Valerie Bertinelli confirms relationship with boyfriend using The Tortured Poets Department lyrics on Instagram

Valerie Bertinelli took to Instagram on April 20 to go Instagram official with her boyfriend, Mike Goodnough. The actress posted a selfie with Mike and quoted lyrics from Taylor Swift's Track 9, So High School, from her new album, The Tortured Poets Department: The Anthology, which was released on April 19.

In the post, the two can be seen smiling side by side, wearing black glasses. The caption read —

"I'll drink what you think and I'm high from smokin' your jokes all damn night."

Mike Goodnough, a writer, earlier wrote on his Substack, "Hoarse Whisperings," on April 17, confirming their relationship, saying —

"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."

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Mike Goodnough is a writer and corporate consultant

Valerie Bertinelli's boyfriend, Mike Goodnough, 53, is a New York City-based corporate consultant and also a writer. He often writes on his Substack page, Hoarse Whisperings.

Mike graduated from Rutgers University and has built a career in marketing and data technology services. He has also worked with Avis and Pfizer. As per his essay on Substack, he met Bertinelli at the New Jersey Panera, and the two hit it off over morning coffee.

"Oh, so, funny story... I was in a suburban New Jersey Panera enjoying the exclusive benefits of membership in their prestigious Sip Club recently when who should I see topping off their dark roast ahead of me? Valerie Bertinelli."

While talking about his relationship with Valerie, Mike also said he "just adores her, and he's glad they're together."

"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."

Goodnough is also a dad and often writes about his son on Substack. In a November 2023 post, he revealed his approach to raising his son is "all just one big guessathon."

Goodnough's and Valerie's recent post comes after he joined her on April 15 on an episode of The Drew Barrymore Show, where she was promoting her new cookbook, Indulge. In the show, while talking about Mike, Bertinelli said she had no plans to date and was going to die alone with her six cats and her dog.

"He was not supposed to come into my life and here he is, he's 10 years younger."

While talking about his qualities, Valerie Bertinelli described Mike as 'complicated and brooding but thoughtful and ridiculously talented." She also called him "gorgeous, like so hot."

While revealing details about their first encounter, Bertinelli mentioned she followed him on X in 2016 or 2017, after which the writer DMed her once in a while. He then followed her on Instagram, and their texts escalated to phone calls and face timing before they met in person in New Jersey.