Valerie Bertinelli on Betty White's death just before her 100th birthday: 'Betty's got the best timing'

Betty White would have turned 100 years old on Monday, and while everybody has been lamenting the fact that the iconic actress died days shy of celebrating her centenarian birthday, Valerie Bertinelli is choosing to find a silver lining — the way White would have.

"That's Betty," Bertinelli, 61, said of her former "Hot in Cleveland" co-star on "The Kelly Clarkson Show." "Betty's got the best timing. Why not send 2021 out with a bang? Say, 'See ya later! I'm out!'"

According to White's death certificate obtained by TMZ, the five-time Emmy winner had suffered a stroke roughly a week before she "died peacefully in her sleep" at her home in Los Angeles on New Year's Eve.

"Even though Betty was about to be 100, I thought she would live forever," Jeff Witjas, White's agent, said in a statement confirming her passing (h/t Variety). "I will miss her terribly and so will the animal world that she loved so much. I don't think Betty ever feared passing because she always wanted to be with her most beloved husband Allen Ludden. She believed she would be with him again."

Bertinelli also reminisced on meeting the "Golden Girls" legend: 

"The first time I met her was at the reading, the very first script reading for 'Hot in Cleveland,' and I was in awe. ... When you're in her presence, she literally glows. I'm telling you. I don't know how, but the woman is just a walking glow stick. She's just full of gratitude and love and kindness. She was just the greatest gift."

"Hot in Cleveland" ran for six seasons from 2010-15.

Bertinelli initially posted tributes to White shortly after news of her passing: