Valerie Bertinelli Shares Why She Went ‘Back to the Real Me’ After Debuting Blonde Look

Valerie Bertinelli recently showed off a bold new look — but she says it didn’t reflect her true self.

The celebrity chef, 65, took to Instagram on Monday, Nov. 10, to share an image of herself sporting a golden blonde hairstyle.

“New hair who dis?” she joked in the caption, then revealing it was a wig styled by celebrity pro Chris Appleton, known for his work with Kim Kardashian and Jennifer Lopez.

While numerous comments on the photo praised Bertinelli as “stunning” and “beautiful” as a blonde, she returned to the social media platform a day later to share a selfie in which she smiled while wearing her signature brunette mane.

“Back to the real me 🥰,” she began the caption. “It’s always fun to play dress up and fool around with hair and make up, but when I look in the mirror, I want to see…me.”

“I’ve spent a lifetime hiding in plain sight and making myself smaller to make people comfortable,” Bertinelli continued. “What I want to see now is that little girl that never felt she had a voice and give her a voice. That little girl that was always on her best behavior, tell her some people don’t deserve your best behavior. That perpetual people pleaser that thought it was normal for people to walk all over her, tell her boundaries are healthy.”

The Food Network alum concluded the note with a message to her younger self.

“Tell that little girl that thought she had to do and say anything to make someone love her, that she was always lovable all on her own,” she wrote. “That little girl, has brown hair. 🤎”

This isn’t the first time the One Day at a Time star has reflected on her tendency to be a “people pleaser.”

During an appearance on The Drew Barrymore Show in September, she discussed the mental impact of aging and going through perimenopause. 

Barrymore said one of the benefits is a “liberation” from societal pressures, which Bertinelli said she had experienced.

“I had to turn 64 before I really caught on,” Bertinelli said. “I was that people pleaser for far too long. And I just decided after everything that happened last year, I’m done. I’m done.”

“I’m going to put myself [first] — I have to care about myself,” she added. “And at this age, I care less about what people who don’t know me think about me.”

Bertinelli joined The Drew Barrymore Show as a lifestyle expert last year, and recently said the supportive atmosphere on set encouraged her to write her upcoming memoir

In a clip posted on the show’s Instagram on Oct. 10, she opened up about the inspiration for the new book, Getting Naked.

“You welcomed me into this home and it felt like such a safe space,” the Indulge cookbook author told the talk show host. “And I started to then just write, and write and write. And I went, ‘Oh, I’m not healed yet. I’ve got so much more left to do.’”