Janice Dickinson Biography

Star Interviews
Model pose: Janice Dickinson wore a Paul Costelloe dress for her interview
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Introducing the new Janice Dickinson - what America's top model did next
Amira Hashish
1 Mar 2011
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On camera she has broken television records, battled drug addiction and appeared on 37 covers of Vogue magazine. Off camera she is a devoted single mother, self-made businesswoman and former victim of child abuse. But who is the real Janice Dickinson? In a frank and open interview, Amira Hashish is introduced to the endearing and affectionate side of a woman that has never stopped believing...

Janice, what brings you to London?
I was here for London Fashion Week. Paul Costelloe's show was amazing. Don't you love the Paul Costelloe dress I am wearing? It is really pretty. I feel like I belong on the top of a Christmas tree in Times Square. Also, I am here to do Britain's Next Top Model. Oops. Maybe I shouldn't have said that? Take that Tyra!

You recently celebrated your birthday. Congratulations.
Yes, I turned 56 on February 16. Thanks and no thanks. The good news is that I am able to fit into a Paul Costelloe sample dress. I have been stepping on the scales for years, worrying about my weight.

Let's get to know the real Janice Dickinson. Tell us about your childhood.
You mean, back in the Jurassic era? I was born in 1955 in Brooklyn, New York. My dad was Scots-Irish, my mum was 100% Polish and I was the middle child of three girls. My mother was a nurse and she worked very hard. My father was in the navy. We moved from Brooklyn to Hollywood, Florida. My dad was a rage-aholic, a s***-kickin' Texan. He had a bit of a temper but on the other hand he was funny, tall and strong.

Were you a happy teenager?
I loved growing up and I didn't. I don't want to bring you down. I am an Alpha female so I was told by my dad, the cowboy, that I should have been born a man. I was looking at him at three years old thinking why is my dad telling me I should have been born a guy? So I thought maybe I should act like a boy. I began to surf, do karate and go swimming. That's why I have these amazing guns. I still do yoga everyday.

How did your mother react to your father's abuse?
My mum didn't know what do with me. I was in Catholic school where the nuns were beating me and my dad was beating me at home because I had a big mouth. I was even beaten by my ballet teacher. I was trying to do the poses but I was talking the whole time. They hit you back then. They just smacked you round. If I saw the nuns today I would punch them right back.

So what encouraged you to become a model?
The minute I saw Lauren Hutton sailing across the pages of American Vogue shot by Sir Richard Avedon I wanted to be in the picture. My mother contributed to it too. She had to have me disciplined in classes after school. I did language, ballet, went to church twice a week so I was always in class. She put me in a modelling school when I was 15-years-old.

How did people react to your look?
I'm 5ft 10 and I was very flat-chested back in those days. I got these (points to her breasts) much later in life. The modelling instructor told me my look would never make it. But if you want to succeed in anything you have to believe in yourself. I still have this blind confidence. I believe in myself and people. I love people. I am the supermodel and princess to the people.

What do you think inspires this self-belief?
I moved to New York at a very young age. I saw a musician called Ron Levy who played for B.B King. I went on the road with them for a couple of years but I wanted to work on my portfolio. It ended up looking like a phone book. It was huge. I didn't have any money but I always begged photographers to take my picture. I went to Eileen Ford in New York and she said no to my look. She is a racist too, I'll tell you that. She said I had 'the N word lips' and told me to get out of her office. I was like, 'Are you a racist?.' I told her to F-off and left.

How did she react?
She just shrieked. I asked the head booker - a short squatty, fat, fabulous French girl called Monique - what to do. She told me to go to a beautiful Dutch model called Wilhelmina Cooper. So I did and Wilhelmina said 'yes, we'll take you buy you don't have that apple pie all American girl look.' I realised she didn't believe in me either but somebody had to believe in me. You have to have belief that, even though all the odds are against you, your light will shine some day. I had it.

How did you pay the bills?
I worked as a cocktail waitress in a hooker bar. I was married to Ron Levy and one night I went on tour with him. I was sitting backstage with his son and I said, 'where is my husband?' He was backstage banging some make-up artist. He had her up against the wall, having his way with her and I said 'you son of a bitch'. I laid one into him. I was so hurt and devastated, I'm Catholic . I cut her in the face too. So I ran out the door, hitch hiked on the highway, got drunk, started sobbing to this pick me up and he was really nice. He goes: 'you believe in yourself and your family. Don't believe in your husband.'

Did you realise it was time to focus on the modelling?
Yes. So I had to lose a little bit of weight and Lorraine Bracco (of The Sopranos and Goodfellas fame) from Brooklyn saw me and said she liked me and wanted to take me to Paris. I got to Paris with no money. But I was so grateful to be out of Hollywood where there was no culture. I learned French right away and I got a job for Elle. I was stealing food because I had no money to eat. All the other girls in the agency would get dressed up to go out at night and I was sitting there during the day going through all these appointments to become a model. I loved it.

Did the fashion industry meet your expectations?
Yes because I got to travel . I took every job for my editorial book and worked for the world's greatest photographers. You name a magazine cover and I've done it. These Vogues ain't what they used to be.

Do you still lead a very glamorous life?
Well, first and foremost I am a mum. I love taking pictures and I do a lot of charity work for aids but you won't see me because I am not out there at red carpet events, falling out of the cab with no knickers on. I am a mum and I go to soccer games and school orientations. They have seen me as a single mum raise my kids. I thought was going to be tarnished because of the single mum, Catholic thing. You have to have a husband but in the long run I am proud of the functioning disfunction I have had in my life. It got me to be sitting in your seat on The London Chat Show, with this great audience. I got here because I do what I love. I do television and I am still in fashion.

Do you have a good relationship with your children?
I raised two beautiful children. My son, Nathan Fields, has dual American/British citizenship. He is the love of my life. I am still very disciplined with my son and my daughter. They roll their eyes. My daughter is sixteen and her name is Savannah which means capital of Georgia or treeless plain. Her nickname is Savvy which means shrewd intelligence. I have two great kids that don't drink or take drugs. Well, actually, I don't know about Nathan. He gets pretty tanked in Vegas, I've seen him.

These days you seem to be just as comfortable in front of a television camera...
Television rocks. It started with The Surreal Life which I did for a month in the States. After that I wrote a book called No Lifeguard On Duty and Tyra Banks saw it. She then asked me to be on America's Next Top Model.

And you hold an I'm A Celebrity...Get Me Out Of Here record
Indeed, my record for ten of those bush tucker trials has never been beaten. Then they get people like Katie Price on the show with her huge breasts. She looks like a fish that has been washed up on the ocean that is gasping for breath with all that botox.

Your most recent appearance on US show Celebrity Rehab saw you battle your drug addiction. Are you still clean?
I did an 18 day stint on the show. I was hooked on flying back and forth to London and started to take sleeping pills. I have menopause and the night sweats. I told Dr Drew Pinsky (from Celebrity Rehab) at the finale of American Idol that these pills were getting me because I couldn't stop taking them. He said he could help me with pill addiction. Medication from doctors really screwed me and my behaviour up. The combination of prescription meds and alcohol is deadly. You can have seizures when you come off them. I am 7 months clean now.

What was your experience of another reality TV favourite Come Dine With Me like?
It was fun. My son said to me: Go be yourself and let them see the real you. You are a really nice person, not that crazy bitch on television. The crazy bitch got you to college, paid for university and everything you are wearing. Maybe my crazy behaviour and taking those pills did affect my kids but am now completely sober for them.

Would you say you are less 'crazy' off screen?
Oh, who is normal? The Queen as she is picking the flees off the corgies? I want to go have tea with her. Do you think I could get an invite to the royal wedding? Prince William should have picked me not Kate. You have a great royal family here by the way. I like everything English. I am an Anglophile.

It was rough growing up in my house. My dad was a bad guy so I wanted to get away from that environment. Children need three things - food and water, a sense of belonging and security. I didn't have the last two so I became very self reliant and independent.

So what was the next step?
Janice Dickinson's interview took place on The London Chat Show. The next show is on March 30. For more information visit www.londonchatshow.com

Janice Dickinson