AS SHE PUBLISHES HER MEMOIRS PARIS HILTON ON FINDING HER HAPPY-EVER-AFTER WITH HUSBAND CARTER AND THEIR BABY BOY PHOENIX
INTERVIEW: ANDREA KARR Paris: The Memoir is out now (HQ, £20)
EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW
I f you think you know Paris Hilton, think again.
The hotel heiress shot to fame as a ditzy, baby-voiced socialite on The Simple Life, but now she’s all grown up, running a business empire and raising her baby boy Phoenix with the love of her life, Carter Reum.
Although Paris, 42, has spent her whole life in the public eye, she kept the conception and birth of her son, born via surrogate, a secret – even from the closest members of her family. “I wanted this journey to be just between me and Carter,” she tells HELLO! “I didn’t want the media or anyone talking about my son before he was here on earth.”
This effort to control the narrative around her life is relatively new for Paris, who first gave a glimpse into her inner world in the 2020 documentary This Is Paris.
Her new book Paris: The Memoir delves even deeper into the formative moments of her past, from her privileged upbringing and experience at boarding schools for “troubled” teens to her difficult relationships with men, and how she – finally – found a home with a man very different from anyone she’d dated before.
Paris may still be driving around in pink cars, toting chihuahuas and DJing at the biggest festivals in the world, but she wants you to know that she’s so much more: a loving mum, a driven business mogul, a campaigner against child abuse – and still a child at heart. Here, she shares why husband Carter, also 42, is The One, the joys of life with Phoenix, and how she’s reclaimed ownership of her story.
Paris, congratulations on the birth of your son. Has becoming a mother changed your world?
“I’m so in love with my little baby boy. My priorities have completely shifted. I’m having to say no to so many things now because I don’t want to miss all these moments. He just started smiling last week. My heart melts. It’s full of so much love.”
You’ve spoken about your fear of growing up. Does the need to grow up accelerate when you become a parent?
“I’ve always been a kid at heart – that’s just who I am. Maybe that leads back to when I was a teenager because I had my childhood stolen from me.
“Now, being a mom, I’m definitely grown up, but I will always have that kid inside me. It’s important to never lose that. “
In your new memoir, you speak a lot about the abuse you faced in boarding schools for “troubled” teens. How has opening up about that time transformed your life?
“The past couple of years have been a
