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Valerie Bertinelli says posing nude for the cover of Getting Naked, <\/em>her new book, “feels better” than her famous 2009 green bikini cover of PEOPLE.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n She calls her new book cover “my stupid bright idea” but also says she had fun doing it.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n “I\u2019ve got this weird quirk that if I’m afraid of something I\u2019m going to walk right through it. And I did,” Bertinelli says.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n Valerie Bertinelli <\/a>calls posing nude for the cover of her new book Getting Naked <\/em><\/a>\u201cmy stupid bright idea,\u201d but she admits, it was also kinda fun.<\/p>\n \u201cBecause getting naked emotionally was the most important part of the book, I thought ‘Well, I might as well expose myself there too,’\u201d the star tells PEOPLE in this week’s cover story.<\/p>\n \u201cPart of me also feels like at this age, if I can look good, do it,\u201d she laughs. \u201cAnd I don\u2019t know what I\u2019m going to look like when I\u2019m 80 but at 65 it looks pretty f—ing good. I think you\u2019re allowed to feel good about yourself. I have felt bad about myself for too many decades. I\u2019m going to feel good about myself now.\u201d<\/p>\n It\u2019s a new freedom for Bertinelli, a world away from her famous 2009 bikini photo after she lost some 40 pounds via Nutri-System (she was then a spokesperson) and a much talked about PEOPLE cover.<\/p>\n \u201cI was a good 20 pounds thinner and my body was definitely tighter but I think it felt better doing this,\u201d she says of her new book cover. \u201cI\u2019m never going to do it again but it was fun to try it once. I\u2019ve got this weird quirk that if I’m afraid of something I\u2019m going to walk right through it. And I did.\u201d<\/p>\n