Valerie Bertinelli got candid about the work she had done to enhance her appearance..
Bertinelli, 65, opened up about getting a breast augmentation and experimenting with Botox in her new book, Getting Naked: The Quiet Work of Becoming Perfectly Imperfect, which was released on Tuesday, March 10.
In 2019, she “tried Botox” for the first time, but immediately knew it wasn’t for her. “I didn’t like it and had a mini freak-out when I saw it changed the shape of my eyebrows, which changed the shape of my face, which was a shock because my face is the way I recognize myself,” the actress recalled. “I didn’t like what I saw. I didn’t want to see a puffy, distorted version of me in the mirror. I didn’t want to wake up and say, ‘Knock knock, is Val there?’”
Bertinelli went on to say that she “didn’t want to look [her age]” and tried out “fillers and Botox” in her 50s. “I was doing battle against puffy eyes, jowls, saggy skin — basically looking my age.” She noted that she wanted to look “younger” and “not so tired” but wasn’t sure what “age [she] wanted to look.”
“Don’t get me wrong. I am not against plastic surgery or Botox and fillers,” she added. “Some people look amazing when it works. They feel much better about themselves after a procedure. I get it — and I’ve been there.”
When it comes to going under the knife, Bertinelli opened up about having a “complicated relationship” with her breasts. “Mine were mocked relentlessly. They were called ‘little quarters,’ ‘itty-bitty titties,’ and ‘tiny boobies,” she shared. “I took it all to heart. Instead of appreciating the changes my body was going through, I dreaded them. I had no idea what I was supposed to look like; I only knew it was wrong.”
Bertinelli then got breast implants, but never wanted to “put them on display.” She shared candid details about her “old implants,” which she described as “ostrich eggs, hard and crusted over.” If a breast implant ruptures, it can cause pain, hardening of the implants and lumps.
“I couldn’t believe they had been in my body,” she wrote. “I went home bandaged and sore, with drains under my arms, uncomfortable but hopeful. For the first two weeks, everything was great. About a week later, my right breast took on shades of green, yellow, and blue. The next day it started to swell and turned a dark purple. I felt myself getting dizzy. By nighttime, I was running a fever.”
She shared that her “right breast” needed “six months to heal? the infection” and “grow back the missing tissue.” Months later, Bertinelli got a third surgery to install “another small implant under the muscle” to restore “what was left of [her] nipple.” Bertinelli shared that it took a year for her “boobs [to take] shape.”
“They are now two completely different sizes; the implant on the left is over the muscle, and my right side is sad and misshapen,” she explained. “Eventually I will have a fourth operation that will, I am assured, even things out once and for all.”
