Valerie Bertinelli says "Sydney" cancellation led to birth of son Wolfie: 'Okay, it's time' Emlyn TravisSeptember 18, 2025 at 1:55 PM 8 ANGELA WEISS/AFP via Getty Wolfgang Van Halen and mom actress Valerie Bertinelli (R) arrive for the 64th Annual Grammy Awards at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las V...
- - Valerie Bertinelli says "Sydney" cancellation led to birth of son Wolfie: 'Okay, it's time'
Emlyn TravisSeptember 18, 2025 at 1:55 PM
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ANGELA WEISS/AFP via Getty
Wolfgang Van Halen and mom actress Valerie Bertinelli (R) arrive for the 64th Annual Grammy Awards at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas on April 3, 2022
Valerie Bertinelli is sharing how her television show being canceled directly led to the birth of her and Eddie Van Halen's son, Wolfgang Van Halen.
During Thursday's episode of The Drew Barrymore Show, the actress said the cancellation of her CBS sitcom Sydney inspired her to start a family with her rocker husband. The conversation came up as part of the talk show's recurring Memory Bank segment, which saw Bertinelli present a photograph of her younger self standing in front of a birthday cake with her fellow Sydney costars.
"This is, I think, from my 30th birthday," Bertinelli recalled, turning to look at the photograph displayed on the screen behind her. "Okay, starting on the left that's Craig Bierko, Rebecca Bush, me, Matthew Perry, Daniel Baldwin, and Barney Martin, God rest his soul." (A similar image from the festivities is featured below.)
Jim Smeal/Ron Galella Collection via Getty
Valerie Bertinelli, Matthew Perry, Barney Martin, and the rest of the cast of 'Sydney'
Sydney marked Bertinelli's return to CBS following her whirlwind success as girl-next-door Barbara Cooper on One Day at a Time. The 1990 sitcom followed Bertinelli's titular character Sydney Kells as she established her own private detective agency in New York City, courted romance with her stuffy client Matt (Bierko), and evaded the ever-watchful eye of her cop brother, Billy (Perry).
"It was a lot of fun. It had a lot of problems, though," Bertinelli said of the series. "But I must say, Craig Bierko and Matthew Perry are probably two of the funniest men I've ever had the pleasure of working with in a sitcom. So funny."
The series was canceled after its first season, causing Bertinelli to shift her focus to another part of her life: her family.
"All I remember mainly about this is that we were canceled, and as soon as we were canceled, I said, 'Okay, it's time,'" she said. "And I got pregnant a couple weeks later."
The revelation took the entire Drew News desk by surprise, with Ross Mathews, Drew Barrymore, and special guest Katherine Heigl all expressing their awe. "Manifestor!" Heigl added.
"Really! So, in a good way, maybe…" Barrymore began, to which Bertinelli responded, "I was like, 'I'm 30. We're either gonna do it now or we're not, Ed.' And he was like, 'Yeah, yeah!'"
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Bertinelli and Van Halen welcomed their son, Wolfgang Van Halen, in March 1991. He would go on to follow in his dad's footsteps, playing as a member of his father and uncle Alex Van Halen's influential rock outfit Van Halen before starting his own band, Mammoth WVH.
CBS via Getty
Valerie Bertinelli on 'Sydney'
Mathews noted that special moments like the one that Bertinelli brought to the show are why Memory Bank is one of his favorite segments.
"I love Memory Bank because Val can tell us what was going on in her head," he pointed out. "We see a birthday picture and she's like, 'I knew I was getting pregnant in two weeks in this moment!' This is why I love Memory Bank."
The Drew Barrymore Show airs weekdays on CBS.
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