Valerie Bertinelli has discovered that long-distance relationships are difficult, but her “special” bond with lover Mike Goodnough makes it worthwhile.
PEOPLE met up with the cookbook author as she was promoting her adorable spatula for Williams Sonoma’s cooperation with No Kid Hungry. She discussed her courtship with Goodnough and provided an update on their “three-week rule.”
Bertinelli stated in an April cover story interview with PEOPLE that the restriction was established early on in their dating relationship. “We never go longer than that without seeing each other,” she remarked.
Fast forward to July. “It’s been challenging,” she tells PEOPLE. “The summer has been fully scheduled. It’s tough.”
In late April, Goodnough, also known as Hoarse Whisperer, officially announced his relationship with Valerie Bertinelli on his Substack Hoarse Whisperings. Since then, social media has praised Bertinelli, and they even made their red carpet debut at the Daytime Emmy Awards in June.
Bertinelli says she’s ready to keep her romance private after being so open in the beginning.
“A part of me is just like, it’s been so public, and now I’m trying to pull back and make it so much less public, and try to keep some stuff for us now,” she confides to PEOPLE. “It’s like, ‘Oh, but, yes, I let the cat out of the bag.’ I’m not sure. I’d like to keep it between us, making it a little more special.
“Even though I was so public with it, now part of me just wants to protect,” she adds, describing her partner as “terrific.”
Aside from travel, the author of Indulge has a full summer planned. Bertinelli, Ina Garten, Cameron Diaz, and Jack Black are some of William Sonoma’s celebrity collaborators who designed a kitchen spatula to benefit No Kid Hungry. As part of the “Tools for Change” campaign, Williams Sonoma will give 30% of the revenue from each limited-edition spatula sold to charity.
“I’ve wanted to make a spatula for Williams Sonoma since they launched. “I thought it was the most fun idea,” Bertinelli tells PEOPLE about the endeavor.
Bertinelli claimed her design idea was obvious. “Of course, I was going to put a cat on it,” she said. The pet enthusiast owns six cats—Batman, Henry, Bubba, Tigger, Beau, and Nelson—but she couldn’t pick just one to feature in her sketch.
“I didn’t want any of the cats to feel envious. “It doesn’t resemble any of my cats,” she says.
Her humorous artwork shows a white cat with a hearty nose peering over the edge of a yellow spatula.
“I just adore it. “I think it’s the cutest thing in the world,” she adds, saying that she’s “so privileged” to be a part of the charity’s 10-year celebration. “It’s because in America, no kid should go hungry.”