Pamela Anderson, Bristol Palin, Kelly Monaco, and Melissa Rycroft are among the competitors coming back for Dancing With the Stars' upcoming all-star season, and I recently chatted with the ladies about their big return to the show. The women talked about what they're most excited to return to, what they're least excited about, and who their biggest competitors are. Check out what they have to say before the 15th season begins next week.
Bristol Palin continued making serious allegations against Levi Johnston today on Good Morning America. As she writes in her new book, My Life: My Journey So Far, Bristol claimed that Levi, the father of her baby, Tripp, "stole" her virginity from her after a night of underage drinking. In the interview, Bristol maintained that she's not accusing Levi of rape, but she does seem to say he took advantage of her. Watch the clip and weigh in: do you think Bristol is brave to speak up about her past?
Twenty-year-old single mother and abstinence advocate Bristol Palin has a memoir coming out this Friday, Not Afraid of Life: My Journey So Far, and in it, she shares some more sad details about her relationship with her baby daddy, Levi Johnston. These revelations include how she lost her virginity to Levi after getting drunk for the first time on a camping trip, and that she was on birth control pills when she got pregnant. But many of the horror stories revolve around Levi, including that he cheated on her "about as frequently as he sharpened his hockey skates," got another girl pregnant, and said, "Better be a (bleeping) boy," when she told him about the pregnancy.
This Fall, Levi will counter the Palins with his own book, Deer in the Headlights: My Life in Sarah Palin's Crosshairs. But do you feel bad for Bristol after hearing more of her story?
Deer in the Headlights: My Life in Sarah Palin's Crosshairs is the amusing title of Levi Johnston's new book. Levi has had a notable career as a peanut pitchman, Playgirl pinup, and self-described gay icon, but simply being the 20-year-old baby daddy of Sarah Palin's daughter qualified him for a book deal.
The book will be sold as a coming of age story, but it sounds more like a Palin tell-all. Levi said, "I want to tell the truth about my close relationship with the Palins, my sense of Sarah and my perplexing fall from grace — how I feel and what I've learned."
Levi's already dished on "Me and Mrs. Palin" in a 2009 issue of Vanity Fair, in which he painted Sarah as a bad mother and accused her of wanting to hide Bristol's pregnancy. Does he really have enough new dirt to fill a book? I have a feeling the best thing about Levi's memoir will be the title.
When it comes to preventing pregnancy, teens sure get some mixed messages. MTV teen moms become celebrities, while Bristol Palin, who had a child at 18, is a high-paid abstinence advocate. The theme seems to be: have a kid, make money! Of course, most teens are smart enough to know that a baby is rarely a ticket to a big payout. But, is Bristol's potentially hypocritical message making enough of a difference that the pro-abstinence Candie's Foundation needed to pay her $262,500 in 2009, while only spending $34,000 on groups that directly work with youth to prevent pregnancy?
The head of the foundation thinks so. While most stars return their paychecks when working with nonprofits, Candie's head Neil Cole told the Daily Beast he didn't mind that Bristol did not, since Bristol was the "most exciting thing we've done." He said, "She gave us a lot more time over and above what she agreed to," filming PSAs and making TV appearances. The company also points out that its goal is to raise awareness, not make grants to programs.
Cole describes Bristol as the "gift that keeps on giving," and if you believe all press is good press, the foundation might benefit from the exposure it keeps getting from Bristol, even if it's controversial. Unless, of course, people second-guess donating money to the cause, knowing most of it could end up in a Palin's pocket.
It looks like Bristol Palin read our suggestions for her upcoming book. When news broke that Bristol was working on a memoir at the ripe age of 20, we noted that it could be worth a glance if she covered hiding the pregnancy early on the campaign trail, reuniting with Levi Johnston after the original breakup, and her time on Dancing With the Stars. Fresh information on Bristol's newly titled Not Afraid of Life, set for a Summer release, gives us some hope that she'll air at least some Palin dirty laundry. The synopsis reads:
Bristol gives readers an intimate behind-the-scenes look at her life for the first time, from growing up in Alaska to coming of age amid the media and political frenzy surrounding her mother’s political rise; from becoming a single mother while still a teenager to coping as her relationship with her baby's father crumbled publicly — not once, but twice. Bristol talks about the highs and lows of her appearance on ABC-TV’s Dancing with the Stars.
While I doubt she'll paint her mom in a bad light, she has little incentive to play nice with Levi. So I have a feeling that part will be the best. I'd still like details on the ghost writer before I actually decide whether to read it.
What can a 20-year-old say in a memoir? Well, Bristol Palin could say a lot. Nobody's expecting I Know Why the Caged Bird Signs, of course, but I'd like to see her, and her ghost writer, be defiantly honest.
The "Untitled Bristol Palin Memoir" listing was removed from Amazon after Political Wire pointed it out yesterday. I doubt that means it's not happening, but merely Bristol and her publisher were planning more pomp and publicity for its announcement. It was up long enough to note the book will be published by the same Harper Collins imprint, William Morrow & Co., as mom Sarah Palin's Going Rogue and America by Heart. So while I'll fear Bristol will take this as an opportunity to promote her — or her mother's — abstinence evangelism, it really would be in nobody's best interest. Especially her own.
She's writing a book to make money, so she'll have to get down and juicy if she wants it to sell. Sure, she may just be a 20-year-old from Alaska, but the last two years of her life have been whirlwind fascinating. Find three things I'd like to hear about below.
Dancing With the Stars will hand out yet another mirror ball trophy this evening! After months of tough competition, the original 12 contestants have been whittled down to only three: Bristol Palin, Jennifer Grey, and Kyle Massey.
Clearly, Grey is the favorite to win. She's performed solidly all season despite injuries, and last night's final faceoff was no exception. Grey earned perfect 10s for both of her dances, besting both Massey and Palin. Even so, if Brandy's surprising elimination taught us anything, it's that scores don't equal safety. In that case, Massey could beat her. He's given several fun routines and consistently hovered toward the top of the leaderboard. But I wouldn't count Palin out either. Though she's obviously the weakest, she must have a strong fan base to have stayed in the competition this long. Just please don't shoot your TV if she wins.
The majority of you have supported Grey from the very beginning, so does she still get your vote? Who do you want to win?
Photos copyright 2010 ABC, Inc.
Excerpts from Sarah Palin's new book — America By Heart — have hit the Internet. The ex-governor, who says she has presidential aspirations, talks about everything from American Idol to Levi Johnston's centerfold, to daughter Bristol Palin's pro-abstinence work. Sarah thinks Bristol is a valiant role model because she admits that single parenting is hard, unlike 1990s sitcom character Murphy Brown who glorified it (what was she, like 45?). Palin explains:
Bristol has boldly and publicly acknowledged in ads for the Candie's Foundation that abstinence is the only surefire way of preventing pregnancy. And for this, she has been accused of being a hypocrite. But to those critics I say this: Which is a more courageous course for a young single mother: to sit down and shut up and avoid the critics, or to speak out in a painfully honest way about how tough single parenting is? I'm biased, of course, but given the choice of role models between Bristol and Murphy Brown, I choose Bristol.
What does this bold activism look like? Well, most recently it took the form of a PSA with . . . The Situation of Jersey Shore fame. B-Palin and The Sitch talk Magnum condoms and how they both totally respect abstinence. Check it out above.
If Bristol is a teen mom who promotes abstinence, what direction will 16-year-old Willow take after her recent homophobic Facebook rant? Can we expect her to be a pro-gay-marriage advocate soon?
