Vanessa Williams Reveals She Was Molested As a Child in New Memoir

Vanessa Williams Reveals She Was Molested As a Child in New Memoir

Vanessa Williams reveals in her new memoir that she was sexually abused at the age of 10 by a family friend, E! Online reports.

In the new book, You Don't Know, Williams recalls the incident, which she says occurred when she was visiting family friends in California and the family's 18-year-old daughter came into her room one night.

"[She] pulled down the bloomers of my cotton baby-doll pajamas," Williams writes. "'What are you doing?' I asked. 'Don't worry—it'll feel good.' I lay there paralyzed. What was going on? I didn't speak. She kept at [the molestation] for I don't know how long. She slid my bloomers back up and whispered: 'Don't tell anyone.'"

The Emmy-nominated actress, 49, says she kept the secret for years and only began to feel the ramifications of the traumatic event when she was in college. "After that trip I felt something change in me," she writes. "I had always been defiant, but I became a bit more rebellious. I began to pull away from my parents."

But nowadays, Williams says she is much more open about her past, including a photo scandal that cost her the Miss America crown, with her four children. "When my kids have asked about Miss America, those photos or any other part of my life, I told them what I always tell them—the truth," she explains. "After all, it was part of my journey that led me to them and to where I am today."

Williams, who currently stars on Desperate Housewives, is co-starring in the ABC supernatural pilot 666 Park Avenue.

Anthony Bourdain: Giving Up Cigarettes "Has in No Way Improved My Life"

Anthony Bourdain: Giving Up Cigarettes "Has in No Way Improved My Life"

No Reservations host Anthony Bourdain doesn't give a crap about a lot of things. He doesn't care about Nielsen ratings, for one, and he also isn't concerned what people think of his perpetual state of drunkenness on the show.

Which makes it even more surprising that one thing he does give a crap about is social media. "I think it's completely redefined the way we watch television," he says. "I think it's another step in a long process of the way people watch TV, the way people interact with their favorite shows."

Bourdain and his production team decided to take the idea of "fan interaction" seriously for the eighth season of No Reservations (premiering Monday, April 9 at 9/8c). When a massive fan base in Finland launched a campaign begging Bourdain to film in their country, he actually made it happen. "If we have a few hundred thousand fans over there that seem to have a sense of humor, and they really want me to come and they're working hard to make that happen, that's something we're going to respond to," he says.

We talked to Bourdain about his feelings on social TV, the upcoming season of the show, and of course... his disdain for Paula Deen. Plus: Did he actually quit smoking for good?

TVGuide.com: After the network created a Twitter and Facebook account for No Reservations, you insisted on taking it over. Why?
Anthony Bourdain: We jokingly say we took them over very early because we didn't want them to suck. It was a defensive measure. I didn't want it to be one of those "Hey, everybody! Be sure to tune in!" sort of things. I'm a control freak. If you're going to slap my name on something, I would like to control it.

The @NoReservations Twitter feed seems very authentically you. Are you always the one tweeting?
Bourdain: Yes. It's personally important to me. I would be embarrassed if it wasn't me. For the same reason I don't want anybody out there saying that I endorse cheap pots and pans, I don't want anybody out there using my name and in some way representing their work as mine. I just won't have it. It would be lethal to me to get the sense that you're talking to a machine.

Do you think celebrities who aren't engaging with fans the way you do are doing themselves (or their shows) a disservice?
Bourdain: Let's face it. There are a lot of people out there who ain't that bright, who couldn't write for sh--. It is sort of like writing haiku. There is a skill set involved, and you see among chefs or actors, some are really good at it — others, not so much. Some people have something to say. Others don't.

Who are your favorite people to follow?
Bourdain: Don Cheadle (@IamDonCheadle) is an awesome tweeter. Anthony De Rosa of Reuters (@antderosa), Chef José Andrés (@chefjoseandres), and parody accounts like @DrunkHulk and @AngryBFlay. Everybody at The Guardian. And [writer] Bret Easton Ellis (@BretEastonEllis). His late-night movie criticism is funny and strange.

You and your team were constantly posting on Facebook, Twitter and Tumblr with updates, photos and videos while on location for the eighth season of the show. Did you go in with some sort of social media strategy?
Bourdain: No. We were drunk most of the time. We could never have a coherent media strategy. It is completely and entirely spur of the moment and reactive, depending on where we were and what we were doing.

In what other ways did you use social outlets?
Bourdain: When we're thinking of going to some place that we have in mind, we reach out through social media looking for food bloggers as part of the research process.

Where do you see the future of this whole social TV movement going?
Bourdain: There will be thousands of channels in the future — if there aren't already. It's part of the fragmentation, and I think there's an expectation, to some extent, that if you can't interact directly with the people you see on TV, you should at least get some sense of who you're talking to through their social media channels.

Tonya Clark Marinaro, via Facebook: Why are you so mean to Paula Deen?
Bourdain: I'm not picking on an old lady here. This notion that she's this nice grandmother? She's a $30 million-a-year corporation. I'm not being mean about diabetes, which is an epidemic in this country. I just found it in bad taste. When your brand is all [about] guilt-free consumption to excess, and then you turn around and close a $6 million deal with an expensive "black box" warning diabetes medication, it's not something I would do. To expect that she should be free of criticism for that kind of thing is a little disingenuous. And to bring Jesus into it is frankly a little offensive. "I was waiting for Jesus to tell me when I could make this deal. I was waiting for the Lord to tell me what to do," or whatever her last comment was. Why did you wait three years? It's just... you know.

@WesDone, via Twitter: Is there anything you won't eat?
Bourdain: I do my very best to avoid shark fin.

@AnitaM86, via Twitter: Which show do you enjoy more? No Reservations or The Layover? Favorite episode on each?
Bourdain: I enjoy making No Reservations more. It's more personal. It doesn't have the burden of being informative like The Layover. The Layover, as you can see in some of the drunker episodes... it's a lot of food and a lot of liquor to compress in 48 hours, and I pay a physical price for that. I'm very proud of the Rome episode of No Reservations because it violated all the conventional wisdom about making television. You're never ever supposed to do a food or travel show in black and white. As a purely creative enterprise, I'm really proud of it because it was such a stupid, foolish creative labor of love. For The Layover, maybe San Francisco. Although I was truly embarrassingly drunk on that show.

Toni Torlak, via Facebook: Did you really quit smoking? And did it change the way your food tasted?
Bourdain: I really did quit smoking and it has in no way improved my life -- or my palate unfortunately.

@siobhanoc1, via Twitter: Does he remember filming Layover Amsterdam?
Bourdain: Network policy does not allow you to get stoned... but all I can tell you is that if you've ever felt that strange, weird, tweaking paranoia where you think everybody's looking at you, and then you look up, and in fact, everybody is looking at you, that's not a good place to be.

@DonCheech, via Twitter: What made you go in that direction for the Christmas special?
Bourdain: The holiday special is a dark, dysfunctional very insidery tradition. There are a lot of things that wouldn't be appropriate in regular episodes of No Reservations, but it's really for our fans — people who know the crew and are familiar with our sense of humor. People who would like to see me cooking octopus with Christopher Walken, or a drunk and deranged Samantha Brown shooting me in the knee cap. I think we're getting better and more offensive. And they're often the same thing.

Sara Hershcopf, via Facebook: What can people look forward to in the upcoming season?
Bourdain: I think Mozambique and Penang have some of the best photography we've ever done. Mozambique is going to be a big surprise as far as how good the food can be in a really impoverished country with a history of terrible violence and deprivation until pretty recently.

Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations premieres Monday, April 9 at 9/8c on the Travel Channel.

Dancing's Katherine Jenkins: I Don't Want Any Expectations Put on Us

Dancing's Katherine Jenkins: I Don't Want Any Expectations Put on Us

After the highest-scoring Dancing with the Stars premiere ever, only one person has remained at the top: Katherine Jenkins. The classical singer and her partner Mark Ballas have led the leader board for three weeks running — earning two 10s for her heartfelt waltz in tribute to her late father last week. She will look to four-peat Monday with her paso doble for Rock Week. "It's wild! Never in my life would I think I'd be doing this well and would be getting these marks and comments," Jenkins tells TVGuide.com. "But I'm not concerning myself too much with scores or trying to [maintain a streak]. You can't think about that." See what else the Welsh native has to say about joining the show, the fan reaction and shaking her naughty bits.

You're doing so well. Are you aware of your three-week streak on top?
Katherine Jenkins: Yes, sometimes it's pointed out to me, but I immediately forget about it. I'm really amazed by the scores and the reaction that we're getting. I'm having the most fun. I just want to continue it. It was really important for me to get through that first elimination week because I knew if I got to Week 3, it would be Storytelling Week and I would have a chance to do a dance for my dad and celebrate his life! That's really what I've been focused on the past few weeks. He would've never believed that I did that. I feel happy that I was able to do that and I'm so grateful to Mark. He really understood what I wanted to say.

And you got the first 10s of the season.
Jenkins: I know! It didn't enter my head that we would get 10s. I could see that everybody was doing well all night. All we wanted to do was go out and do as well as we thought we could do and for me to feel like I did my dad proud. Because of all the emotion, I didn't think about what scores we could get. My face — when I watched it back, it's hilarious! I couldn't believe it!

Everyone, understandably, is pegging you as the favorite now. Do you feel like you are or are you ignoring all the chatter?
Jenkins: It's lovely to hear, but I don't want to hear it. I don't want to be called that. I'm taking it week by week, and anything can happen to any of us. You're only as good as the week you're working on. I don't want any of the extra pressure because this is a fun experience and something I want to keep enjoying. I don't want any of the expectations put on us.

Did you have any expectations yourself when you started?
Jenkins: I had absolutely no clue how I was gonna do. In my day job, I stand in one place and sing with an orchestra behind me. It doesn't really require any movement! Yes, when I was young, I took a few tap-dancing classes, but they weren't training classes. I stopped all that once I realized I wanted to do classical singing. I've never thought about dancing and now that I'm doing it, I'm loving it!

When the cast was announced, you and William Levy were the least known and now you're both the people everyone's talking about. But that's sort of been true in past seasons — lesser-known cast members break out.
Jenkins: Yeah, I came into this understanding of the situation and not being naïve. I knew that when I came here that hardly anyone would know me and that was part of the challenge in a nice way. I just thought, "Well, it's really nice to just be here for dancing and to work hard and hopefully bring some enjoyment to some people." It's so nice the way things have worked out. I go out to dinner and people come up to me. It's crazy what's happening! I feel so welcomed here in America. I really am loving being in the country and feeling the support we're getting. I couldn't ask for anything nicer.

Have you been asked to do the show before?
Jenkins: This is the first time I've been asked to do this show. I've been asked to do the U.K. one, but it never worked out. But you have two seasons here a year and the timing was right. I feel like this was a gift that was given to me at the right point in my life and I said, "You know what? I actually really want to do this." I didn't think about it too long. And Mark is amazing. I am so thrilled to have him. I know how lucky I am. I feel like you can see when the couples don't get on, when they don't have that connection. I was really worried when I met him, like "What if we don't click?" But as soon as he walked into the room, I was like, "Yeah, we'll be fine." We've been working seven weeks now and we're having a blast.

And he created the Welsh Wiggle for you.
Jenkins: I know! [Laughs] That's taken on a life of its own! I don't think there'll be any in the paso doble. Maybe it'll come up down the road if we stay on.

Were you really that nervous "shaking your naughty bits" for the jive?
Jenkins: [Laughs] I was really, really nervous about that! I think that comes from, you know, how I generally perform being the opposite of that. But he's brilliant at bringing out the different sides of me that I need for each dance. This week, we have the paso doble, which again is so different from how I would be. It's a very powerful dance and he said in the seven weeks he's known me that he's never seen an ounce of aggression from me! So I'm not sure how I'm gonna do with this one.

What's been the hardest thing so far?
Jenkins: I think probably dealing with the nerves and ... being able to keep it together while the emotions were running away from me. That was the biggest challenge. I said to Mark before we danced that if they put a picture of my dad up on the screen I'm gonna lose it and forget everything he taught me. So he was so cute — he was just singing complete rubbish in my ear and making me laugh. He was my rock. I'm just grateful that he held me together.

What do you think of the dance-off addition in the results shows now?
Jenkins: That is how they do it in the U.K., so that's how I've always known it. I guess it just makes it really exciting that it goes down to a duel at the end. I find Tuesdays so difficult. They're so stressful. You don't want to go home, of course, but we have really bonded and I don't want to see anybody go home. I was devastated to see Jack [Wagner] go. Everybody's so good, so it's hard saying goodbye.

Since it's Rock Week, what are your favorite rock songs and bands?
Jenkins: Well, if I told you some of that, it would give it away what our song is! [Laughs] To be honest, that's not really the music I listen to, hence why it's gonna be more of a challenge for me, but I'm really excited by our song, so you'll just have to wait and see.

'Winners and Losers' Melissa Bergland: 'I'll be nervous for Logies'

'Winners and Losers' Melissa Bergland: 'I'll be nervous for Logies'

Melissa Bergland has revealed that she will probably be nervous at this year's Logie Awards.

The Australian actress, who is nominated in the 'Most Popular New Female Talent' and 'Most Outstanding New Talent' categories at the annual ceremony for her role in Winners and Losers, said that her dress for the event has not even arrived yet.

Bergland told the Herald Sun that she ordered her gown online from Finland, saying: "It was kind of a last-minute thing, I saw it and I was like, 'Where do I have to get this from?'

"How long does it take for things to come from Finland? So it's kind of a race against the clock to see if the dress gets here on time. I've got a few back-up options."

She said of her nomination: "I don't think it's actually going to hit me until 24 hours before, and then Saturday night I'll be like, 'Oh my God'. I have a list of must-mentions, but I haven't written anything out and I don't know what my chances are."

Winners and Losers is nominated for 'Most Popular Drama Series' at the Logie Awards, while Bergland's co-star Tom Wren is up for the 'Most Popular New Male Talent' prize.

'Dancing with the Stars' Johnny Ruffo 'happy to take shirt off'

'Dancing with the Stars' Johnny Ruffo 'happy to take shirt off'

Dancing with the Stars contestant Johnny Ruffo has revealed that he is happy to strip off during his time on the show.

The 23-year-old Australian singer, who is taking part in this year's season of the reality TV series alongside celebrities such as Brendan Fevola, Vogue Williams and Kerri-Anne Kennerley, said that he will do whatever it takes to win votes from viewers.

Ruffo told the Herald Sun: "The first week I feel there's a chance I'm going home my shirt will be coming off."

He also revealed that he is currently single after being nominated for this year's CLEO magazine 'Bachelor of the Year' recently.

Ruffo shot to fame when he came third in last year's Australian X Factor. This year, he will be supporting One Direction on their Australian tour.

Dancing with the Stars premieres on Sunday, April 15 on the Seven Network.

PRIMETIME PILOT PANIC: The Early Buzz

PRIMETIME PILOT PANIC: The Early Buzz

Back by popular demand: The Pilot Buzz lists. We’re earlier than normal this year while pilots have generally been late, with only a handful of them having cuts by now and the vast majority still in various stages of production. Therefore, everything on this list has to be taken with a gigantic grain of salt as a lot could change between a table read and a final cut. Take NBC’s comedy pilot SAVE ME for example. After some mixed and even negative chatter early on, mostly related to the tone of the show, originally developed for Showtime, the tide changed completely over the last two days when people saw the completed pilot, which is getting high marks. The list also doesn’t cover every pilot as some of them have not gotten into production yet or feedback has been insufficient:

The network already has one new scripted series on tap for next season, HANNIBAL, which I hear may go for midseason. With the network in such bad shape after years of neglect and bad decisions by previous regimes, NBC seems to have cast a very wide net this season, developing a vast range of projects that are all over the map, making it harder to handicap. On the drama side, mystery MIDNIGHT SUN and the Jekyll & Hyde-esque DO NO HARM are getting some solid early buzz. The Jason Katims/Jason Ritter medical drama COUNTY, which just wrapped, also has been getting positive feedback. Western-esque THE FRONTIER, which is shooting in Australia, is getting notices for its rich look. Comedy-wise, ANIMAL KINGDOM is hot, as is White House family comedy 1600 PENN, despite a last-minute recasting, as well as the Matthew Perry starrer GO ON and Greg Daniels’ FRIDAY NIGHT DINNER. The network also is high on a couple of multi-camera comedies, LADYFRIENDS  and the untitled JIMMY FALLON, with TABLE FOR THREE also looking encouraging so far. The Ryan Murphy/Ali Adler blended family comedy THE NEW NORMAL is still shooting but, with the auspices involved, it is considered a strong contender. NBC brass seem to like the SARAH SILVERMAN pilot, which had an early order, but Silverman is considered acquired taste, so a lot will depend on testing.

The KEVIN WILLIAMSON project was very strong at the script stage, got even stronger with the casting of Kevin Bacon and James Purefoy, and seems to be sailing through production. Meanwhile the untitled KARYN USHER teen-spy drama, which also was an early standout during the script phase, then hit a speed bump in casting the lead, which took a very long time, now appears to be in great shape, with newcomer Saxon Sharbino getting strong reviews. The Williamson and Karyn projects seem to be the top drama contenders at the moment, with Fox’s other female CIA agent pilot, THE ASSET, right behind them and GUILTY and BERMAN/WRIGHT further down at the moment. Off-cycle pilot LITTLE BROTHER, whose plug almost got pulled after difficulties casting one of the leads, is making early waves on the comedy side. I hear Fox brass are impressed by John Stamos and his chemistry with TJ Miller. Also getting solid early buzz is the comedy EL JEFE, about a privileged young man moving in with his Latina nanny, and the MINDY KALING medical office comedy, mostly because of its star/creator Kaling. I’ve been hearing some mixed early buzz on half-hour pilots LIKE FATHER and LIVING LOADED, but with A-list auspices Bill Lawrence and Rob McElhenney behind them, judgement has to be held until they are completed.

High-profile drama pilots RALPH LAMB and ELEMENTARY look very good early on. In addition to strong buzz, period drama Ralph Lamb boasts a cast that includes Dennis Quaid, Michael Chiklis, Jason O’Mara, Carrie-Anne Moss, and Elementary already has fans buzzing about the tweaks the network is making to the classic Sherlock Holmes franchise with this contemporary update. Despite the difficulties casting the lead (Rachelle Lefevre eventually got the role in second position to A Gifted Man), I hear mom-turned-PI drama pilot APPLEBAUM has strong support at the network, with another female procedural, the Jerry Bruckheimer-produced TROOPER, about a mom-turned-state trooper, also getting early buzz. On the comedy side, after a casting tweak after the table read, PARTNERS looks good, while reaction to DORF/FALCONE has been mixed. Most of CBS’ comedy pilot are very late, so not much intel here.

Like NBC, ABC may already have a series for next season. Soap MISTRESSES, which was ordered straight-to-series for summer 2013, is filming a pilot episode with the regular ABC pilots, and I hear it will get consideration for launch next season, which is what ABC did with midseason entry Missing, originally ordered for summer. When Mistresses will premiere may depend on how ABC’s five soapy pilots, SCRUPLES, AMERICANA, NASHVILLE, DEVIOUS MAIDS and GILDED LILYS turn out. So far, I hear strong buzz on Gilded Lilys, though all five boast top auspices and/or big-name actors. ABC’s fantasy/supernatural pilots 666 PARK AVE, GOTHAM and BEAUTY AND THE BEAST look in good shape early on, especially 666 Park Ave, which is hot. The question is whether the network will pick up only one of them as a companion for Once Upon A Time. In the testosterone minority of ABC’s drama slate, the Shawn Ryan/Karl Gajdusek’s LAST RESORT is showing promise, while buzz on the Roland Emmerich/Harold Kloser project has been mixed. On the comedy side, PRAIRIE DOGS, the raunchy AWESOMETOWN and Claudia Lonow’s family comedy HOW TO LIVE WITH YOUR PARENTS FOR THE REST OF YOUR LIFE are getting strong early buzz. Also, Reba McEntire is a big audience draw, making her sitcom MALIBU COUNTRY an automatic contender.

If there is such thing as sure thing so early, the CW’s ARROW and THE CARRIE DIARIES would be it. They have pre-sold titles and are already making a lot of noise. Both were solid pre-production, received mostly favorable reaction to the fist images of the title characters released last month, and the strong buzz continues. Another pilot with a instantly recognizable title, BEAUTY & THE BEAST, also has been garnering buzz, while medical drama FIRST CUT has had people raving about Meryl Streep’s daughter Mamie Gummer who plays the lead. And then there is a pilot, whose chances improved over the last two weeks for reasons completely unrelated to the actual pilot — THE SELECTION. In picking it up, the network took a page from its own playbook several years ago, when, on the heels of the success of the first Twilight movie, the network ordered to pilot the similarly-themed Vampire Diaries. This year, the CW did the same with the Hunger Games-esque THE SELECTION in anticipation that the movie would be big. The film indeed has been an instant smash, boosting the chances of The Selection.

'Real Housewives of New York' confirms new stars

'Real Housewives of New York' confirms new stars

Aviva Drescher, Carole Radziwill and Heather Thomson have been named as the new stars of Real Housewives of New York.

The trio were confirmed as participants in the Bravo reality show at an event in Manhattan last night, Us Weekly reports.

They are intended as replacements for former stars Cindy Barshop, Alex McCord, Jill Zarin and Kelly Bensimon, who were dropped from the show last year.

Drescher, a mother of three, is married to a noted banker and is a cousin of comedic actress Fran Drescher. Her left foot and ankle were amputated when she was 6 years old after an accident.

Radziwill is the widow of Prince Anthony Radziwill, the nephew of Jackie Kennedy Onassis. She has previously worked for ABC News and Glamour.

Meanwhile, Thomson, who has two children, designs the line Yummie Tummie and previously worked as a celebrity stylist.

Stars LuAnn de Lesseps, Ramona Singer and Sonja Morgan will all return for the new season of Real Housewives of New York, which will air on Bravo.