Vanna White's Memoir Vanna Speaks (with Crystal Marie Denha)

Summary

Glamorous Trash: A Celebrity Memoir Podcast – Episode Summary

Episode: Vanna White's Memoir Vanna Speaks (with Crystal Marie Denha)
Release Date: November 15, 2024
Host: Chelsea Devantez
Guest: Crystal Marie Denha

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Introduction

In this episode of Glamorous Trash: A Celebrity Memoir Podcast, host Chelsea Devantez delves into Vanna White's 1987 memoir, Vanna Speaks. Joined by guest Crystal Marie Denha, the conversation navigates the glamour and underlying complexities of Vanna's life, offering listeners a candid exploration of the memoir's content and its relevance today.

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Vanna White’s Early Life

Vanna White, renowned as the co-host of Wheel of Fortune, opens her memoir by dispelling the myth of overnight success. Chelsea and Crystal discuss Vanna's childhood, revealing a tumultuous family background.

Chelsea Devantez [05:50]: "And catering on Wheel of Fortune calls me the eating machine. I said, impossible."

Crystal highlights the stark contrast between societal expectations and Vanna's personal experiences growing up.

Crystal Marie Denha [08:03]: "It was such a different time. And it's like, as women, we've come such a long way because it's not the forefront of our thought to look good 24/7, to stay thin."

The memoir touches upon Vanna's ethnic identity, often overshadowed by her public persona. The discussion emphasizes the lack of awareness about the diverse appearances within the Latina community.

Chelsea Devantez [10:20]: "Vanna is Latina. It's not something that like they've known, and you know, I'm not really sure."

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Personal Relationships and Tragedy

A significant portion of the memoir covers Vanna's personal relationships, including her engagement to John Gibson and the subsequent tragedy of his untimely death in a plane crash.

Crystal Marie Denha [39:58]: "And she doesn't give us how she was able to pick up the pieces immediately after losing a loved one."

The episode delves into Vanna's emotional resilience, or perceived lack thereof, in coping with such profound loss.

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Conflicts and Exploitation in Hollywood

One of the most contentious parts of the memoir revolves around Vanna's interactions with Hugh Hefner and the unauthorized publication of her lingerie photos. Vanna recounts her expectation of friendship and support from Hefner, only to face betrayal when her images were exploited.

Chelsea Devantez [44:34]: "They monetized it in the best way possible by releasing it at the same time of her memoir."

Crystal draws parallels between Vanna's experiences and her own struggles with unauthorized photo releases, highlighting the systemic exploitation women often face in Hollywood.

Crystal Marie Denha [55:49]: "It's the weaponization of like your own sexuality while profiting off of her sexuality."

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Societal Double Standards and Gender Issues

The conversation shifts to broader societal issues, such as the persistent double standards regarding women's bodies and the stigmatization of their choices. Both hosts express frustration over the lack of progress in accepting diverse body types and the oversimplified perceptions of beauty.

Chelsea Devantez [28:15]: "There's no winning. Like, when you lose weight, people are like, oh, you took Ozempic, you're a monster, you look terrible. Right? You gain weight, they're like, you look terrible, you're a monster."

The episode underscores the damaging impact of such societal pressures, especially on women in the public eye like Vanna.

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Reflection and Critique of the Memoir

Crystal and Chelsea critique the memoir for its lack of vulnerability and depth in discussing personal traumas. They argue that Vanna presents a sanitized version of her life, glossing over significant hardships and emotional struggles.

Crystal Marie Denha [48:47]: "No, I don't think so at all."

Chelsea echoes these sentiments, suggesting that the memoir fails to provide a comprehensive and honest portrayal of Vanna's experiences.

Chelsea Devantez [48:49]: "I think a Xanax wrote this book."

Despite these criticisms, Crystal acknowledges the memoir's value in offering insight into the era and the mindset of women navigating fame in the late 20th century.

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Conclusion

The episode concludes with heartfelt reflections on the importance of honest storytelling and the hope for more authentic future memoirs from Vanna White. Both hosts express a desire for Vanna to share a more unfiltered account of her life, free from the constraints and expectations of her time.

Chelsea Devantez [60:32]: "I will wait for Vanna's second memoir that I think will elevate me, and I hope it's coming."

Crystal emphasizes the significance of supporting each other and the power of genuine female friendships in overcoming personal and professional challenges.

Crystal Marie Denha [62:31]: "I feel blessed to even know you. So thank you."

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Notable Quotes:

• Chelsea Devantez [05:50]: "And catering on Wheel of Fortune calls me the eating machine. I said, impossible."

• Crystal Marie Denha [08:03]: "It was such a different time. And it's like, as women, we've come such a long way because it's not the forefront of our thought to look good 24/7, to stay thin."

• Chelsea Devantez [28:15]: "There's no winning. Like, when you lose weight, people are like, oh, you took Ozempic, you're a monster, you look terrible. Right? You gain weight, they're like, you look terrible, you're a monster."

• Crystal Marie Denha [55:49]: "It's the weaponization of like your own sexuality while profiting off of her sexuality."

• Chelsea Devantez [60:32]: "I will wait for Vanna's second memoir that I think will elevate me, and I hope it's coming."

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Final Thoughts:

This episode offers a critical yet compassionate analysis of Vanna White's Vanna Speaks, bringing to light the complexities behind a seemingly flawless public image. Through engaging dialogue and personal anecdotes, Chelsea and Crystal shed light on the often-overlooked struggles and societal pressures faced by women in the spotlight, making this a must-listen for fans seeking depth beyond the glamour.

Transcript

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[Chelsea Devantez]

Welcome to Glamorous Trash. This is a celebrity memoir podcast where we dig into all of the glamour and all of the trash. If you've ever referenced Mariah Carey in therapy, then this might be the podcast for you. I'm your host, Chelsea devontez. I'm a TV writer, comedian, filmmaker, author, and sometimes I'm in stuff, too. And this week we are book clubbing. Vanna Speaks a memoir by Vanna white, published in 1987. You know Vanna as the game show hostess best known as the co host of Wheel of Fortune, which is a job she still holds today. Now, this memoir is so weird, and I mean that in the best way. Like only in 1987 could something like this be published. And please know there's a trigger warning for suicide, eating disorders and sexual abuse. So always take care when listening. What kinds of things do people say to you? I've watched you my whole life, or my grandmother and I watched you. And you taught me the Alphabet. You taught me how to speak English.

[Coca Cola Advertiser]

Really?

[Chelsea Devantez]

Yes, just yesterday. So we change people's lives. My guest today is Crystal Marie Denha. Crystal is the proud daughter of Iraqi immigrants. She recently appeared as a prankster on the reboot of MTV's Punk'd with chance the Rapper and in a new show called we need to Talk About America on Fuse. Crystal just wrapped on a little film called the Gutter, written by my husband, Yasser Lester, starring Susan Sarandon and Shamik and Darcy Cardin. Hi, Crystal. Thank you so much for being here.

[Crystal Marie Denha]

Hi, Chelsea. Is Yasser home?

[Chelsea Devantez]

He is home, yeah. He is not here, but he's not in the room. He can't hear us now.

[Crystal Marie Denha]

Let's run away together. Let's just run away together. We'll leave Yasser there. Just. He's gonna be upset with me, but I'm gonna Do it.

[Chelsea Devantez]

But it has to happen. Listen, I introduce all my guests, the story of how we first met, and I think it's pretty clear that I stole you from my husband. And we were kind of like. Well, I felt like I was your Instagram friend, but then on his set is when we met, for I just.

[Crystal Marie Denha]

The last woman that made me feel as tingly as you was Megan Good. And, you know, she was introduced to the world, what, 20 years ago.

[Chelsea Devantez]

So, first of all, Meagan Good's the hottest woman alive, so. I agree. High compliments. Okay. So I begged you to come on my podcast. I love that you picked Vanna White's book. Now, I'm pretty sure we were supposed to record a year ago. Is that right?

[Crystal Marie Denha]

We were.

[Chelsea Devantez]

What happened?

[Crystal Marie Denha]

I had your schedule. I think at one point we had to switch it, and then I had to switch. I think it was a lot of. We both had a lot going on, so. And I never do podcasts. I think this is my first podcast of the whole year.

[Chelsea Devantez]

Oh, honored again.

[Crystal Marie Denha]

Well, I thought it was gonna be in person, but I will take what I can get when it comes to Chelsea.

[Chelsea Devantez]

Well, it's honestly your fault because Yasser's movie is coming out in New York, the movie that you're in, and they're like, even in the trailer, you're so funny. And the movie's premiere is in New York, so that's why the podcast isn't in person, because we're in New York now. Okay. So a year ago, I read this book, and then we kept rescheduling with each other, so I just revisited the book today. Now, tell me, overall, what are your thoughts on this memoir?

[Crystal Marie Denha]

I really was. It was more interesting than I thought it was going to be because I was like, I rarely hear the bitch talk, so. So I was like, what, is she gonna fill a whole book? And I use bitch as the term of endearment when it comes to women. No, thank.

[Chelsea Devantez]

Thank you for clarifying on this podcast.

[Crystal Marie Denha]

Yes, of course.

[Chelsea Devantez]

It's important.

[Crystal Marie Denha]

I know. I know. I just. I've always loved her because I loved Wheel of Fortune. I always thought she was so beautiful. Growing up, I was kind of enamored with her. She's great. But she never. I ne. You rarely see interviews. You rarely hear her on other. You know, other. Let's say, podcasts or making TV appearances, which I'm sure she very easily could have got, you know, a guest star on Friends or on some popular show. Cause she's Vanna White. She's A household name, but you never saw a lot of that. And I was like, maybe I shouldn't have chosen this one. I don't know how interested I'm gonna be. But she. I was very pleasantly surprised. I'm in love with her now. Now, any news article that comes out about her, I'm incredibly interested in. Even when Pat Sajak left and her thoughts about him leaving. And she's just. She doesn't talk often, but when she does, everything is so eloquent and beautifully said. So I'm a fan. Yeah, I'm a fan.

[Chelsea Devantez]

It also goes exactly with the title of her book, which is Vanna Speaks. Because she said people would always ask, like, do you talk? Like, can you? Like, do you ever say anything? And so this book, she's like, vanna Speaks. However, I gotta shout out one of the cookies in the book club. Ann Lieb, who was like, the book should have been called Vanna spells it out.

[Crystal Marie Denha]

I like that. Oh, I like that.

[Chelsea Devantez]

That is way better. Yeah. Wheel of Fortune. Okay, so I love that you found the book eloquent, and I want you to debate me every second you can, because I did not. But I did find it really, really interesting. So it begins where she's like, people think this was an overnight success, but it took a decade of hard work. And you and I know this where it's like every. Every time there's an overnight success, there's like 20 years of hell before it. However, Vanna's story really is overnight success. I'm like, you're actually wrong. Vanna. The. It begins with her audition, and Pat Sajak and Merv Griffin are like, she sucked. She was really bad. She was really bad on camera. But she got the job. And I was like, what? What are you talking about?

[Crystal Marie Denha]

But I like that she admitted that she didn't say, like, I came and I blew everyone out of the water. I was. She said her knees were shaking. She was trembling. It was so obvious that I was nervous. But I turned the card right and I got the job.

[Chelsea Devantez]

They said she turned the letters the best. And they were like, ah, we don't care about the rest of it. So she begins with, only in 1987, some how to, guys. Okay? So she's like, I wake up, I do sit ups, I do 15 girl push ups. Page four of the book, she says, there's no reason you have to eat three meals a day, ladies.

[Crystal Marie Denha]

And proceeds to tell us a 400 calorie diet. It's just crazy.

[Chelsea Devantez]

Not only is she like, gals 400 calories. You don't need meals. Have a baked potato. Just no butter, no salt, no pepper, no sour cream, no cheese, not even an onion. And then is like. And catering on Wheel of Fortune calls me the eating machine. I said, impossible. Page five. They call me the eating machine. I'm like, I just don't understand what's happening. She's like, I'm a size 5. I said, that's juniors. Like, only juniors do the odd numbers. And then she said, and when I water my plants, I use the water that I use to hard boil my eggs because it helps the plants grow. And. And we were off. That's how the book starts.

[Crystal Marie Denha]

I was like, it was such a different time. And it's like, as women, we've come such a long way because it's not the forefront of our thought to look good 24 7, to stay thin. We're finally in a time where curves are being embraced. Every body type is being embraced. A healthy body is being embraced. And it's interesting to be able to kind of compare the two. Now, if she would have written this book this year, I probably would have been very turned off by the start of the book. But we are in a different time. And I think if you were to talk to her now. I wish she'd write a book now. Another one.

[Chelsea Devantez]

Me too. I think she has an incredible memoir in her now, and it would be totally different than this book. And, yeah, this is pre Internet. This is how you learned that boiled egg water makes your plants grow. Like, there's no other way you were going to get that information than this memoir now after it starts with all that fun stuff. Whoa. Hard turn. Hard turn. Her fiance died in a plane crash that we're gonna talk about. And she's like, but. So it was really hard for me to write this book. It had occurred somewhat recently to her writing it. And then she goes into her childhood and her mom is a stolen adoption child. And I need to know if you read this the same way. Vanna wrote this beautiful story about her grandparents wanting a child. And as soon as they got the child away from the mom, they moved states without doing the paperwork because that's not what you did back then. And they only make the adoption of Vanna's mom legal once the birth mom has died. And I'm like, this is a stolen child. And Vanna does not seem to be understanding what she has written down here. This is so fucked up. And she's like, isn't that sweet? And I was like, no, how did you take that story?

[Crystal Marie Denha]

Honestly, it sounds like she was raised with a home that was filled with so much love.

[Chelsea Devantez]

Vanna's mom, her grandparents. Yeah, her grandparents. Uh huh.

[Crystal Marie Denha]

Yeah, the grandparents kidnapping her. Let's just call it what it is.

[Chelsea Devantez]

Kidnapping her mom. I mean.

[Crystal Marie Denha]

Yeah, kidnapping her mom. Well, the thing is too, I mean, I feel like she's famous enough where if that was the case, we would have found out, like there would have been like a missing person report.

[Chelsea Devantez]

No, absolutely not. Absolutely not. I, I have done so much work on studying the, the practice of adoption because it's similar to the practice of sperm donating and egg donating. And this a hundred percent was totally the norm where they're like, you know what?

[Crystal Marie Denha]

Oh, was it?

[Chelsea Devantez]

You got. Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Oh my God. Just like full on crimes being called adoptions. Yeah, absolutely. I mean, it's still happening. So I feel like Vanna, if she hears this, if someone gets the information to her, I'm a. But we're gonna fuck her world up because something horrible happened here.

[Crystal Marie Denha]

She could cover that in her next memoir.

[Chelsea Devantez]

Exactly. Okay. So then she's also like, and my mom, vaguely ethnic looking and it's like, okay. And then her mom grows up, you know, very loved by her adoptive parents or parents, and she meets Vanna's dad, who is Puerto Rican. He's half German, half Spanish, but born in Puerto Rico. And I had long heard that Vanna was Latina. And I, I just loved getting that confirmation, plus whatever her mom is. And so I feel like that is something about Vanna people would never know because she's thought of as this like blonde American, like Miller Lights model. I mean, it's so funny because I feel like in 2024 people don't realize the nuances of like what Latinas look like because it covers what 33 different countries, like, you know, 33 different countries make up Latina ancestry. And it's not a race, it's an ethnicity. And I, Even though it's 2024, I feel like people still don't realize that you can be like white Latina or black or Afro Latina. You can be indigenous and like there are so many Latinas who are blonde and blue eyed. However, in America, I feel like we don't really know that as a culture still because, you know, Hollywood stereotyped all Latinas to look and act a certain monolithic way. So to that point, I don't think people would realize that Vanna is Latina. It's not something that like they've known and you know, I'm not really sure. She talked about it a lot, which I get because her family structure and identity was always moving and changing. And so let's talk about how when her parents split up, she was very young and her mom remarries Herbert Stackley White, who at a name. And she is raised by them to believe that he's her dad. And they legally changed her name when she was a kid. And when Vanna is 14, her mom's like, surprise. Herbert Stackley White, not your real father. That you should know. Crystal. When I was 14, I found out my dad was not my real dad. When Demi Moore was 14, she found out her dad is not her real dad. How many of us can there be? I swear to God. I read another memoir last year where it's like these 14 year old girls finding out dad's not dad. Like when I read that in the book, my jaw hit the floor.

[Crystal Marie Denha]

Is 14 the number? Cause it's when you guys get your period or what could it be? Why is 14 the magic number? You grow some titties and find out you don't know who your dad is.

[Chelsea Devantez]

They're like, does she need a bra? Let's tell her things. She deserves information at this point.

[Crystal Marie Denha]

Let's just throw it all at her at once.

[Chelsea Devantez]

Yeah, you know what? Puberty's here. This will be a good time to tell her some deeply devastating emotional information. Well, again, in the book, this is why we need another memoir. Because she's like, yeah, pretty fine. My mom did the right thing, had a beautiful childhood. Like, that's kind of it.

[Crystal Marie Denha]

If you would just read a list of what happened in her childhood, you would think the complete opposite of what she's pitching in her book. Like, you would never believe it. Cause you'd be like, this all sounds like hell, yeah. But yeah, you read. That is why I liked the book though, because she reminded me a little bit of Martin Short. He has a memoir. It's my favorite book of all time. And it's. It really is. I think I tried to pitch you to let me do that. When you're like, we only do women. Which I respect. I like.

[Chelsea Devantez]

You know what? If you say it's your favorite book of all time, I will make a mensmore exception and we'll bring you back and it'll what happened in two years with our schedule? And you'll come back and you'll do Martin Schwarzenegger.

[Crystal Marie Denha]

I love it. And I honestly think he's a true champion for women. Too. So you wouldn't be veering that far off.

[Chelsea Devantez]

Well, isn't he with Meryl Streep now?

[Crystal Marie Denha]

Is he?

[Chelsea Devantez]

Yeah, I'm almost positive they're together. I think she got a quiet. Yeah, well, I'm pretty sure they're like, we're just good friends who hold hands at musicals.

[Crystal Marie Denha]

Oh, I love that. I love that for him.

[Chelsea Devantez]

So Hot Topic. Okay, okay. So back to Vanna.

[Crystal Marie Denha]

Sorry. So she reminded me of him because she somehow found the positive in every single thing. And I'm someone that veers very negative naturally. And it's something I've worked really hard on to try to be more of a positive person. And it's always doomsday with me. I always. Worst case scenario because I feel like it's the only way I'm gonna be prepared if something doesn't work out. She is the complete opposite. And I've always just really been inspired by people like that who can take the worst of something. But they're like, but this is why it's okay. This is why I'm going to survive. She never allows it to kind of bring her down, which, when you ask one of your questions, you know, towards the end, it will. It kind of helps shape my answer for that.

[Chelsea Devantez]

Oh.

[Crystal Marie Denha]

In a way that kind of contradicts my love for the book. But I think. I think it's beautiful when someone can remain positive. And I think it's why she's had such a long, successful career. And, you know, if you read people commenting about what it was like to work with her, everyone says she's the easiest person on earth to work with, never a problem. You ask anyone that about me, they're gonna say the opposite. But that's because I'm very, you know, devil's advocate. A lot of the times I'm never just kind of, let's all just get along. I always am like, let's look at this deeper. Does it mean I want to? No, but I would like to be a little bit more like her.

[Chelsea Devantez]

Interesting.

[Crystal Marie Denha]

Yeah.

[Chelsea Devantez]

I think I was the opposite. I think I was like, vanna, you.

[Crystal Marie Denha]

Wanted to shake her.

[Chelsea Devantez]

Hello, Tavana. Yes. I was like, are you in this book? Are you there? But okay. So then she does my fucking pet peeve of memoirs. She's like, we had a black nanny named Hattie. And she's like, when Hattie went away, we had a fat natty named Carrie. And I'm like, okay, so Carrie doesn't get erased. Carrie. So Carrie just gets a. I hated it. I hate. I hate when people do that.

[Crystal Marie Denha]

I didn't remember that part.

[Chelsea Devantez]

You know, people slip it in. They. They like to slip it in. And then they. She's never like. And then a white lady. So anyways, annoys me, but her brother's name's Chip, and she says she has a perfect childhood. That's a sentence in the book. Now, how is that possible when you decide in your memoir as an adult to print this poem that she wrote when she was 18? Okay. When I was very young was when it all began. My mother fell in love with a fantastic man. He soon became my father and raised me like his own. I have loved him so dearly More than he's ever known through all these changing years he coped with all my fears and even more than that, he dried all of my tears. Words cannot explain how thankful to God I am for giving me such a father who really gives a damn now. I did the math. I think she has written this at 18 years old, but more importantly, has published it in a book when she's, like, 30 something. This poem brought me a lot of pain. But what is your first reaction?

[Crystal Marie Denha]

I would love for someone to interview her about her memoir now, to ask her, like, do you regret anything in there? And I feel like she'd say yes to a lot of things, including this poem.

[Chelsea Devantez]

This poem haunts me, specifically because I think I wrote the exact same thing, except mine was called Three Dads, no father or something. And I wrote it when I was 14. But it's like my mother met a man and a baby came into the world. And I'm so grateful for life, but I'm like, vanna, oh, my God. Okay, here's. You know what? I think you will all realize why I'm having this reaction to the poem being maybe a little unprocessed as we go into this next story. Okay, so here's the next story. So she's like, I'm gonna go to modeling school. How hard can it be to learn to model? This will be great. And as soon as she begins modeling school, she meets a man named Gordy at his car dealership. And she says, I swear to God, it was love at first sight. I went home with him that night. He was 15 years older than me. My relationship began. Like, moves in with him, off to the races, and then is like, I can hardly think about modeling school because I'm always thinking about Gordie. Thoughts on Gordie.

[Crystal Marie Denha]

I always say, like, if a woman is over 30, she can date any age gap. Any age gap. I'm okay with. And I understand the law is 18. You're legal. But I think if a woman is under 30 and she's dating a man over 40, it's a very big problem to me. It gives. I get that she's legal, but it's still giving. Like, he wishes she was 15 but knows he'll go to prison, so he's gonna settle for 22. Or how. I don't know how old she was when she met.

[Chelsea Devantez]

I think she's 18.

[Crystal Marie Denha]

18 still? Yeah. It's creepy. I don't like it.

[Chelsea Devantez]

Yeah, you just. And you don't want him to want it. You want him to be like, oh, my brain is in a different place than your brain. No, thank you. Instead, he's like, this is great.

[Crystal Marie Denha]

Well, I think, too, she came from, like, humble beginnings. So maybe the glitz and the glamour.

[Chelsea Devantez]

No, no, no, no. She had nannies.

[Crystal Marie Denha]

Oh, she did have nannies. But she's such. She comes across so humble, like, taking her own payless shoes to work. And so I guess I am a little confused as to, like, what was it for her? Cause then she's attracted to a rich old guy. She is a little confusing. Cause there are things that I remember clearly, and I'm like. And then you reminding me of the others. I'm like, oh, I don't know.

[Chelsea Devantez]

It's almost as if finding out your dad's not your real dad at 14 years old might fuck you up. It's almost as if. Yeah. And I'm not, like, saying that's a straight line, though. I certainly dated an older guy, but, yeah, like, I think she. And she's like, childhood was perfect. I just. Yeah, I'm not sure it was. And she definitely didn't come from humble beginnings. I think she thinks she was middle class. But if you have nannies.

[Crystal Marie Denha]

Yeah, you're not.

[Chelsea Devantez]

Well, I loved this relationship with Gordy because she's like, gordy was the best. Two years with Gordy or whatever. I'm in modeling school and just dating Gordy. And I get an agent, and within weeks of that, I get a part in a little movie. And then she says the main difference of opinion with Gordy was over monogamy. Though we dated each other exclusively in the beginning, I knew that Gordy liked to spend time with other women. A lot of it was just curiosity. Gordy had married at a very young age and never went out with many different women. Once he was divorced, which was pre Vanna, I guess he felt like it was just something he had to do. But I loved him and I really wanted the relationship to work. After a particularly difficult period, I went to Las Vegas on a 10 day modeling assignment. When I was away, I thought everything over and made my decision. I was leaving Gordy and moving to la. When I got back to Atlanta and told Gordy what I planned to do, he took back all the gifts he'd given me over the years. He said I could have them back if I married him. I said no. I'm like, okay, wait a minute. The entire relationship, you were monogamous and he wasn't. And you're just telling us now it.

[Crystal Marie Denha]

Feels like she's been on Valium her whole life. I'm not saying that she was. I don't want her to think I'm talking bad about her. Cause I might meet her one day and convince her to be my friend. So now it's so funny because I was like in her. I was so into her while reading this that a lot of what you're reminding me of, that is so crazy. I kind of was like, I can see it from her side of things, but it's nuts. He's such a fuckboy. He's like the original boy.

[Chelsea Devantez]

He's, he's like exclusive in the beginning. And then is like, hey, I. I need to fuck other women. I'm just curious. And she's like, no problem, Darlene. And then tries to blackmail her into marriage.

[Crystal Marie Denha]

So creepy.

[Chelsea Devantez]

It's so creepy. Well, at least she gets to la. But then she's like, I was so lucky to have among my friends Christopher George and his wife, Linda Day. Chris and his family had been close to my mama for years and he'd often invited me over for dinner. Chris had 20 years of experience in show business and because he knew mama, he sort of looked out for me. I was like, oh, that's really sweet. She said. One night after dinner, he said to me bluntly, vanna, you can't get a job in this town by lying on your back. He'd also let me know in not so subtle ways that I could stand to lose a little weight. I remember him saying, you have an ass on you, don't you? This is her good friend and mentor who gets a full page photo in the book and a thank you for his kindness.

[Crystal Marie Denha]

So the diet that came from his suggestion or the modeling school, like truly.

[Chelsea Devantez]

I was like, this is just. Your mom's friend is like, hey, you're fat. And she's like, thanks Christopher George. Then you're like, this is so Crazy. I was laughing immediately. I dated a guy named Casey. Then I broke up with him. He called me one day and said how much he loved me. And the next day, he died by suicide. End of chapter.

[Crystal Marie Denha]

I was like, oh, she does a lot of that. Where. When she, like, her Segways are not great.

[Chelsea Devantez]

No. And then she's like, also, my mom got cancer, and her mom's going to pass away in the book, which is heartbreaking. And then she's like, oh, and by the way, my parents divorced, and my mom hid it from me. Then the next page, I was £130. And I'm so, by the way, Dringo, everyone. Exact weight. She's 130 pounds. And she said she ballooned up to 130 pounds.

[Crystal Marie Denha]

And isn't she. She's pretty tall.

[Chelsea Devantez]

Yeah, she's 5 7.

[Crystal Marie Denha]

I'm 140 pounds. So imagine me 10 pounds skinnier. I would be a skeleton.

[Chelsea Devantez]

Okay, Crystal, how dare you exact weight yourself on this podcast?

[Crystal Marie Denha]

I did. It's an estimate.

[Chelsea Devantez]

I cannot believe you have done that to me.

[Crystal Marie Denha]

It's not my exact weight. It's just an estimate. I base it off the size of my tits. Right now, they're a full D. That's 140 pounds. Crystal, I've broken two rules already on this podcast. On this podcast, are you gonna take away Martin Short?

[Chelsea Devantez]

Yes. We do not care about our weight on this podcast, Crystal.

[Crystal Marie Denha]

Okay, well, I've been heavier. I've been skinnier. I've loved myself. I've loved myself. Listen, growing up, my mom was, like, obsessed with everyone being skinny, being thin. I don't like. I always know where I'm at because I. You know, I'm gonna just shut the fuck up, Crystal.

[Chelsea Devantez]

No, you know what? I'm sorry I'm giving you a hard time. Whenever someone lists their own weight in a memoir, you immediately think of your own. That's why I hate it.

[Crystal Marie Denha]

I'm like, shut up.

[Chelsea Devantez]

But who cares?

[Crystal Marie Denha]

We all kind of know around what our weight is, don't we, men and women?

[Chelsea Devantez]

No, I have not.

[Crystal Marie Denha]

Really.

[Chelsea Devantez]

Yeah. I have freed myself from that prison.

[Crystal Marie Denha]

Good for you, man.

[Chelsea Devantez]

Yeah. Yeah. Living the high life.

[Crystal Marie Denha]

I still struggle. I'm getting better. I make progress. I. I'm learning new things every day. I'm loving myself more. Have I come back from the hole I dug or.

[Chelsea Devantez]

Oh, yes. No, no, you're getting there. I mean, we were raised in intense diet culture, and, I mean, we'd like to say. At the beginning of the podcast, you were talking about how like, oh, we've come so far and all bodies are accepted. And I'm definitely like, yes, true. And at the same time, everybody's on Ozempic and we've made no progress. And there is so much shame for curvy bodies and bodies that don't fit into so called standard sizes. Like, society is still horrible about it. And, you know, I just suffered from eating disorders for a long time, so I really try and like step out of diet culture every time I can, but it was, I think it was ingrained in us. It's like Oprah knows what she weighed at every important occasion in her life and Oprah magazine raised me. I don't know. Do you feel similarly where it's just like, yeah, it was your mom, so it's just like, it's just put into you all the time. Right.

[Crystal Marie Denha]

Well, I'm sorry that you went through that, first of all, because that's a lot to fucking deal with as a young woman going through eating disorders. I think to this day we still do have a bit of a problem, but I do think that we've come a very long way. I think curvy is great and I don't want people being bullied online. But I like that people are addressing the Ozempic craze as crazy. They're not looking at it like, oh my goodness, this is the best thing, or you look great. You know, Christina Aguilera, I saw a video of her recently and she just didn't look well. But I'm sure she was bullied for gaining a little bit of weight. And that's hard to, you know as, as a woman that's been famous since she was what, 16, 15 years earlier than that. She was on the Mickey Mouse Club. She was constantly pinned against other women and I think for her it was refreshing to be able to get back to her, what childhood weight now I don't even know. So I see both sides of it, you know.

[Chelsea Devantez]

Yeah, but it's, but that's the thing of like, there's no winning. Like, when you lose weight, people are like, oh, you took Ozempic, you're a monster, you look terrible. Right? You gain weight, they're like, you look terrible, you're a monster. Like, there's no, literally no body size a woman could be at in any shape or form that wouldn't be criticized. So that's where it's like, it's pointless to list your weight because you'll be punished by the society no matter what.

[Crystal Marie Denha]

But I do think the women that are in the public eye should be honest if they are on Ozempic because you don't want to set these new beauty standards. And then women are really struggling to get there and hyper focus because they think very thin is back in. And I just. I don't like that.

[Chelsea Devantez]

No, I totally agree. Okay, well, beautiful tangent of me screaming.

[Crystal Marie Denha]

No, I love it. It's important. This is important to say, you know.

[Chelsea Devantez]

Yeah. And you know what? It's important to like, I do try and like, step out of diet culture, but it's not like it doesn't affect me or that I don't struggle with vanity or beauty expectations. Like I do. And I am sorry I had such an intense reaction to the Dringo exact weight because I'm so happy you are here and you are my guest and I'm actually really happy you said that because I think this was a meaningful tangent to take. Like, I want to believe that we can just like, skip to like, and we're all healed, but that's not true with anything. You have to talk it through. You have to have conversations. That's my belief, really, about this entire podcast. Like, every topic, every topic in life, politics, all of it. You can't just like, skip to the part where we all agree and just like, we all agree and we're healed. No, we've got to talk it through. And so I'm glad we did this. Okay, so. So let's talk about another psychotic story in this book. She's like, now I'm in la. I have a manager named Tom Parentheses. Not his real name, she said. Though I'd been in Los Angeles just a little over a year, I was slowly and in some cases, painfully learning how Hollywood really worked. It all came to a head at the birthday party Tom threw for me in February. Okay, she's been here one year. She has a manager named Tom. He is throwing her a birthday party. I'm already so confused. Then in the two page ad Tom took out in Variety, the showbiz daily, he alluded to two forthcoming films that I was supposed to be in that never came to anything. In fact, as I found out later, I was never even signed to do them. That was bad enough. The real kicker was that he insisted I say I was turning 21, not 24. The birthday party was nice, but it was a bit of an embarrassment. About 150 people showed up, including Peter Lawford, Mike Connors, Lyle Wagoner, Jack Klugman, Karen Black, Christopher George, her good friend Linda Day George, many casting directors and A few producers. I didn't really know these people. It had all been arranged. And though I was thrilled to meet some of the stars, it didn't feel right to me. What the fuck is going on? This manager took a two page ad out in Variety for her birthday party, inviting the town announcing a different age to movies.

[Crystal Marie Denha]

She's not in it. So crazy. Like how the way she speaks about things, like it's so normal like that. There's nothing wrong with, with what's happening. With someone commenting on her weight, with someone telling her lie and say that you're younger. With someone. What, what, what manager does something like that? I, what was his, what was the point of it? Like he was trying to act like she was more famous than she was. So it's like Vanna White throwing a party. What, what was that about? I, I was confused by that because I, I couldn't understand what his motive was for that.

[Chelsea Devantez]

I mean, I've never heard of this in my life. I can't even say, oh, they did that in Hollywood. I, I'm like, what are you talking about? Like with his own money, through you. 150 person birthday party. You've been here for a year and you're a non speaking model. Like, I feel like Tom was a boyfriend and we're not addressing it. I feel like Tom was maybe a narcotics dealer and said he wasn't. Mean it. Like I don't know what's happening, but it's not what's been put on the page again.

[Crystal Marie Denha]

There's something shady going on with Tom.

[Chelsea Devantez]

She's been there a year.

[Crystal Marie Denha]

It's crazy.

[Chelsea Devantez]

Okay, so then, you know, you're a gal in la, you're trying to make it, you need a night off. She goes to Chippendales, she's like, let's have a fun Chippendales night. Here's where I say the Hulu series, Chippendales. If you've seen it, this story will make more sense. But you know, it was the hot spot for ladies. And on stage she sees a dancer named John Gibson. She says, who is that hunk? I gotta have him. And she starts going back to Chippendales to meet him and is like, date me, hello, date me. He's like, I have a girlfriend. And she just keeps pursuing him until he becomes hers.

[Crystal Marie Denha]

Not a real girl's girl.

[Chelsea Devantez]

Yeah, truly the thing that I love is that I don't think I've heard of a story of a woman picking up a male stripper the way a man would pick up a female stripper, like just kind of slightly bullying them into giving them their name. And I thought that was fun. I said, what a role reversal.

[Crystal Marie Denha]

I like that she knew what she wanted and she went for it. But I don't like the. It's hard to be on board with it when it's another person. You know there's another woman in the picture.

[Chelsea Devantez]

Yeah, don't do that. Totally agree. Well, then we have our psychic moment. Okay, we're gonna take a quick break right now and we'll be right back. Thrive Cosmetics is my favorite makeup. They have thousands of five star reviews, they're cruelty free, and they have my brand new favorite product. I have used every single day since I got it. It is their brilliant eye brightener, the shade Stella. I use this in conjunction with their Liquid Lash Extensions mascara. And it is gorgeous. I get so many compliments. It truly highlights your eyes and creates the most beautiful eyeshadow that has depth. Brighten your holiday look with Thrive Cosmetics luxury beauty that gives back. Right now you can get an exclusive 20% off your first order at thrivecosmetics.com glamorous trash that's thrive Cosmetics. C A U S E M E t I c s.com glamorous trash for 20% off your first order, go get that brilliant eye brightener shade Stella.

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[Chelsea Devantez]

Okay, welcome back. Let's continue the conversation. So she goes to a psychic in Palm Springs. And she says, in November, you will sign a long term television contract. You will sign with a man whose last name is Schwartz. Then she gets a call for an audition for a little show called Wheel of Fortune. And she goes in there. She's utterly terrible, turns the letters beautifully, gets the job. A few days later, I went to sign my contract. It was long term, it was television, and it was with Murray Schwartz. Great psychic moment. A psychic knew the name. That's good shit.

[Crystal Marie Denha]

You know, I never know with psychics. I've always wished I could go to one that was like, really good. But the only ones I've ever been to are like, you know the ones with signs out front where it's like $10 to go get your palm read. So they're not gonna be the best ones if they're off of Hollywood Boulevard. But you hear these stories where people have gone to these psychics and it's this life changing moment. I have a friend who's from Spain and she sees a psychic who's also from Spain, and she's in some random cottage somewhere in like, the valley, and she swears by her. And she sent three of our mutual friends there, and they are all obsessed with her and they've tried so hard to convince me to go. And I'm like, I don't know. I don't know if I wanna know what's happening in the future. But yeah, yeah, yeah. It's interesting that the, the, that the psychic was able to get all this on the nose. But the people who believe in psychics really believe in psychics. So.

[Chelsea Devantez]

Yeah. Oh, yeah, I do believe in psychics because I've met with some that are like this person where they're like, their name is Schwartz. And it happens. And I don't believe in psychics and I never want to go to another one again. So. But I love these.

[Crystal Marie Denha]

That makes sense. That makes a lot of sense.

[Chelsea Devantez]

Yeah. Well, then the book gets really sad. John becomes her fiance. They're kind of off and on. He does some acting roles. She is jealous that he works at Chippendales. I'm like, vanna, you pulled him from the stage. And she's like, you need to quit that job. She's like, I don't want women ogling you. So he quits and he gets really into flying. And he is flying in a tiny little plane back and forth between, like, Big Bear and Los Angeles. And they have a party that night at the Playboy Mansion west, which John and I were looking forward to. John and I were both Friends of Hugh Hefner's. We spent lots of time at the mansion watching movies, lying around the pool, playing billiards and just relaxing. We'll put a pin in that because we're going to come back to Hefner later. But they have this party to go to and as she's showering, she hears on the news that a man died at the Van Nuys airport. And then someone comes over to ask for John's dentist's name. And right there she like knows they need the tooth records to identify the body. And he had landed safely from Big Bear, but then decided to practice a little more and like take off again and then land. And this military transport plane had just touched down, creating an enormous wind turbulence with this massive wings. And John's plane flips and her partner dies. And she's been on Wheel of Fortune for a few years at this point. And the book is just. It's just so sad. What'd you think of this story?

[Crystal Marie Denha]

It was obviously devastating. You don't hear a lot about her, like friendships with women throughout the book, like friends and stuff like that, which I would have liked to hear a little bit more about. But you did hear a lot about like the loves of her life. And I did truly feel like her and John had a very special relationship. I think it's so sad. Cause he was so close to landing safely. And that was where it's like probably the most gut wrenching part for her as well. Cause it's like when you feel someone was so close to being at home and safe with you, but a last minute decision ends up killing them, it's just hard. It's harder to deal with things that way, in my opinion. I don't think that it didn't really. I didn't get much from her perspective of things. Besides, you know, she talked a lot about the immediate aftermath. But then you didn't really. I would have liked to know how she was able to kind of pick up the pieces immediately after losing a loved one. Because even after just a breakup and someone not dying, you just kind of, you know, parting ways with someone you've been with for a long time. Even that is really difficult and can be very debilitating.

[Chelsea Devantez]

Oh yeah.

[Crystal Marie Denha]

And she doesn't give us how she was able to pick up the pieces or that's where I said the Valium thing. Cause it's like everything is just sort of like la dee da. It's fine.

[Chelsea Devantez]

Yeah. And I think she's writing this book pretty quickly after this happened. So she sprinkles Jon's ashes into the ocean, like you requested, and she writes, that night, I had a dream. In it, Jon appeared in a gray haze. He was alone. And he told me not to worry about anything. He said that he was happier than he'd ever been before and that he was in the most peaceful place he'd ever been. He was thankful that no one else got hurt or killed in the plane crash. But what he was most concerned about were his parents, friends, and me. He begged me to stop mourning and to tell everyone how happy he was and that there was nothing to be sad about. And I believed him. And so I think that's like. That's kind of the most. And she's like, so John. You know, she believed John wanted her to push through, and she did. And that's kind of it. The book is like 180 pages. There's two giant photo sections. I will post them all, everyone on the Instagram and the Patreon. And she just kind of gets back to work. And there's one more story that I want us to talk about as much as we can. It's so wild. She said. Pulling myself back together was hard enough. Having things like these happen made it seem impossible at times. But these situations pale in comparison to what came later. In 1986, along with Tom Cruise, Don Johnson, Whitney Houston, Dr. Ruth Westheimer, Bruce Willis, Brooke Shields, Kim Basinger, Rob Lowe, Heather Thomas, Jim McCone and Cybill Shepherd. I was flattered to be included. And that year I agreed to pose clothed, but admittedly looking sexy in the magazine as a favor to its publisher, Hugh Hefner. So she just listed every single other star who posed in Playboy, clearly, as a way to. Why is she listing those names? She's listing those names as like, see, they did it, too. And it's like, it's not so crazy that I did it.

[Crystal Marie Denha]

She still feels some kind of way about doing it and has major regret. So I think her listing those names in advance makes her feel a little less ashamed.

[Chelsea Devantez]

And I think she's sort of weighting the evidence of what people might say in response to what comes next, which is Hef, as we called him, had been a friend of John, my manager, Ray, Ray's wife, and myself for years. I knew Hef as a sweet and gentle man and counted him as one of my dearest friends. So you've just said in the book, we don't know of any of Vanna's female friends, but she's listing Hugh Hefner as a bestie. Not. We're not doing great here, then, she said. Over that summer, the inevitable happened. A photographer who shot lingerie ads of her when she first arrived in LA surfaced with those pictures. As I said before, I knew from the minute I'd accepted that job that I'd made a mistake. And I knew this was going to happen sooner or later. In fact, when I'd first gotten the job on Wheel, I told Nancy Jones that those photos existed. The photographer offered the shots to Playboy and Penthouse, and Hef ended up buying them. When Ray and I found out about this, he tried to convince Hef to postpone their publication at the very least, and perhaps even dissuade him from publishing them at all. I was even willing to do a Playboy cover and some promotion in exchange. Finally, it was agreed that these photos would be postponed because Hef timed those photos to come out with the publishing of this memoir. This exact memoir, she said. Finally, I couldn't stand it any longer. I made an appointment to meet with Hef in person. Hef greeted me when I arrived. After we talked it over, Hef said to me, vanna, I would never do anything to hurt you. I replied, hef, this would hurt me. Then that's it. Hef said, I won't run them. He then gave me a big hug, and as I left, he stood up and crying, he said, it's only money. We each wiped away our tears and we went downstairs. I felt so relieved that I wrote him a note before I even left the mansion. I drove away from the mansion, believing that I had a true friend who would honor his promise and not exploit another friend just to make a buck. But I was wrong. Unfortunately, the story does not have a happy ending. A few weeks after our meeting, I received a letter from Hef saying that the matter was out of his hands and he had to run the pictures. Not coincidentally, they were scheduled to run in the same issue that comes out the same month this book is to be published. I. I think I full throat screams on a public train I was riding as I read this book. I. I'm. I'm just so many layers of upset. Tell me. Tell me all your thoughts. I mean, Hef goes from bestie to what everyone else knew. Hef always was, but Vanna somehow didn't.

[Crystal Marie Denha]

Well, it's all coming out now. I mean, he had a good run where everyone's like, he's a fucking man. And then people started realizing, no, he exploits women. And I get that. You know, some women love it. They Love to be sexy. And it's something that they really enjoy. And I think it's a beautiful thing if you know you want to go do that and it's your choice, do it. But as a friend, she asked him not to do something. Not only did he fucking do it, but he monetized it in the best way possible by releasing it at the same time of her memoir. So that makes to me, you're even more trash for that. And he did not give her the heads up either, which was fucking crazy to me.

[Chelsea Devantez]

But also, I think the thing that is infuriating to me is that he manipulated an entire society into thinking he was just a sweet fucking dude. Dork. Ass in pajamas.

[Crystal Marie Denha]

Yeah.

[Chelsea Devantez]

Who also had, like, the most play with women that he could say. It's out of my hands. Of the magazine he runs. That a magazine that was founded on stealing Marilyn Monroe's photos wouldn't also continue to do the same thing over and over again.

[Crystal Marie Denha]

Like, especially to someone that was a close fucking friend.

[Chelsea Devantez]

Yeah.

[Crystal Marie Denha]

Lol.

[Chelsea Devantez]

And I feel so bad for Vanna that, honey, you thought he was your. He was her best friend.

[Crystal Marie Denha]

But all the men. All the men in her life that she writes about, it was. They all felt like inappropriate relationships to me. Creepy or inappropriate.

[Chelsea Devantez]

Every single one of them. Her fucking mentor.

[Crystal Marie Denha]

Maybe this could have been avoided if she had some good fucking girlfriends she could have mentioned in the book.

[Chelsea Devantez]

Absolutely. I just feel really sad for her. And I feel like that positivity. I think the volume thing is exactly it. You want to love her so much. And I've seen her on Wheel of Fortune and she's that perfect amount of, like, just a dash of personality. Nothing to make anyone upset. You know what I mean? Just a sweet, good time gal. But I hope she writes a memoir about literally everything and all her true feelings and sets it all on fire and is like, I should have been the host of Wheel of Fortune. Fuck all y'all. Goodbye, Vanna White. Okay, her last sentence in the book is, my dream is to be in a Woody Allen movie. And we're not gonna get mad at her because this is 1987. And I'm sure this was just her pitch to be an actress.

[Crystal Marie Denha]

Crystal, did he put her in one?

[Chelsea Devantez]

I don't. No, I don't think so.

[Crystal Marie Denha]

I wonder if he did.

[Chelsea Devantez]

You know what? Let's look it up. Let's find out.

[Crystal Marie Denha]

That would be a good way to be. I know a girl, she's a comedian. She tweeted to what's the Jay and.

[Chelsea Devantez]

Silent Bob guy's name Kevin Smith.

[Crystal Marie Denha]

She tweeted at him 187days begging him to put her in his movie. And after the 187th day, he put her in the movie. And she is an unknown comedian. If Vanna White is writing in a book, she wants a fucking cameo in your movie. You gave it to her.

[Chelsea Devantez]

Fascinating. Okay, so first off, the person who tweeted 187 times. I just want to know what that day on set was like. Like at that point. Is it a make a wish? Do you know what I mean? Like, I don't. I just. It's just not a casting at that point. But I don't know. Maybe. I don't know. I haven't seen the film.

[Crystal Marie Denha]

I didn't see what she was in. I don't know much of it. She just did a reel on Instagram about it. And she is someone. She's just like Vanna, where she's like psychotically positive about everything. I actually am drawn to women like that. Cause I need a little more of that in my life. So I've always been like, get it girl? You know, she manifested it and she's very into manifestation.

[Chelsea Devantez]

Of course you can manifest something by contacting a person187.87 times. Yeah, I'm sure that is called manifesting.

[Crystal Marie Denha]

Also. She's a very pretty girl. I'm sure he was just like, who is this hot chick that won't leave me the fuck alone? Let me give her a little roll. Let's see what's going on. You know, I don't know.

[Chelsea Devantez]

Oh my God.

[Crystal Marie Denha]

I don't know. I think men have a weakness for women at times. So I don't know.

[Chelsea Devantez]

I guess. Well, listen, Vanna, you know, she still has the job on Wheel of Fortune. She later got married, she had two kids, she divorced. She's been with her current boyfriend for 12 years. She seems very, very happy. I hope she gives us another memoir. Crystal, it's time to do the booktal test. First question, was the author vulnerable in the sharing of her truth?

[Crystal Marie Denha]

No, I don't think so at all.

[Chelsea Devantez]

No. No. I think a Xanax wrote this book.

[Crystal Marie Denha]

That's what I'm telling you. And I hate to say that. And I will say knowing that this was written in 1987 makes me give it two thumbs up. If it was written today, I would burn it in the fucking fireplace. But I do think it's. To me, it's interesting to hear how women felt about things back then. Especially a woman that Like I said, kind of makes the best out of everything, but almost to the point of delusion.

[Chelsea Devantez]

Yeah.

[Crystal Marie Denha]

And also, like. And again, it's 1987, and maybe now she might feel differently about these stories and think, like, yeah, I didn't know back then, you know? So, yeah, I guess I'd like to wait and see if she writes another memoir and hear how she feels now and if it's still the same way. I'm just. I think she's still on Xanax.

[Chelsea Devantez]

Yeah, I mean, I. And listen, so am I. And you can't even tell the cadence on my voice. Can y'all believe that I've ever had Xanax?

[Crystal Marie Denha]

But I think Xanax makes you even more honest.

[Chelsea Devantez]

Yeah, you've seen me go on Instagram a couple times.

[Crystal Marie Denha]

Different. Different effects, baby. Different effects.

[Chelsea Devantez]

You know, every drug hits you differently. It's important to see your doctor.

[Crystal Marie Denha]

Just to be clear, we don't actually think she's on anything. We're not spreading defamatory things about her. We love her.

[Chelsea Devantez]

I think she is on 1987.

[Crystal Marie Denha]

Which is to say, yeah, 100%.

[Chelsea Devantez]

This Hugh Hefner thing is such a horrific betrayal. The way these photos were used against her and were used against all women. You know, it's wild to think about Vanessa Williams, Miss America, you know, pose for lingerie photos as a model. The crown gets taken away. And so to go back to this moment where this is happening to her, so she's putting out her what to her was vulnerable memoir. These pictures are being weaponized by someone she thought was a friend, by someone who knew her now deceased fiance. And then I think writing the story in the book was probably huge for her. And I think in 1987, this was shots fired by someone who I think the press and Hef would treat as a bimbo and is expendable and is like, stupid Vanna White. So I do wanna go back to that moment and I wonder if this was, like, incredibly strong and a really powerful memoir at the time. I don't know.

[Crystal Marie Denha]

I don't think she did it to be like, shots fired against Hef. I think it is. Honest to God, she still felt shame about it, and she still felt cringeworthy looking at the photos and knowing that they were out there. It's weird. Cause I struggle with her, to understand her in some parts because sometimes she comes across as very, like, goody two shoe. Like, she's, oh, I'm so, like, modest. And then other times you're like, she's doing some freaky shit, that's fun. And Chippendales and we hang out at Hugh Hefner's pool, you know, and then it's like, but you're bothered by having some lingerie photos out there. And it is. It's a very big betrayal.

[Chelsea Devantez]

And it's also that era. You could not be a hot mess, America, but also have done a lingerie shoot. You could not turn the letters on Wheel of Fortune if you ever fucking dared to make money in a bra. Like, it's. It makes me so infuriated.

[Crystal Marie Denha]

Maybe there was a lot of backlash when she did it.

[Chelsea Devantez]

I mean, it's just like typical weaponization of like your own sexuality while profiting off of her sexuality. But she can't profit off of it. And I hate it.

[Crystal Marie Denha]

Yeah, I hated that part too. I actually dealt with something crazy when I first moved to la. You know, I loved being sexy. Cause I'm Middle Eastern, my parents are Iraqi immigrants. Sexy is not really. Was never allowed for me growing up. We're also Catholic, so. Which I think made it worse, but I don't know how other religions handle it. But I was never. My parents always hated if I wore anything tight, anything. And so when I moved to la, I wanted to, you know, do swimwear photos or lingerie photos or, you know, so there was an ad once, like Craigslist or actors asset. I don't know, L.A. casting. I'm not sure exactly. I think LA Casting, where it was, they were paying $600 and this was 18 years ago. $600 for a two. Yeah, for a two hour lingerie shoot. And it was tasteful lingerie. I was happy with it. I felt comfortable with it. But I never asked, like, where the fuck are the photos going? I just signed a release and was like, yeah, I'll do it. I was so excited. Cause I felt like it was like my first paid modeling job. And then they ended up on like a. My face was blurred. So that's.

[Chelsea Devantez]

Hey, wow. That's way more than most.

[Crystal Marie Denha]

It is. But I had an ex that used to frequent like. What are they called now? Like, what's the appropriate term?

[Chelsea Devantez]

Like OnlyFans?

[Crystal Marie Denha]

No, like sex work sites. Sex work or something like where you could book the person. So.

[Chelsea Devantez]

Okay, okay.

[Crystal Marie Denha]

So my ex tried to book the person thinking it was like actually me moonlighting as a wait.

[Chelsea Devantez]

And your ex thought like they were like catching you.

[Crystal Marie Denha]

Yeah. So him or his friend did it or something. And then obviously they find out it wasn't me. The fucking girl didn't even look like Me, she was just a brunette.

[Chelsea Devantez]

Wait, that's why they blurred her face.

[Crystal Marie Denha]

Right, so she was just a random brunette.

[Chelsea Devantez]

Okay, I see.

[Crystal Marie Denha]

And so he was like, you know, the same ethnicity as me. He's like, why would you take these photos? They're all over this website. I was like, I had no idea. So then I start having like a crazy breakdown because I didn't want my parents finding out. I didn't want anyone finding out. And his best friend had a really big mouth. So he started telling people. And in a small, close knit community, news travels fast. So it took no time at all. So then I had to hire a lawyer. I had to go on the news. They like refused to take the photos down. And I reached out to the photographer and I was like, everyone thinks I still have the email. I'm like, everyone thinks I'm a hooker now because of you or whatever. And he was apologetic. He's like, I'm so sorry. You know, this is what we do here. We don't say it because then we'd get. No, well, wait, wait.

[Chelsea Devantez]

This is like the bad guy in the movie who just tells you the entire plot. He was like, oh, I'm so sorry we tricked you.

[Crystal Marie Denha]

Well, yeah. He said, this is how we.

[Chelsea Devantez]

On purpose.

[Crystal Marie Denha]

If we were to be up front, no woman would pose for these photos. That's why we pay so much. Is what he said so disgusting. I lucked out that he sent that email because then I was able to send it to a lawyer who was like, take the photos down or we're gonna fucking ruin you. So they took the photos down right away. But I still went on the news. Cause I wanted to destroy them. I was like, I don't want this happening to another woman. I don't want it. You know, I was so young and impressionable and I, to this day I obviously regret ever taking the photos. But after that, I never did any other sexy photo shoots. I was like, I'm never. I don't know where these are going to. Because everyone makes you sign a release. I didn't. I was too broke to hire a lawyer to go through every release. You know, it was your first job.

[Chelsea Devantez]

I mean, of course it was like.

[Crystal Marie Denha]

One of the hardest times of my life because my entire community was just saying just the most hurtful shit. It was humiliating to my family. And it to this day kind of has caused a rift between me and some family members, which they can eat a dick. But at the end of the day, it was just such a stressful thing to go through as a young woman. So for me, with the Vanna thing, I cried when I read that part because I was like, I've been through this, you know, obviously on a much smaller scale, because she's Vanna White. But, you know, for someone to take something and put it out there when you don't want them to, also to be deceiving and put it on a site where it's a person that's not even you, it's fucked up and it's traumatizing.

[Chelsea Devantez]

It was very traumatizing, but that's extremely traumatizing. I am. I'm so sorry that happened to you. And also, thank you for opening up about it.

[Crystal Marie Denha]

It's the first time I ever shared that.

[Chelsea Devantez]

I'm. Thank you, and thank you for sharing it.

[Crystal Marie Denha]

I mean, I take a sip of water.

[Chelsea Devantez]

You take a sip of water while I say that it is painful. Actually, how common your story is that I hope, helps in the sense that, like, they're so predatory and purposefully doing this to women and yet baking in the shame so that everyone keeps quiet about it. So you think, like, only you did it. And then they resurfaced with these photos. It happened to Minka Kelly. It happened to Madison Beer. It happened to so many women where then you're penalized for something that was previously a positive. You know what I mean? A gig being sexy. And, like, I'm just so.

[Crystal Marie Denha]

I felt very, like, liberated. Getting to do it, of course. And it only turned into a nightmare where it was like, oh, great, this is gonna make it even harder for the women of my community because I went and veered out and tried to do something. And, you know, but also it's, you know, it's something that you. You know, I learned a lesson early on into moving here, and I'm trying to Vanna White the situation and say there was a lot to learn. And at that point, I decided there's no more me trying to fit in or trying to be accepted in a community that would treat me the way that they did when this came out.

[Chelsea Devantez]

Yeah, well, thank you for Vanna Whiting it, but I don't have to. And I'm going to say the only thing that should be learned are by all those stupid fucks.

[Crystal Marie Denha]

Yeah, well, I was glad. I mean, it made it worse to go on the news to talk about it. And everyone tried to convince me not to do it. And I was like, there's nothing you can tell me that will make me not do this. Because this isn't just about Me imagine how many women they could do this to.

[Chelsea Devantez]

My gosh. Also, this whole thing came from your boyfriend trying to set you up. Like, it. That. It's just so.

[Crystal Marie Denha]

It's just so crazy. Yeah.

[Chelsea Devantez]

Yeah. Well, thank you so much for sharing and everybody, sorry that took so long.

[Crystal Marie Denha]

What's your next question about Vanna?

[Chelsea Devantez]

Are you kidding me?

[Crystal Marie Denha]

I'm gonna do my segues as good as hers are.

[Chelsea Devantez]

Listen, you are so funny and so sharp, and I just. I just want to thank you for sharing that and opening up about that and. And surviving it when you did and walking through the fire and yelling at them on the news and. And sharing it here. Just means a lot that you're here. And I just. I just really appreciate you. And now how about I do a Vanna Segway? The next question. Was it entertaining to read?

[Crystal Marie Denha]

I did think it was entertaining. I was fascinated. I also love that she kind of had the same job for since now. You know, how many years is it now? How many years? So that book was in 1987, and she had already been on it for a while.

[Chelsea Devantez]

Our producer is telling me it has been 42 years. 42 years.

[Crystal Marie Denha]

That is crazy. But what I liked about her, that was enough for her. She was like, I love this job. I'm happy here. It's easy.

[Chelsea Devantez]

Yeah.

[Crystal Marie Denha]

Why would I leave? You know what I mean? I feel like now in society, we're all just chasing the next thing, and we're never really satisfied. And what's the ultimate level of success? And there's all these get rich reels on Instagram and TikTok and how to make $5 million quick, and it's just crazy. But she was like, no, I'm going to choose happiness. I'm content here. I like my job. I like the people I work with. She got along really well with Pat Sajak, and I think that says a lot. And I. For me, that was inspiring also, because I. I'll always get a win. And I'll be like, what's next? I need more. And instead, I kind of need to live in the moment. And I've left jobs in the past. Cause I was like, no, I need something bigger. And then I missed the job.

[Chelsea Devantez]

Yeah, I totally get that. Okay, final question. Are you ready?

[Crystal Marie Denha]

Yes.

[Chelsea Devantez]

Did reading this book elevate your life in any way?

[Crystal Marie Denha]

I don't want to say it elevated, but it did inspire me. Like, everything I just said in my last speech in regards to, you know, living in the moment, enjoying the good that you have, and really assessing A situation for what it is rather than what society is telling you you should be. And I do feel when it comes to Wheel of Fortune, I really felt that was how Vanna approached that. So, yeah.

[Chelsea Devantez]

Yeah, I love that answer. And it's gonna be a no for me, dawg. But I love.

[Crystal Marie Denha]

We felt that out in the beginning.

[Chelsea Devantez]

That's right. I was really moved by your story and that take on it and dissecting that. But I will wait for Vanna's second memoir that I think will elevate me, and I hope it's coming.

[Crystal Marie Denha]

Crystal, I think that memoir, she's gonna blow you the fuck away.

[Chelsea Devantez]

Oh, yeah, I think she's gonna blow us all away. I hope she just lights everything on fire. And names. Names, Crystal. Tell everyone where they can find you, follow you, support your work. See you in a show. All of it.

[Crystal Marie Denha]

So my show dates are on my website, krystalmariedenha.com and you can follow me on. I only have Instagram. I'm an old lady, so I am Krystal Marie on Instagram. So come by. Let's have some fun. I barely ever post, but when I do, it's memorable.

[Chelsea Devantez]

I think that's absolutely right. And listen, I will just plug Krystal in my husband's Movie, the Gutter, November 1st.

[Crystal Marie Denha]

It's front and center on my website. You have the best husband. You are the best woman. I love you. You. It's not just because you're hot. You are doing, you know, you are a true girl's girl. And it's, you know, I think it's contagious, and I think women are getting better at loving and supporting each other, and we're realizing female friendships are the most important thing in the world. And I just totally agree. I am so lucky that I have such a hardcore, amazing group of girlfriends. And, you know, I feel blessed to even know you. So thank you.

[Chelsea Devantez]

I feel the same. And thank you so much for being on this podcast.

[Crystal Marie Denha]

Thank you.

[Chelsea Devantez]

And I'll see you in five years for Martin shorts.

[Crystal Marie Denha]

All right, love you. Bye.

[Chelsea Devantez]

A huge thank you to our podcast producer, Christina Lopez, our executive producer, Jordan Moncada, our sound engineer, Marcus Homm, and our amazing associate producer, Jaron Padre. I also want to let you know that if you love audiobooks, but you want to support independent bookstores, go to Libro fm, where it is easy to download audiobooks and support local bookshops. And right now, you get two Libro FM audiobooks for the price of one. With your first month of membership using code. Trash. That's right.

[Crystal Marie Denha]

Trash.

[Chelsea Devantez]

T R A S H. Two audiobooks for the price of one at Libro fm. And if you have questions, go to the Patreon Chat Lounge and I will see you there.