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Valerie Bertinelli’s ex-boyfriend Mike Goodnough is setting the record straight about his social media posts.
The writer, 54, took to Instagram on Tuesday, April 1, to respond to one of the many comments suggesting that he and the celebrity chef, 64, were subliminally messaging through public Instagram posts.
“That is not the case,” Goodnough’s lengthy caption began. “I have never at any time posted something on social media for the purposes of communicating with someone indirectly when I know them personally and have ample ways to reach them directly.”
Goodnough expressed this sentiment multiple times, maintaining that he’s never posted on social media to get a message or a reaction from someone, nor to “impact someone’s feelings” about him, whether in public or private.
The writer continued by claiming that he is “very capable of communicating openly and directly with people I know and care about” and noted that he cares very much about Bertinelli.
“I have love for her and I always will. I want her to be happy. It will bring me nothing but joy to see that she is,” he wrote.
The writer, who dated Bertinelli for 10 months, went on to recall being with Bertinelli last year during the launch of her cookbook, Indulge, calling the period of time one of “the most joyful” of his life in watching Bertinelli reach happiness and success.
“Our relationship as partners ended. My caring about her did not,” Goodnough penned. However, the writer then went on to share unfiltered thoughts on the chef’s most recent Instagram posts.
“Unfortunately, over the past two months, Valerie has been prone to lapsing into a place where she has been playing a one-woman tennis match thinking there is someone on the other side of the net,” the caption continued. Goodnough accused Bertinelli of reading all of his posts and centering herself in them, taking offense to words that are not directed to her, and said she “lashes out angrily” as a response.
Goodnough noted that this pattern created the illusion that the two are indirectly speaking to one another but reiterated that he is not actively participating in this social media conversation with her. He highlighted his disappointment with Bertinelli’s alleged “hostile, dishonest, and uncalled for backhanded swipes” and said that while there is no fight going on between them, “she just won’t stop shooting.”
The honest and raw post concluded with Goodnough writing, “Valerie is in a war with her ghosts. I’m just the guy who catches the bullets. And that isn’t new.”
In a follow-up Instagram post the same day, Goodnough shared an image of a clear walkway, writing, “Perfect day to walk away from social media for a while.”
“It’s wild how many people on the Internet think they know better how someone should live their life than the person actually living it,” he added.
He took issue in particular with comments saying “I don’t know anything about the situation, but…”
“Never use a ‘but’ where you should use a period instead,” the writer advised.
The former couple split in November 2024, as confirmed exclusively to PEOPLE by a source at the time. Before this, Bertinelli was married to financial planner Tom Vitale, 61, from 2011 to 2022, following her marriage to the late Van Halen frontman Eddie Van Halen from 1981 to 2007.
PEOPLE reached out to Bertinelli’s team for comment and didn’t immediately hear back.
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