Valerie Bertinelli: 'Sydney' Cancellation Led to Son Wolfie's Birth

A Life-Changing Decision

Valerie Bertinelli recently shared a unique story about how the cancellation of her television show led to the birth of her and Eddie Van Halen’s son, Wolfgang Van Halen. During an episode of The Drew Barrymore Show, she revealed that the end of her CBS sitcom Sydney inspired her to start a family with her rockstar husband.

The conversation took place during the show's recurring Memory Bank segment, where Bertinelli presented a photo of her younger self standing in front of a birthday cake with her costars from the series. “This is, I think, from my 30th birthday,” she recalled, looking at the image displayed on the screen behind her. She named each of the people in the photo, including Craig Bierko, Rebecca Bush, Matthew Perry, Daniel Baldwin, and Barney Martin.

Sydney marked Bertinelli’s return to CBS after her success as Barbara Cooper on One Day at a Time. The 1990 sitcom followed the character Sydney Kells as she started her own detective agency in New York City, pursued romance with her client Matt, and avoided her cop brother Billy.

“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 show was canceled after its first season, which caused 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.”

This revelation surprised everyone on the Drew News desk, with Ross Mathews, Drew Barrymore, and special guest Katherine Heigl expressing their awe. “Manifestor!” Heigl added.

“I was like, ‘I’m 30. We’re either gonna do it now or we’re not, Ed.’ And he was like, ‘Yeah, yeah!’” Bertinelli responded.

Bertinelli and Van Halen welcomed their son, Wolfgang Van Halen, in March 1991. He would go on to follow in his father’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.

Mathews noted that moments like the one 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.