind of start to be love? Like where you, where it's like you realize that it's really something strong and not just cute guitarist and.

Yes. Like heavy infatuation for a while. I don't know, because we got engaged by that December and we were married by April. Oh, wow. So it was very quick. Yeah. Yeah. And did you had any like long term boyfriends up to this point very much?

I had I had a boyfriend that I dated for like two and a half years before that. And that was it. Yeah. Yeah. And so what is it like marrying a rock star? You're on TV. But you're getting towards the last couple of years of your show. Yeah, we were in the last three um 1980 then 81 82 so but still

that yeah rock star marries sitcom star i mean that's a big deal like that way i was just living my life he was living his life we had these really um crazy jobs yeah his job was way crazier than mine. But we were homebodies. We just hung out at home. Oh, really? He would, you know, he set up in one of the guest rooms of our little 1,200-square-foot house that I had just bought right before I met him. And he would write back there. and he started writing, I think, which was the next album after Women, Children First?

I don't remember, but he was writing for that record. Yeah, yeah. So was it 1984? No, no, no, 1984. I don't know. Sorry. Yeah, that's all right. Van Halen fans will be mad at me now.

I know, I know. You know who's a gigantic Van Halen fan and wanted me to tell you is my 16 year old daughter loves them loves them just thinks like how did she get into them she gets into every she's like amazing well first of all the drive to school for her growing up from like when she could sit in the front seat on, except for a while, I had a goddamn GMC Acadia, which has radio controls in the back seat. And when you have kids, it's maddening. It made me bananas that they and they would do it on purpose just to fuck with me. Yeah, like driving along and all of a sudden you were like as a child oh i know i know i know they didn't know what drugs

to give me back then so i just ran wild but yeah they used to just crank the volume all of a sudden like yikes you know dear god but her drive into school was she went from and it was on on Sirius XM on satellite radio she would just bop around between 60s 70s 80s 90s and she just like if there was a song she didn't like she'd just go to the next decade so she knows like she knows the words to like I'm your puppet and you know you know magic carpet ride and stuff. Oh, wow. But she listens to lots of modern music, too. Lots of, you know, Mitski and different hip hop artists.

But she just really likes old music. And she also, but she finds Van Halen, like she likes the rock part of it, too. But she also finds it all kind of hilarious. So she likes the Dave era. Yes, she likes the rock part of it, too. But she also finds it all kind of hilarious. So she likes the Dave era. Yes, she likes the Dave era. Very much so. And like the the Hot for Teacher video, she watches for comedy just because she cannot believe that people in that not that long ago allowed that kind of just like blatant sexual exploitation to just be like, yeah, normal shit. You know, like, you know, just like it's like, it's so weird.

And when you look at it now and you think like, I mean, I guess they're still sort of like put sexy girls in music videos kind of thing. Not like that. That was like, just like, just you would be, if you have pitched that, you would get HR'd out of town. Right, no. Immediately. It was insane back then. She, but she loves it, you know. So anyway, I got that out of the way.

My daughter loves Van Halen. I love it. And she also, too, I don't know how my ex-wife feels about it, but she says, my daughter says, I love David Lee Roth. He reminds me of mom because she's just very like demonstrative. I don't think I've ever met Sarah, but I just because I follow her on Instagram and Twitter because I really do like her account. Yeah, that's. Yeah. But she's a very silly person and a very like kind of like likes big to do big like my daughter told me she came home the other night and came in through the backyard and walked up and my ex-wife was home

alone watching like an 80s rock video oh and you know what it was jump she was watching great video she was watching jump and dancing and jumping in the living room by herself going nuts. And Mercy said she just walked up and like tapped on the back window. And she was like, oh, like caught. Like just, you know. I love it. Yeah. Can't you tell my loves are growing?

When the show ends, do you have kind of more time to be married to Eddie? No, then I start doing TV movies like two or three a year. And that's worse. That's worse. Yeah. Schedule. Yeah. And I go away and yeah, it was it was hard. Yeah, it was hard. I don't know. I actually don't know how we did it. Yeah. For so long. Yeah. It wasn't until I had Wolfie that I stayed home for five years just to raise him. When he was in kindergarten. I mean, when he was a baby, I still continued to do movies and to continue to work. And then when he was in kindergarten, I couldn't take him with me anymore. So I stayed home to just be a full-time mom. Yeah, yeah. And how was that for you? Being a full-time mom?

Yeah, like going from... Oh, okay. Heaven. Okay. You did not miss the showbiz part of it. No, it's my favorite job of all time. That's why my Twitter handle since 2009, since I started Twitter, has been Wolfie's Mom. Wolfie's mom wolfie's mom that's my favorite job of all time it was yeah yeah i know now that wolfie's big and famous

and everything they think you know i'm wolfie's mom because of no i've been wolfie's mom forever yeah yeah not because he's famous now julia louis julia louis dreyfus i won't say exactly what it is but her email is basically i I'm the mom of sons. You know, it's like, it's a phrase, but it's like, that's, it doesn't have anything to do with her. Yeah, yeah. It's just like, that's what she is. And I get that, you know, like, like being a dad to me, like showbiz is fun. And it's, I always kind of think of it as like a racket. Like, you know, like when you were talking about, about you know thinking about the focus puller like a good on you for even being aware of the focus puller because some of these fuckers don't even like think about they all work so hard yeah they

don't even think about what it takes to get them to stand there in makeup and hair and look pretty and say things um that someone else wrote for them him. And I went to film school and I came up through film production. So I have a very much of an understanding of what goes on a set. And I love to think of myself as just another member of the crew, but just a really lucky one who gets his own room to go take naps and who gets like three four hours to do nothing like go you know go read a book or go you know whatever go sleep go wander around and bug people um so yeah it's uh i i uh i can't remember your face i mean people can't see it because they're going to be listening to this but but I'm, we're looking at each other, you know, so I can see it when you talk about your children, your whole face

lights up. Yeah. That's my favorite thing. I can see it just the way you talk. Showbiz is a racket. I got, I got really lucky and I have the ability to do this thing that I can make money. And now it's even more ridiculous because I do things like cartoon voices and host game shows, which is just endlessly tickled by that, you know. But it's all nothing compared to kids. It's all nothing compared to, you know, like, honestly, I told the executive producer of the Conan show once about somebody is talking about winning the lottery and i said if i won the lottery i don't know that you'd see me again and he went oh come on i would i was like and i thought it was like no i maybe you might really never see me again you know like i might move to a christmas tree farm in michigan or something just to just to get away because

there's a lot of bullshit involved in this stuff. So, yeah. I'd give like three quarters of it away and then I'd go move someplace and just like with a lot of acres and just take all the foster cats and dogs I could. And just like hire a bunch of people to help me clean all the litter boxes. And, you know. Somewhere green, too. That's what I miss. Somewhere like, you know. Someplace that snows as well. I. I miss living in California. Yeah. Green and snow would be nice. So. After what happens after five years that you go, you know, of of raising Wolfie that you that you'd go back to work. work and was there ever any kind of like oh no my career is slipping away from me because i'm

you know even though you love you love me okay i mean there was from my managers like you know you're gonna have to get back to work at some point and i'm like why we need our 10 or whatever yeah um i'm like can i just do a guest shot here and there and they're like oh they don't they don't know it's Like we talked about earlier. It's like, what's the last thing you've done? What can you do? Honestly, I don't. Oh, you know what?

What came up for me was Touched by an Angel came up for me, I think. That's about, I did a miniseries. No, that miniseries is when I decided to stop working. And that's when Touched by an Angel came up in around 2000 when I decided to go back to work. And you came on that show later, right? It was like it had already been on. I was in the last two years of that show. Right. And the reason I took it is because it was filming in Utah and we had a little minor shack in Park City that we would go up to all the time from the time Wolfie was a baby. And my brother lived up there. So I thought, well, I already have a place up there, so it'll be easy. I love the snow. It's even more beautiful during the summer. So I have a place to stay. So yeah, I'll do it. Yeah, I'll do it. And I would go up there and shoot. And at that time, it was before 9-11. So I from Burbank to SLC was a really easy back and forth trip. Oh, yeah. Come back, back and forth. I was at that airport and Burbank at least four or five times a week.

Best airport in LA. Sometimes I would slide in at dinner time and tuck Wolfie in. And then the next morning, take him to school and go right back to the airport and be back in Park City. When I can fly out of Burbank, I am just swoon how happy I am. I love Burbank Airport. And I live in Burbank, too. So I'm about literally like it's like going to Target, you know, but I'm going to the airport from Burbank. I freaking. Yeah. Yeah. It's fantastic. Um, so, and, and you were, were you a series regular, regular right off the

bat or was it like a recurring thing? Um, I was a regular off the bat for just the last two seasons. Yeah. It was lovely. And I loved working with everybody. Roma was just terrific. She welcomed me with open arms. Della was a little bit of a harder sell. She thought I was coming to take Roma's job. I'm like, why would I want Roma's job? I never want to be the star of anything. I want you to know that right now. I'm here to support. I like supporting people. And how is it in your power to become number one on the call sheet? And what I didn't, well, what I didn't realize at this time is that there was negotiations going on from what I understand later. And I think what was happening is CBS might have been threatening Roma with me.

And I didn't realize this. You didn't know that. How dare you guys. I don't want Roma's job. Roma is the best at what she does on this show. Nobody can take Roma's job. Yeah. And also, they're poisoning water

that you're thinking you're going to go have a nice swim in. Yeah. You know what I mean? So no, never Della was a little pissed off at me. I don't blame her. Right, right. But I did make it clear.

I said, Della, I don't want that. No, I'm just here. She said, oh, okay. All right, all right. And then she softened up to me and we had a great time. She was a funny, funny woman. I really loved her too.

Yeah. Did Wolfie go to school in Utah then or did he come to set? Had the show lasted another year, I would have brought him up there. I was looking at schools. I was looking at schools. Yeah. For sure. He could have got a good Mormon education for finally, you know.

Yep. Exactly. So that ends and you come back home and like during this, well, then 9-11 happens and I can't get home for four days. Um, uh, it was, I remember we actually had to work that day. Um, and Roma who has been through hell and back in Ireland, she wanted to work. She said, there's no reason not to work today. I like to work through this kind of thing, and she wanted to be with everybody. So we were watching the televisions that day. I remember we were working at a hospital set, and we kept turning on the live TVs,

and we were just, like, shocked by what was happening. The feeling of that day. And then when they shut down the airports, I couldn't get home. Yeah. I was freaking out. I got home from work that day and I just sobbed until I fell asleep. Yeah, yeah. You couldn't get a car or you didn't want to drive?

Oh, I didn't because then I had to work the next day. And not until I didn't have to work that I then got a car and drove home. But by that time, you know, the stress of the beginning few days were over, but I did get home. And then when the show was over, Ed and I just came to an agreement because he was peaking in his pain and the way he was dealing with his pain. And that's when I just I felt like I had to get Wolfie out of that house and we had to separate, which was really painful. I bet. And Ed was mad at me for quite a few years, unfortunately, but we were able to come back.

Within that space, is he accepting any responsibility? Is he like knowing that like... Well, not in the midst of it. Yeah, that's what I... Yeah, I mean, he was really deep and I had never seen his addiction that bad. Yeah. He had gone up and down,

but his addiction got really really really bad around this time yeah and i just i i did not know what to do anymore because there's nothing i could do there was no more al-anon classes i could take there was no more interventions i could go to there was no i just i was i had nothing yeah because you can't until someone, I, I do wish that I was able to recognize, because now I recognize the pain. I wish I could just take away the addiction and really, really see the pain that he was in. But I, I had been through over 20 years of just watching himself back and forth with the addiction, and I just couldn't see straight any

longer and see the real pain of why he had his addiction and why that was the only tool in his toolbox that he could use when he was in the depths of his pain. I feel like I'd be able to do it better now, but I don't know. I'm saying that now, but I'm not being tested, so I don't know. Right. Was he ever in any kind of therapy or anything, or was he just self-medicated? All the time. We went to therapy together. We went to therapy together.

Even after we divorced, we were in therapy together for when Wolfie was in a crisis. The three of us were going together. And this was after he stopped being angry at me for after a couple of years. And then we slowly made our way back to each other and we became really good friends again. Thank God. Yeah. Yeah. Did you ever like did you go through cycles of blaming yourself?

All the time. Yeah. If I didn't go away yourself? All the time. Yeah. If I didn't go away to work, I could. Yeah. If I was nicer, he wouldn't drink. If I was better, if I didn't nag him so much, if I didn't do this, he wouldn't drink. If I would just stop, he would. Yes.

All the time. Yeah. And what puts an end to that cycle of you? You know, is it just I don't have to. Yeah. I can't even control my own addiction with food. How am I going to control his addiction with alcohol and drugs? Right. Right. Because that's my addiction. That's how I deal with my pain. But I wasn't even recognizing that about myself as well. Yeah. And I would go away and it wasn't helping me. I didn't like my sponsor. So that wasn't helpful. Yeah. I was going I was going to therapy to try to help that you know so it's it's it's it's a difficult thing i think you know to try and well i think part of so much of of mental health growth i i kind of like

use in a colloquial sense is like being a grownup. Like there's so much of it that is like- Aging helps. Aging helps. You calm down. Your priorities become very clear. And there's a lot of things that you thought were really important that are absolute horseshit that you can just jettison. Yep.

But there is a point, and it's a hard transition to when you realize, and it's an important one, I can only do me. I can only control me. I can't. And so everybody in your life that you've got a drama with or that you've got conflict with, it's almost like you surrender their agency to them. And then you're just left kind of with yourself which can be really lonely and you know can make you do things like i can't do this anymore i gotta go you know um so it's it's it's hard it's like it's a good step to realize that you can't do anything but

it's like also kind of like well we really powerless. It's a lonely step to anyone else and their motivations. And, um, and until we realize that, uh, I mean, sometimes I barely have enough bandwidth to deal with my own emotions. So I can't, and I need, I know that I need to keep myself full enough so that I can be there for my son still, even though he's going to be 31. Cause I want to be here for him, even though he doesn't feel like he needs me any longer, but there's a, there are very few times still that I will get those phone calls and I know

that he needs me and I'm here for him. Yeah. Yeah. Even as an adult. And that's fine. And I, I love it. I appreciate it.

It's better than fine. It's good. It's fine. It's good. It's good. It's good. Every, the fact that you can, I mean, you know, there's a healthy version of it and the very unhealthy version of it.

But if you can be mommy to somebody for their whole life, that's when they need a mommy, you know, like sometimes. It's rare when he does, but when he does, I'm here for him. Yeah.

Sometimes you need a mother. Sometimes you need a for him. Yeah. Sometimes you need a mother. Sometimes you need a wise counsel. Other times you just need a mommy. You just need like somebody soft to snuggle up to, you know, and get comfort from. You need a soft shoulder to lie on. Yeah. Yeah. You know, I mean, he has his girlfriend and he has all that, but there's there, there,

he has his uncle who he really relies on. He has his uncle who he really relies on. But we all have different roles in everybody's lives. And I have a specific role. I can't be Ed for him. I mean, he does have that empty space. But I can try and fill part of that because I am his parent, as Ed was. I'm not as musically brilliant as his dad.

So I can't help there. But he's got other people that he can rely on there you know he's also got himself because he's brilliant but yeah was did you worry about how wolfie was going through this you know this sort of the your marriage ending and yeah oh and was it rough for him if you do and you're damned if you don't you know i needed to get him away from all those drugs and and the alcohol and i didn't want him to see his dad in such a horrible place but yet breaking up a marriage where he that was he didn't see all the horribleness because we did try to keep it away from him so that when we did go to talk to him and say you know mom and dad are going to separate for a little bit he was devastated and really mad at us so that was hard and and was surprised was he like like shocked yeah yeah he didn't see it coming because whenever ed and i had problems we kept it from wolfie yeah i mean in in my particular situation we didn't have

you know nobody was had the problems that ed had in our marriage but my kids were just blindsided by it which i and in some way i felt like well good for us for you know not turning our life into a screaming match which i lived through some of that and it was definitely and my ex-wife did too and i think that definitely in reaction to that i mean there were arguments there's always arguments in people's married life but they really did not it's it's weird to be like we did a good job hiding things, you know, like. Right. And Wolfie even makes fun of it. He's like, yeah, you know, it's still you still messed up my world.

Yeah. You know, and I still didn't protect him from his father's, you know, disease. Yeah. Because he still went on the road with him. And he saw, I mean, the worst of Ed's addiction. Everybody saw on stage. I think it was 2007 and it was just horrifying. And Wolfie was there for it. So I couldn't protect him, even though I wanted to. But he's doing well now, right? Does he have any kids?

He doesn't. I'm hoping at some point, yes. Come on, Wolfie. Get to work. He's been a lady yeah um quite a few years and they are terrific together yeah um so hopefully we'll see it's a big step yeah and you can't it is it's also too like now it's a modern thing where you can't go like hey are you gonna have babies have babies why don't you have babies like we understand now that's not your

business be quiet you know stop. I try to be respectful. I do. I know. It's hard. Yeah. But I really want to be a grandma. Well, now let's talk about something a little more fun. Let's talk about Hot in Cleveland, because that was like that was really you came right back.

You played a priest on Hot in Cleveland. I did. I did. That was fun. that was really, you came right back. You played a priest on Hot and Cleveland. I did. I did. That was fun. It was really fun. And I had, you know, it was a chance to hang out with, well, all of the women that worked. One thing I felt about that show, and I think I even talked to you at the time, when you have four strong actresses, like when you have four number ones on the call sheet. You have to put them in alphabetical order because they're allical order because yeah, exactly. Like there can be problems. And there have been shows that famously have had

multiple female leads that have been problems. But I just got the sense that with Betty White there, no shenanigans. Nope. Because there were no shenanigans with Betty White. There was just sunny professionalism and just love abounding. She just was such an amazing person. Yep. And did you have that feeling that like, you know, like from the beginning, there was just like, nobody's going to fuck around. I mean, from the get go, from the very first table read it, what you could just see that this that there was no star of this show, although we all thought Betty was the star of the show. Yeah, of course. Because she killed it every single time.

Yeah, yeah. I mean, come on. But, yeah, it was, I mean, you take each individual person. Wendy Malick, who is amazing. A genius. She's been in everything. A genius. An unbelievable genius. And she's been in everything. A genius. An unbelievable genius.

And she is the kindest, sweetest, coolest. Like, you can't shake her. She's just, she's a horsewoman that lives in Topanga. I know. You know, she comes in with dirty boots because she used to have been slopping the barns. Yeah. So she's just, she's amazing.

Slopping the barn, whatever. Cleaning the barn. And also, she's like just one of those people that give her the lines and then they come out of her mouth and you're like, couldn't get better. Like you couldn't find another person to do that better. Just every little nuance, everything,

just pure genius. And no ego, absolutely no ego. Yeah. Like just show up. So you got that, you got Wendy, you got Betty,

and then you had Jane Leaves. Yeah. Who doesn't, has then you had Jane Leaves. Yeah. Who doesn't, has no clue how gorgeous she is. Just doesn't freaking get it. Just doesn't get it. She's just this statuesque, perfect shouldered, gorgeous dancer with these legs for days. And she's got that perfect accent and this perfect timing. And she just doesn't, she's just, and she can also be the goofiest thing in the world.

Yeah. And no ego again. So, yeah, I mean, it's going to be a really fun place to work. That had to have been a thrill to like start that again. I was heaven. And I knew at the time, usually I don't, I have a really hard time living in the moment. Because I'm always trying to like get to the next place or what have I done wrong? Or can I do this better? Or what, what's going on? And not just sitting and just enjoying

what's happening to me at the moment. And I knew for every moment of those five years that this was never going to happen again. You are working with some very special people and there is no ego here. Everyone wants everybody to succeed. So take this in. Enjoy every second. And I did. I didn't want to rush through anything. I just enjoyed every moment of those five years.

And I was still pissed off at TV Land for canceling us. Still pissed off at TV land for, for canceling us. It was, it was, it was a very joyful, happy set, which, you know, you know, you do guest spots somehow. It's like when you were a kid and you go over to a, you know, one of your friends houses for dinner and you're like, this family is, something's going like, this is a very unhappy place. And there's plenty of times you go work on these shows and you're like, Oh my God, these people are miserable and fighting. and you don't even know what's going on. But that just

seemed like happy, easy. We were all chill. Yeah, just like what it should be and what it ideally is. I've been so lucky. That's all I've ever really worked on. I can't think of any challenging ones. And then you got to become the food lady. You know, you got to become, you know, you got and which is like, I mean, that for me, too. It's like I when it's like, what, you know, what do you like to do? I mean, there's days and, you know, now I get more people in my life. But there were days definitely like in covid where I would be bored and I'd just be like, I'm making gumbo. I don't care. Half of it could go in the freezer, you know, but I'm just, it'll take, it'll take me a few hours. It's a project. And for me, it's like building something like I'm going to make this thing, but you get, you know, like, yeah, if you

build a table, you don't get to eat it, but if you make a gumbo, you get to eat it. And if you, you know, if you live alone and your kids see every couple of days, you get to eat it. But if you make a gumbo, you get to eat it. And if you, you know, if you live alone and your kids see every couple of days, you get to eat it for quite a while. But yeah, I mean, cause I love cooking too. And I mean, I've talked a million times to people about how to figure out how to do cooking, you know, in a television thing. And I, you know, and I just don't know if I would fit it in or if it like, you know, the timing of it, when it would be a right thing to do. I did hosted a game show for the Food Network. Oh, you did? Yeah, I did.

It was on for a minute, but it was really strange. It was, they, every show on their network is an hour. And they said, let's make a half hour game show. So it was like, then there would just be two episodes. They put two episodes together and then, and then it just kind of, it also was like, yeah, it was, it was fun, but it was kind of like, it was also kind of weird. And also like every one of my best jokes, they would, you know, like they couldn't do, and they would come to me and be like, it's basic cable, dear. Yes and it's food network and they like there was one time where

jaleel white urkel we were doing a game where they there we had filled chocolates that were filled with gross things you know like tuna and stuff like that oh yeah and then you had to guess what was in the filled chocolate and uh so he bit into one and he said, oh, I don't know what it is. He said, but it would be like, he said, he said, it would be like something that you would give to somebody to make them break up with you. And I said, you can't put herpes in a chocolate. everyone howls but they immediately come to me and be like that will never be on the air and i was like damn it come on a herpes joke you can't make a herpes joke but um but yeah it was fun but i mean that's got to be fun for you because you know you love cooking and you know and you me too i love cookingicated relationship with food. Complicated. But I've gotten to a place now that because it all started with loving food, watching my noni cook and and watching my mom cook and learning how to cook. I mean, cooking before I started acting. And then for quite a few decades, just having this love-hate, mainly hate relationship with food.

It's bad. This is bad for me. That's bad for me. I can't eat this. This will do this to me. And then it's coming back to, that's my love language. Food is love to me. And food, that's how I show love.

That's how I feel love. As long as I don't use food to suppress feelings I don't want to feel, I'm going to enjoy the food that I make, that people make for me, that I go to a restaurant to eat because food, food is energy. Food fills my body so it can continue to pump blood through my body. It's there for a reason. It's not, I mean, I love food and I'm not embarrassed anymore. And as long as I try to and do my best to eat more fruits and vegetables so I know they make me feel better. Drink less alcohol because I know I don't feel as well when I drink too much alcohol. Eat less sugar because I know I don't feel as well when I eat more sugar, so I eat less.

But not take anything out of my diet because sometimes something's going to bring me joy as long as I don't use it to suppress a feeling that I don't want to feel. Yeah. Feel that feeling. So don't use food. Enjoy food. Yeah. And I, you know, to me, I don't, I don't understand people who aren't into food. I mean, it's like, it's like saying you don't like, it's like saying you don't like breathing or, you know, you're not, you're not into sex or orgasms. Like, what are you talking about? It's like one of the basic things. And especially when you talk about it, cooking with your grandma, families getting together.

And you think about just human history of we caught a big animal. And we killed it with a spear. And now everyone's going to be happy and we're all in you know we're going to do 10 different things with this deer and we're going to eat it for months and and just the drawing together it's like it's i don't know it's just like the community that happens around you it's all about community yeah yeah um and but it also too is basic nourishment and sometimes you know like when my daughter takes literally 20 minutes to find a restaurant on DoorDash and I'm like, it's one meal, honey.

It's one meal. Hold on. Still scrolling and scrolling. But no meal should be wasted. But I mean, sometimes. I agree with your daughter. It's important. But I mean, sometimes I agree with your daughter. Sometimes my meal is like standing at the fridge, eating a pickle and then like a piece of salami and then, you know, a slice of cheese. Those are good, too. Yeah. Yeah. No dishes. You know, it's all you just got to wash your hands for sure.

Well, we're about the end of our time here. And I need to I need to ask you what you know, what's next for you? What do you do? What's what do you see the rest of your, you know, I guess, sure, the end of our time here and I need to, I need to ask you what, you know, what's next for you. What do you, do you, what's, what do you see the rest of your, you know, I guess, sure. The rest of your life,

like, what do you see happening? What do you, what do you want to happen? What's your, your, what's your game plan? I,

um, I want to do another sitcom. I want to do a multicam and I'm hoping that this, um, pilot that I'm shooting next month will work out because it's right up my alley. It's, it's written by Suzanne Martin who wrote hot in Cleveland and she's brilliant and smart and I love her. And she, she wrote it. Is it called hungry? So it's all around food. Yeah. My character used to have a food show and is dealing with issues about weight.

And my it was written for Demi Lovato and Demi is amazing in this. So I'm hoping that NBC picks it up. And there's there's something so. The energy about about doing a show in front of a live audience, a multicam, it's indescribable. I don't know how, the energy, it's part of the cast. The audience is part of the cast. It's just, you know. Well, you know. You've done it.

I do. I like it. I prefer that so much over a single cam. See, I'm the opposite. I like it. I prefer that so much over a single cam. See, I'm I'm the opposite. I like a single cam. And like it's like you said, because I am a little bit of an introvert and especially I feel what. And I understand the good parts, like and I understand, especially like the good part of a multi camera sitcom is it's a nice life. You're you know. Hell yeah. I don't want to work 12 hours a day yeah it's an easy schedule i want to have a life yeah and it's an easy

schedule doing something fun you know like if you do it right and the people aren't miserable and you're not working for a showrunner that hates going home you know like is there some of those like why why are we here at 11 p.m.? Because he hates his wife. Like, that's, you know, the answer. And it's like, oh, shit. But it's a really fun life. And there is like a lot of happiness in it. But for me personally, I don't like the audience to be in my timing.

You know what I mean? Like, I want to say my line when I want to say my line. And I want the right amount of time after you say your line for me to say my timing. You know what I mean? Like I want to say my line when I want to say my line and I want the right amount of time after you say your line for me to say my line. But if they're going to laugh for 12 seconds, I got to stand here holding this line, you know, and it's a minor quibble, you know, like if they, if the phone rings after I get off with you and they say, come and do a multicam, I'm like, all right, you know, let me put on some shoes. But yeah, I'm just, it's a point. I didn't think of it that way though. It's just, and it's a preference. And I've always kind of liked, like, especially coming from improv

where you're with a group. I, what I like the kind of, and especially like, I like location work. Like it feels like you're in the circus. You put all this stuff in the studio. Yeah. You go out into the world and it's like, and the studio yeah yeah you go out into the world and it's like and sometimes there's you got like a a bear and sometimes you've got like explosions and you know and uh there's that kind of always changing and i like that it's this little troop of people and you know on the conan show for all those years i was trying to make the cameraman laugh i've said this before. Yeah.

The audience, the audience is nice and I'm glad they're there. But if I can make the cameraman laugh because they've heard every bit of my bullshit. And if I can crack through them and make them laugh, I feel like, OK, there we go. You know, that's why camera block day is the most fun. Yes. Because when you make those guys laugh while they're trying to write their notes. Yes. Yes.

This is the best. Yeah. It's the best. All right. Well, hey, Hollywood. That's it, Andy. You have to do my show now. You got to come do Valerie's home cooking. I will. I won't. Tomorrow. You want to? Sure. I will. I definitely will. We can't. OK. Well, I didn't realize you love to cook so much. well i didn't realize you love to cook so much i do i do i um uh you know it's it's harder now that i i live alone most of the time you know with a big dog i mean she gets to eat what i eat sometimes too but the freezer is your friend precisely i i live in a rented house uh because we're i there my my ex-wife and my daughter are still in the old house my son has his own apartment and i'm renting a house and uh one of the first things i bought for this house

was i went to best buy i don't know whatever lowe's got a coffin freezer for the for the for the garage yep like i got a freezer full of. I always have to have a second freezer in the house. Always. Freezer full of just like, you know, like somebody once came over because there's a. You never know who's going to stop by. Well, and there's a sausage place in Continental Sausage in Glendale. Check it out, people. It's a German sausage place.

The best. And I'll go there and buy people will come and look and they'll be like why do you have like literally 18 pounds of sausage in here and it's a sense of security you know like i know i'll never run out of sausage so do you like to make sausage and peppers yes sausage and peppers my favorite is uh polish sausage and lentils which is a recipe that my mom used to make when i was a kid it's like stewed polish sausage and peppers my favorite is uh polish sausage and lentils which is a recipe that my mom used to make when i was a kid it's like stewed polar sausage and lentils with tomatoes and a million pounds of garlic and it was it was like one of my birthday meals like you know when you

get to pick your birthday meal it's really really good and the what they make at continental is like a really garlicky Polish, Polish sausage too. So, oh, it's good. I mean, I'll make it on your show.

All right. All right. Well, now we come to the final question. What have you learned? What have you learned? What's the, what's the,

the Valerie Bertinelli motto? I have learned that we are more alike than we are different. And like Dr. Seuss says, those who matter won't mind, and those who mind don't matter. That's pretty good.'s pretty good yeah yeah well thank you so much for coming on this you know thank you for having me we can finally work it out yeah me too and yeah i'm gonna hold you to that i would i definitely oh good let's cook let's do something so that'll be fun so right. And, and hopefully you got anything to plug besides the show.

You got anything, the pilot, but I mean, there's no sense. My book is out, but we talked about, I think we talked about my book. Did we talk? Yeah. But I don't know. Did we not talk about my book? I don't think we did. Come on, go ahead.

Okay. So I have a book out right now called enough already. Learning to love myself as I am. What is it called? Yeah. Learning to Love Myself as I Am Today. What is it called? Yeah, Learning to Love the Way I Am Today. And we did talk about all of those issues, which is what I talk about in my book about loving yourself the way you are today, not caring what the scale says. Yeah. And if we don't love ourselves, how are we going to love others, basically?

Yeah. Basically. Yeah. And it does, it's, it's, it does come down to kind of a simple thing. Like, well, what else are you going to do? What else are you going to do? Walk around hating yourself. You have to live with yourself. Yeah. How long is, how long can that last? How sustainable is it to be like, I'm terrible.

And then go, you know, like, but I'm, you know, I'm terrible until they put me in the ground. Like, no, no, you can't. I spent way too many years in self-loathing for no reason. I worked really hard for a wonderful life. Why wasn't I enjoying it? So now I just want to enjoy it because I deserve it. We all deserve to be happy. You hear that, people?

We all deserve to be happy. And we have the power and this interview made me happy and thank you again and thank all of you out there for listening uh we will be back next week with uh well they're the same questions but three more questions thanks again for listening to the three questions, you guys. Just a reminder, the show's taking a little break, but I will be back very soon with more podcasting fun. Thanks again. I've got a big, big love for you.

The Three Questions with Andy Richter is a Team Coco and Your Wolf production. It is produced by Lane Gerbig, engineered by Marina Pice, and talent produced by Galitza Hayek. The associate producer is Jen Samples, engineered by Marina Pice, and talent produced by Galitza Hayek. The associate producer is Jen Samples, supervising producer Aaron Blair, and executive producers Adam Sachs and Jeff Ross at Team Coco, and Colin Anderson and Cody Fisher at Earwolf. Make sure to rate and review The Three Questions with Andy Richter on Apple Podcasts.