Valerie Bertinelli Praises 'Smart' and 'Funny' Ex Mike Goodnough 3 Months After Split: 'You'll Always Hold a Place in My Heart'

Valerie Bertinelli has nothing but love for her ex-boyfriend Mike Goodnough — three months after their breakup.

The TV star took to Instagram — posting a black-and-white photo of the former couple — to reflect on their eight-month relationship. She opened up about how much the writer meant to her after news of their split broke in November 2024.

“I met the @therealhoarse in person a year ago today and I am irreversibly changed by him for the better,” she wrote in the caption, tagging Goodnough’s Instagram handle and revealing they first met in March 2024. “I know I am becoming a much stronger and more benevolent human for having met him and spent time with him.”

“Before I had the pleasure of meeting Mike, I was initially and immediately attracted to his writing. It’s heartfelt, authentic, smart, funny, sensitive, caring, and from the soul. And the way he puts words together is just sooo ridiculously beautiful. 🤩 I’m a big fan, can you tell?” she continued.

She then praised him for being just as “heartfelt, authentic, sensitive and caring” as his writing, calling him “wickedly witty.”

“I feel so lucky to have gotten to know him, and to really see him and soak up his insights. I value all of our long conversations and they have lead me to interesting and fascinating places I rarely thought to go,” Bertinelli shared.

“I look at life with a different perspective and caring because of my experiences and conversations with him. And he’s been a big part of helping me heal from some old childhood wounds I never knew what to do with or even where to start,” she added.

The Valerie’s Home Cooking star even encouraged her followers to check out his Substack newsletter.

“May I suggest you subscribe to Hoarse Whisperings Substack and you’ll get the beautiful gift of what it’s like to be in his orbit. Or, as I think he might put it, to pull up a chair and sit at his big table in community and conversation,” she wrote.

Finally, she shared her deep gratitude for having met Goodnough.

“Thank you, Mike, we may no longer be a couple, but you’ll always hold a very special place in my heart,” she concluded. “Love you. ♥️.”

Bertinelli first spoke about Goodnough in April 2024, revealing how their connection began years ago when he commented on one of her Instagram posts.

“I thought he was interesting,” she told People. “It was strictly platonic, but there was something about him that I connected with that felt familiar. A comfort level. He felt like a kindred spirit.”

“His voice had the most beautiful timbre. I was like ‘Oh, I can’t talk to this man right now because that’s really s---.’ We both had strong feelings, trying not to admit them,” she said.

The couple quietly went public on April 3 when Bertinelli was spotted with Goodnough at a taping of The Drew Barrymore Show.

He later addressed their romance on his Substack, writing, “I am Valerie Bertinelli’s boyfriend… and that may well be among the most surreal sentences I’ve ever pecked out. But it’s true… and nothing about our actual relationship seems surreal. It just seems… good… lucky… a gift.”

By November 2024, their long-distance relationship had come to an end as a source told People, “They are no longer in a relationship.”

Bertinelli is based in Los Angeles, while Goodnough lives on the East Coast. She previously admitted their “three-week rule” to see each other had been tough to maintain.

For his part, Goodnough didn’t let outside voices affect their romance. “Valerie and I are the only two people with insight into our relationship. Neither of us pays much attention to chatter among people outside of it,” he said at the time.