Blind Items Revealed

August 22, 2012

There I was last week. I was at one of my favorite hamburger places not named In-n-Out or Five Guys. This one actually has waiters to bring me my burgers. They also have hostesses. At first I thought she looked familiar. But honestly, I get that feeling every second here sometimes. You are always scanning the crowd and seeing if someone looks familiar. Someone you can write about or mention or take their photo. Despite me looking at hundreds of photos everyday I really suck at the game. I had a ten minute conversation with Amanda Seyfried two weeks ago at the grocery store about why avocados have to be mushy before they make proper guacamole and I had no idea who she was until we were about to walk away from each other. At that point, I didn't even bother to try and take a photo or let on that I recognized her or ask her why she is dating that creepy guy from Dexter. The only reason I did recognize her was someone came up to her who wanted an autograph. Anyway, where was I? Oh yeah. So, I am looking at this hostess without appearing to look too much and then finally I think I know who she is, but how does one ask that question? It can go badly. But, I did. I finally asked her and I was right and then comes the next question about how did someone who was on the cover of magazines and on a hit network television show and one of the most famous men in the world as her boyfriend go from all of that to working as a hostess at a burger joint. A good one though, don't get me wrong. She answered with the air of someone who has answered it all before although with her I think she had told her story in meetings rather than to the public. She said it all started with thinking that everything would last forever and that even when the show ended she thought she would get another in a second. It was why she had not bothered to save any of the almost $2M she earned from the show. She had bought a house but ended up refinancing it and losing it during the recession because she could not afford the payments when the interest rate went from the teaser rate. She had done a lot of coke when she had a hit show, but could not afford it when the show ended so she turned to cheaper drugs which took a long time to get off. What was once a drop dead gorgeous face has the hints of years of meth abuse. She still has that beauty under there because she got off it quick enough. For awhile her boyfriend stayed with her, but he got tired of the drugs and partying so she found other guys that did enjoy it and they would take care of her. They liked having sex with someone they watched on television and she kept telling herself it would be for just a little while until she got the next show. Well, her agent and manager dropped her. Her family would not speak to her anymore because she had borrowed and borrowed from them without ever paying anything back. Plus she stole from them too. Not a lot she says, but enough. Sober for a year now, this job is the first job she has had. Prior to that, while she was in recovery she found a guy who was good to her and paid for everything so she could get help and not have to worry about anything. As soon as she got her life straight, he fell off the wagon and is in jail now. So, she got a job. She says she likes it. She has this frantic activity about her which you can still see from the screen. She still has that smile when she wants to give you one. She says she is taking acting classes, but is not in any kind of hurry to get back in the industry. She says that it is one big trigger for her, but that she actually loves acting and just wanted to be in class and read lines and be someone else for a few hours a few nights each week. She says that no one recognizes her in class usually and that very few strangers do either. She knew I had recognized her by the look I gave her. That double take. She says that sometimes happens and that she tries to avoid the situation, but she had no place to go because she is at work. She says that on the street if stopped, she will try and make it as quick as possible and not answer anything. She says that she has paid everyone back now and that she can actually use her residual checks on her now and that she is happy with her quiet life and all the parties and covers and the world at her feet seems so long ago, when in fact it was really only about a decade or so ago that it all ended.

Lisa Nicole Carson