Matthew Perry Reveals He Was 'Madly In Love' With Valerie Bertinelli, Claims They Made Out While Her Rockstar Husband Eddie Van Halen Was Asleep
Matthew Perry opened up about his infatuation with Valerie Bertinelli in his new memoir, claiming he couldn't help but entertain the idea of the actress leaving her then-husband, Eddie Van Halen, and "living out the rest of her days with me."
In an excerpt from Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing, RadarOnline.com has learned that Perry penned about the days he dreamed of being Bertinelli's knight in shining armor, alleging they once had a steamy make-out session while the rockstar was asleep.
For backstory, Bertinelli and Perry had grown close while acting on the 1990 sitcom Sydney.
"I fell madly in love with Valerie Bertinelli, who was clearly in a troubled marriage," he wrote in the memoir, describing the Emmy award-winning performer as "way out of my league."
"It is important to point out here that my feelings for Valerie were real. I was completely captivated — I mean, I was obsessed with her," he shared in hindsight.
Perry recalled one night in particular when he was visiting the couple's house, detailing how he tried to make her smile.
"When you made her laugh, you felt ten feet tall," the Friends actor shared. "As the night progressed, it was clear that Eddie had enjoyed the fruits of the vine a little too hard, one more time, and eventually he just passed out, not ten feet away from us, but still."
Perry said he couldn't resist the temptation and went in for a kiss, saying the moment they shared prompted him to come forward about his feelings for Bertinelli.
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"I told her I had thought about doing that for a long time, and she had said it right back to me," Perry wrote, claiming co-star Craig Bierko warned him to not get carried away when he later told him what happened.
When she brushed off the incident and acted as if nothing happened, Perry said it took him by surprise and also broke his heart.
"I quickly got the hint and also played the role I was supposed to, but inside I was devastated," he continued.
Perry confessed it came as a relief when he found out the show was canceled since it meant he wouldn't have to come face-to-face with the object of his affection anymore.
Bertinelli and Van Halen were married from 1981 to 2007. The guitarist later died on October 6, 2020.
RadarOnline.com has reached out to reps for Bertinelli for comment.
"I have spent my life being attracted to unavailable women," Perry admitted in the pages, revealing it caused him unnecessary strife. "It doesn't take a psychology degree to figure out that this had something to do with my relationship with my mother."
In his memoir, Perry writes about his childhood, career in Hollywood, addiction struggles, recovery journey, and how he overcame all of the odds to get where he is today.