Valerie Bertinelli Shuts Down Critics Of Her Underwear Selfie

Valerie Bertinelli is defending the skin-baring photo she recently posted after she was body-shamed by internet trolls.

The celebrity chef’s response comes after the 64-year-old shared a mirror selfie on Instagram Tuesday. In the post, she showed off her body in a two-piece while getting candid about the long road to finally “feeling acceptance” for “every lump, bump, wrinkle and saggy” part of her body.

“To all of you that would sit in judgment of my body, the photo, and my reason for posting it, I hope you find a place in your heart to not judge yourself as harshly as you judge others,” she wrote in a follow-up post after her initial post.

Sharing that she’s “dealt with judgment” her “entire life” since she was a young girl, Bertinelli continued, “It has taken me a long time to realize that my judgment, with patient discernment, is the only judgment that counts.”

“I have no power over someone else’s judgment of me and now I have no interest. Finally,” the former spokesperson for the weight loss program Jenny Craig added. “It’s taken me almost 3 years of emotional labor to get to this point mentally and for the first eight months of this year I had physical setbacks.”

Bertinelli wrapped up her message by telling her naysayers that she “doesn’t care” what they think of her body.

“I don’t care what you think about my posting it. For the first time in my life, I love my body as it is … even as challenging as it’s been and is, I am grateful for this journey and wouldn’t trade this body for my 20-year-old body any day. Ever,” she added.

Earlier this year, Bertinelli clapped back at critics who trashed her for using filters on social media.

“I’m filming with no filter today because some of y’all get really bent out of shape when I choose to use a filter, which I’ve told you about,” she said in a since-deleted Instagram video in January. “Sometimes I use a filter, and sometimes I don’t. Most of the time, I do use a filter because this is me with no makeup, and this is no filter.”

The former Food Network star also addressed the social media users who accused her of wearing wigs in her posts.

“Can you get me a wig without flipping gray roots then, please? Because I’m tired of getting my roots done every two weeks,” Bertinelli added as she bent her head to give her followers a closer look at the roots of her hair.