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Valerie Bertinelli spoke with PEOPLE at the 2025 Food & Wine Classic in Charleston about her
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her Thanksgiving celebrations and how they have become unconventional in recent years as she spends the holiday on the road visiting her son, Wolfgang Van Halen, during his Mammoth tour.
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The celebrity chef recalls past Thanksgivings spent in Milan, Secaucus, and other cities with her son’s band and family, and expects to be in Kansas City this year.
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Bertinelli says she’s looking forward to downtime in December, continuing work on The Drew Barrymore Show and preparing for the March 2026 release of her memoir, Getting Naked.
Valerie Bertinelli has made some new traditions over the years, but her Thanksgiving dinners these days are anything but traditional!
The celebrity chef, 65, spoke with PEOPLE at the 2025 Food & Wine Classic in Charleston about her Thanksgiving plans on the road this year ahead of the upcoming holiday.
Bertinelli’s son, Wolfgang Van Halen, 34, whom she shares with late ex-husband Eddie Van Halen, is currently on tour with his band Mammoth.
“Thanksgiving for me, the last few years has been interesting because my son’s been on the road,” she explained. “So the first Thanksgiving, I think it was four years ago, we had Thanksgiving in Milan with Alter Bridge, the band. And it was amazing. It was fun. Not a Turkey in sight though!”
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Valerie Bertinelli
She laughed and continued, “The next year, I don’t know where we went. And then last year we were in Secaucus [New Jersey] at a Houlihan’s and it was so much fun. We all sat at the bar because the restaurant was full and they sat all of us, the band, everyone — my brother, my son, his wife — was there. It was fun. And this year I think we’re going to be in Kansas City. I love it. So it’s wherever Wolf’s bus takes us, that’s where we’re going to be for Thanksgiving.”
Though the holiday season will be full of travel and festivities, Bertinelli says that she’s excited to have some time to wind down and relax in the following weeks.
“I’m looking forward to some really great family time and animal time because I do travel a lot, but I won’t be traveling for a little bit during December, so that’ll be nice,” she said.
Bertinelli said that in the months ahead, she’s also looking forward to filming more episodes of The Drew Barrymore Show, where she serves as a lifestyle expert and the release of her forthcoming memoir, Getting Naked.
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Wolfgang Van Halen and Valerie Bertinelli
The book, which is slated for a March 2206 release, features a stripped down cover of Bertinelli stripped down in her living room, an idea she says she came up with herself.
“I told my editor that I think maybe I should be naked on the cover, and then after I said that, I’m like, ‘Oh, now I have to actually do it!’ because I don’t do that,” Bertinelli told PEOPLE. “I’ve never done, you know, naked scenes in any movies or anything. But I was surrounded by a team that I use all the time, and they’re like friends and family to me; the photographer, he is like a friend and family to me and his team.”
Read the original article on People