Defiant Valerie Bertinelli Defends Reported 50 Pound Weight Gain, Blames Foot Injury — ‘We All Need To Give Each Other A Break, Especially Women’

Valerie Bertinelli isn’t going to shed any tears over her recent weight gain.

The Hot In Cleveland beauty, whose packed on a reported 50 pounds since her well-publicized Jenny Craig endorsement campaign, explained to The Talk Wednesday that she’s been hampered by a foot injury that’s left her unable to hit the gym, and refuses to bow her head in shame over the size of her waistline.

“Why do I feel shame?” the One Day At A Time star asked rhetorically. “I haven't been able to work out, so the weight has been creeping on.

“But I have to take the shame out of it because it's not fair.”

The 53-year-old ex-wife of Eddie Van Halen, who broke her foot in December, said that she’s comfortable in her own skin.

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“I have gained a few pounds ... it started to panic me. Then I thought, "Well, wait, a minute. This is my body. I'm almost 54. I broke my foot! My doctor told me to not get my heart rate up. But now I am back in the gym.

She continued, “We all need to give each other a break, especially women — let's leave each other alone,” getting a round of applause from the understanding audience.

A Bertinelli source told Mail Online the actress “will get back into her workout routine” when her body is fully healed from the injury.

“She is still in recovery. This is just a brief break. She wants to be back in her bikini by summer.”