Valerie Bertinelli pokes fun at boyfriend's age in birthday tribute: 'Respect your elders'
Valerie Bertinelli continues to share her love for boyfriend Mike Goodnough with the world.
In an Instagram post shared Aug. 17, Bertinelli, 64, celebrated Goodnough's birthday with an adorable selfie of the two. The TV personality leaned over and kissed Goodnough, 54, on the cheek in the pic.
“If there’s one thing about Mike (there are many things) he’s not fond of backlighting. I, on the other hand, think backlighting is beautiful. As evidenced by this picture…that Mike took. Sometimes it pays to listen to your elders,” she wrote in the caption.
She added, “Happy birthday Mike,” before taking a crack at their age difference.
“You may be another year older, but you’re still younger than me,” she wrote.
Read on to learn more about Valerie Bertinelli and Mike Goodnough's relationship.
Who is Valerie Bertinelli's boyfriend, Mike Goodnough?
Mike Goodnough is a writer who lives on the East Coast. In a relationship reveal post, he wrote that he’s a “guy who abruptly ‘decided to be a writer’ a little over a year ago.”
“I write a lot about life and loss and love; joy and grief; hardship, long tunnels with little light on the other side … and then making it through them,” he added. “I’m an open book … and that often leads people to be open themselves in the comments.”
He also is father to a 16-year-old son, according to his Instagram.
It appeared Goodnough had been having a blast teasing his relationship with Bertinelli for a while. In an April 8 Instagram post, he’s seen reading a magazine featuring the TV personality on the cover.
On April 6, he posted a snapshot of a magazine rack featuring Bertinelli’s People cover right in the middle.
“Just browsing the magazine rack. As one does,” he captioned the post.
From the looks of Goodnough's Instagram account, he also enjoys birdwatching and regularly posts photos of the birds he encounters.
In a post to his blog on April 9, he opened up about dating the (then) unnamed woman who visited in New York to promote her book and how proud he was of her.
It was on this press tour for her book, “Enough Already,” that Bertinelli revealed her new relationship.
When did Valerie Bertinelli and Mike Goodnough reveal they were dating?
In March, Bertinelli revealed that she was “in love” with someone whose identity she did not want to share publicly.
A few weeks after that, Goodnough confirmed on his Substack called “Hoarse Whisperings” that he and Bertinelli were in a relationship.
“I am Valerie Bertinelli’s boyfriend … and that may well be among the most surreal sentences I’ve ever pecked out,” he wrote. “But it’s true… and nothing about our actual relationship seems surreal. It just seems … good … lucky … a gift.”
He continued by writing that “life is crazy, kids. It just is. It’ll rain hellfire down on you for years and bring you to your knees… and then it’ll open the skies to deep blue and love and calling someone ‘Honey’ because you just love the absolute hell out of her and feel so very thankful for the gift of that feeling, the gift of her.”
“So, the little rumor going around,” he added, “consider it happily confirmed. I just adore her. I’m so glad we’re together.”
Goodnough also told his readers he first asked the “Hot in Cleveland” star’s permission before making his big reveal.
He also joked about calling Bertinelli to ask her about the “rumors” that they were dating.
“She was lovely and warm and just exactly as you would imagine; and we had a humorous conversation about this whole thing,” he wrote. “I said ‘I know this is going to sound weird but… there is apparently a rumor going around that you and I are… romantically involved. I know. Where do they get this stuff? But it was apparently in a couple gossip mags today. Not sure if you are aware or care…’”
As they went back and forth, joking about the tabloids, he wrote, “She said ‘It’s true. I totally am. You’re my boyfriend.’”
Bertinelli went Instagram official with her beau on April 20.
In the selfie shot, Bertinelli leans her head on Goodnough’s shoulder while they both sport black glasses.
In the caption, the celeb chef penned some lyrics from Taylor Swift’s new song, “So High School,” and wrote, “I’ll drink what you think and I’m high from smoking’ your jokes all damn night.”
What has Valerie Bertinelli said about her boyfriend, Mike Goodnough?
Prior to revealing Goodnough's identity, Bertinelli said in an interview with People that she was “in love.”
“It’s a seesaw of emotions because I was adamant I was never falling in love again,” said Bertinelli, who divorced husband Tom Vitale after 11 years of marriage in 2022.
“I was supposed to die with my six cats and my dog, and very happily live the rest of my years alone — I’m good alone,” she added. “My belly is flip-flopping. This was not supposed to happen.”
Bertinelli added that she and her then-anonymous boyfriend became friendly a few years ago through Instagram.
“It was strictly platonic but there was something about him that I connected with that felt familiar,” she said, adding that the two have a “crazy” comfort level.
Bertinelli said the pair's relationship turned romantic earlier this year.
“It feels incredibly right,” she said. “I found joy first, and then a man entered my life.”
It seems those feelings of love are mutual. In a March 29 post about visiting a dying friend in Los Angeles, Goodnough also seemingly alluded to being "in love" with Bertinelli.
He wrote that he'd visited his friend, then "made a winding hour-and-a-half drive home to a woman I am in love with and who I feel so very lucky to have found."
"She lives in L.A.. She was making dinner when I got home. It smelled delicious," he wrote. "I was so thankful for it, the care of it, the comfort from that. It was so good to eat together…"
Goodnough ended the post by noting it was his dying friend that brought him and his new love together and promised to update readers with that story "next time."
Bertinelli and Goodnough made their red carpet debut on June 7 at the Daytime Emmy Awards in Los Angeles. The pair posed for pictures and spoke to the press about their relationship.
The two confirmed to “Entertainment Tonight” that this was Goodnough’s first red carpet appearance and their first as a couple. When pressed, Bertinelli revealed to "ET" several things she liked about her new beau.
“He’s brilliant. He’s smart. He’s funny. He’s talented. Amazing writer. He’s kind. He’s thoughtful. He’s patient with me, God knows I need a lot of patience. I mean, look at him. He’s a hot piece of ...” she said, trailing off as Goodnough turned red.
“It’s just really nice, at this age, to find someone that you really get along with just all around,” she concluded. “So, sliding into DMs is a good thing.”
"ET" also asked Goodnough what qualities Bertinelli had that had interested him.
“Well, I think what you see is what you get,” he said. “Valerie, she’s all the things that her fans know her to be. She’s kind, loving, caring, sweet. She has a big heart.”
All their adorable social media moments
Prior to Bertinelli hard launching their relationship on her Instagram, Goodnough took to the social media platform to poke fun at all the attention he’s been receiving because of her.
In his post, he shared an “Entertainment Tonight” report that announced he was the former “One Day at a Time” star’s new man.
While looking at the video in bed, he cringed as “ET” said his name and then the word “Ooof” appeared on screen.
Goodnough penned the caption, “Welp, so much for the staying anonymous thing. So, uh, hi… I guess. ??.”
Since then, Goodnough has appeared a few times on the celebrity chef's grid. After they celebrated her 64th birthday together, Bertinelli shared a post of her snuggling with Goodnough on a couch while Taylor Swift’s song “The Alchemy” played in the background.
She captioned the April 29 post, “??.”
For her April 23 birthday, Goodnough took Bertinelli on a trip to Los Angeles and shared evidence on his social media account.
Goodnough, who is a writer, posted a pair of pics on Instagram — a cute selfie of the couple along with a map showing a plane flying from Newark, New Jersey, to Los Angeles.
Goodnough also posted a pic of the former Food Network star hamming it up on a red carpet in his Instagram stories. “Happy Birthday! @wolfiesmom,” he wrote on the shot.
After her birthday was over, Bertinelli shared a cute video of her and Goognough walking to a car with ice cream in their hands, and then she also posted a black-and-white photo of her hugging him from behind.
“It was a good birthday ??????,” she penned the caption.
A few weeks later in an Instagram video shared on June 8, Bertinelli attempted the trend of creating a smooth transition between outfits with Goodnough by her side.
The video began with the couple both donning T-shirts with a pair of casual pants. For several takes, they tried to time everything perfectly while they jumped in place, though they laughed their way through their first failed attempts. Bertinelli even tried to coach Goodnough at one point, relaying a countdown to him.
Their attempts eventually became a success, ending with a final clip of the couple donning their ensembles at the 51st annual Daytime Emmys Awards on June 7.
“Sooo… tried to make one of those newfangled transition videos like the cool kids,” Bertinelli captioned the post. “It went…well…like this. (we’ll never be the cool kids).”
This article was originally published on TODAY.com
