Ever since signing on to be the spokesperson for Jenny Craig, VALERIE BERTINELLI's life has become quite busy. She has just been tapped to be the first "Celebrity Buddy" for the "RACHAEL RAY" show, her son WOLFIE is now a bass player in his father's band, VAN HALEN (she attends as many of his concerts as she can), and she is being followed around by paparazzi -- something that hasn't happened to her in several years.

"I got crucified," she tells ET. "I went to Hawaii halfway through my diet and I wore a bathing suit for the first time in I don't know how many years. And, you know, [the photo] was all over! You don't go to Hawaii with your bathing suit when you're halfway through your diet, because the paparazzi will come. I thought, 'They so don't care about me,' but I guess when you do a weight-loss commercial, and you're in a bathing suit, they find that interesting."

Valerie now only has five pounds to go to meet her original goal, but, even so, she says there is no way that she will follow in KIRSTIE ALLEY's footsteps and parade around in a bikini when she sheds all the weight.

"You don't wear a bikini when you're a certain age," she says adamantly. "You just don't. I'm 47. By the time I get my brick-house body, I'm going to be 48. When you're that old, a nice respectable one-piece is fine. If you see me in a bikini, slap me. I'm a prude."