When Valerie Bertinelli was approached in March to become the next face of the Jenny Craig weight-loss plan, the former One Day at a Time star did not jump at the chance. She certainly wasn’t happy with her size-14 figure, but what would it be like for her to admit publicly that she was overweight — and then have the world watch as she tried to make a change?

Luckily, she didn’t have to look very far for her answer. Kirstie Alley, 56 — Jenny Craig’s reigning spokeswoman — had already lost 75 lbs. while in the public eye, and she had kept the weight off for nearly a year. But more important, she was willing to act as Valerie’s guide and cheerleader on her own journey. That was all Valerie, 47, needed to hear: She signed on.

Shared Heartaches

It didn’t take long for the two women to do some serious bonding. Scott Parker, Jenny Craig’s vice president of marketing, says the star acquaintances — their children attend the same L.A. school — met for a one-on-one first “date.” “They had a great old time — their senses of humor matched, and it was like, ‘Oh, this is gonna work!’?” says Parker. With good reason: Their stories are very similar.

Both women suffered emotionally wrenching miscarriages when trying to start their families, but are now doting single moms to their kids — Kirstie divorced actor Parker Stevenson in 1997 and has custody of William, 14, and Lillie, 12; Valerie split from rocker husband Eddie Van Halen in 2005 and is raising Wolfgang, 16. While Kirstie spent years overcoming an addiction to cocaine, Valerie became a co-dependent in Eddie’s longtime battle with the bottle. And then, of course, there were their issues with overeating.

But most of all, both beauties know how painful it is to gain weight in front of millions of Americans who fondly remember them from svelter days. Kirstie, who crash-dieted down to 120 lbs. during her six-year run on Cheers but eventually reached a high of 219 lbs., often turned down party invites “because I felt bad about how I looked,” she recalls. And while she gamely starred in a 2005 Showtime series based on her life, Fat Actress, Kirstie has never gotten over what she calls the “social brutality” of “fatty haters.”

Meanwhile, Valerie, who starred on One Day at a Time from 1975 to 1984, began to notice people in the grocery store pointing at her and making rude remarks about how heavy she had gotten after she packed on weight during the disintegration of her marriage. “What always got me was someone would come up to me and say, ‘I think you’ve put on a few pounds.’ Really? Because I don’t own a mirror?”

Fear of being humiliated even kept her from going on auditions, and the same concern about having her struggles made so visible prevented Valerie from giving Jenny Craig an immediate “Yes!”

Life-Changing Advice

Enter Kirstie, the diet veteran, who, like Valerie, had long relied on favorite comfort foods to ease her considerable troubles. When Valerie began the plan, “Kirstie just told her, ‘If I can do this, you can do this,’?” says Parker. Her advice ranged from the celeb-centric — such as, don’t eat anything in public that you wouldn’t want the paparazzi to snap — to the day-to-day, which included sharing healthy recipes and a list of her favorite Jenny Craig foods.

Kirstie also encouraged Valerie to understand that the battle is about much more than fitting into skinny jeans. “Once you lose the weight, you don’t all of a sudden get happy. I know now I still have to work on that other stuff that has nothing to do with weight,” Valerie says.

And while Valerie has benefited from Kirstie’s been-there, done-that counseling, it’s evident that Kirstie has also gotten an unexpected boost from her new pal: further motivation to stay at the 144-lb. mark. Valerie — who has decided to drop 15 lbs. more than her original goal of 30 — “has done so well that it inspires Kirstie to stick with it,” says Parker. The twosome — who both admit they’re not gym rats — have even tried exercising together, taking the occasional Pilates session as a team.

For every pound Kirstie and Valerie have lost, they have gained self-esteem and a sense of well-being, erasing years of heartache and depression along the way. For Kirstie, this has led to starring roles in an upcoming Fox pilot and the recently aired Lifetime movie Write & Wrong; for Valerie, a refreshed relationship with financial planner Tom Vitale, 46, who showed his support by joining Jenny Craig — and dropped 19 lbs.!

The friendship has even helped Valerie loosen up. “I don’t think anyone’s sassier than Kirstie, but Valerie’s allowed her personality to get sassier and more self-confident as she’s progressed,” observes Parker. Kirstie herself may get an added bonus in the romance department: Valerie has offered to fix Kirstie up with her brother!

Support Sisters

Clearly, the support system is working and, with Valerie poised to eventually drop 45 lbs., the twosome will soon be able to swap tips on lifelong maintenance. Now, it only remains to be seen whether Valerie will celebrate her achievement as Kirstie did — with an appearance on Oprah in a body-baring bikini! If one of her recent blog entries is any indication, it’s not out of the question: “I, Valerie Bertinelli, am wearing a bathing suit!” she boasted.

“Obviously, I want to look better and thinner on the outside, but my inside is getting an overhaul as well,” says Valerie. “Just like Kirstie said it would!”

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