Backstage at The Price Is Right: Memoirs of A Barker Beauty (9 page)

Chapter 14

Kids on the Set

W
henever I misjudged the time while leaving my house, I’d find myself frantically rushing through the crowded Los Angeles streets to get to work by 10:30 a.m.
,
hauling ass on La Brea Avenue, going north hoping that I could catch all the green lights. I was literally praying that I wouldn’t have to call the production coordinator in the Green Room to tell her I’d be late, which as you might expect, would be followed by a little white lie
—“
I had a flat tire” or “my alarm didn’t go off on time
.
” It wasn’t that I didn’t get up early enough, as I got up at 6:30 a.m. every morning to get the kids ready and drive them to school in two different directions by 7:30 a.m. The studio was only seven miles from my Baldwin Hills home
,
but, for some reason
,
I would always push the limits and arrive just in time to walk through the Green Room door and sit just as the production meeting began.

Either before or after the production meeting, the craft services table was a welcome sight in the morning. The donuts, cookies, lox and bagels, fruit basket, candy, coffee, tea, orange juice, and more of the same delectable goodies were delightful jumpstarts for our day. The craft services table was there for the first four or five years that I worked on the show. After a while, budgets were cut left and right
, and
all of the goodies and little treats disappeared right before our very eyes. Well into my sixth year, we were lucky to get a cup of coffee and bottled water. If you got there too late, all you would get was the aroma from the last cup of coffee that you’d just missed.

TPIR
was much more liberal and family oriented when I first started working. I was the only Beauty who had children. My kids literally grew up backstage at CBS over the ten years I was there. When my eight-year-old daughter, Cheyenne, and my eight-year-old stepdaughter, Dior, were out of school
,
either on a break or a holiday, they looked forward to coming with me to the studio.

Step-parenting was a lot easier with two kids the same age
—because they were granted the same privileges based on their age
. Oddly enough, Terrence’s life and mine have a lot of parallels: we’re both Capricorns, with birthdays two days apart; however, he is eight years my junior. We married our first spouses the same year, in 1981, had daughters the same year: 1982, divorced the same year: 1984
,
and, of course, we got married to each other the same year: 1988! We initially met at a mutual friend’s birthday party in Baldwin Hills, but were accompanied by our then spouses and barely acknowledged one another. When we met for the second time, almost seven years later, when we were both judges at the Miss Black California Pageant, we had an immediate attraction to each other. Not only was he fine
, but
he was smart and charming. He graduated from UCLA with a degree in mechanical engineering and had a prominent position at Northrop (later named Northrop Grumman). The timing was perfect!

I respected the fact that Terrence was raising his daughter, Dior, on his own. Unlike my amicable divorce from Cheyenne’s father
,
Terrence and Dior’s mom had a volatile relationship and a bitter divorce. Instead of Dior’s mother going through
good times
during that period of her life, she was going through some
dire times
, so the court awarded Terrence full custody.

The girls enjoyed hanging out in my dressing room or the Green Room, watching TV, and frequently took trips to the commissary. Everyone at the studio treated them as if they were their own and would look out for them while I was either busy at rehearsals or taping the shows. We were indeed “a village.”

Terrence would bring our son, Little T., to the show on a number of occasions. When the showcase was over, I would go backstage to get Little T. and carry him on stage to wave goodbye to the audience and viewers. He was only a year old when he first showed up on the set
.
He was so adorable. Everybody loved the fact that one of the Barker Beauties was a mother. I was officially the first Barker Beauty to be a mother. It added a special sentiment to all of the families out in TV Land with children.

Holly adored Cheyenne
,
especially since they shared the same birthday. They had much in common, even though there was a thirty-year age difference. When Cheyenne would visit the studio, Holly would share with her some of the crazy and daring things she used to do as a youth. Holly admitted to being stubborn and defiant when she was growing up
—
much like Cheyenne
—
but that she could switch over to being as lovable as a lamb when she wanted something from her parents. Cheyenne could certainly relate to some of the same antics that Holly had confessed to and gotten away with over the years. Holly listened intently when Cheyenne confided in her about some of the challenges she was experiencing in school and at home. Holly tried to help Cheyenne balance out some of her issues with some good old Auntie Holly advice, by suggesting she change her eating habits. Holly was very much into nutrition and holistic cures. She put into plain words for Cheyenne, the importance of a well-balanced diet and eating the proper foods. She stressed how vital it was and what a big difference it could make to her overall health and attitude. She’d explained many times how a lack of certain vitamins and minerals could cause stress, depression, and even attention deficit.

Holly invited Cheyenne to spend the night at her Hollywood Hills home on a few occasions so they could continue their conversation about health and nutrition while eating buttered popcorn, junk food, drinking sodas, and having pillow fights. But Cheyenne’s visits to the studio, along with her counterparts, would soon prove to be problematic.

Once upon a time, children under the age of eighteen were permitted to sit in the audience during the taping of the show if they were at least ten years of age. They were generally seated directly behind Contestants’ Row
,
which was reserved for VIPs and family members, where they could be easily seen. However, all of that was about to change.

All of the parents associated with the show enjoyed bringing their kids backstage to hang out or have the opportunity to sit in the audience during a live taping. Prior to each show, Rod Roddy would announce to the audience, “If anyone has gum, candy, or any type of food, now is the time to dispose of it. The lovely, vivacious production assistant, Sharon Friem, will walk around with her designer trash bag, looking for anyone who has a guilty look on their face. So now is the time to fess up, put up, or get out.” Chewing gum was especially a no-no during the actual taping of the show.

Several times, Cheyenne and Dior invited their cousins
,
fifteen-year-old Cintamani and fourteen-year-old Danielle, or their other teenage cousins, Nikki and Rena
,
to sit with them in the audience. The kids would load up on cookies, candy, and gum from the craft services table backstage before the show started and prior to being ushered to their designated second-row VIP seats. They had managed to sneak their goodies to their seats
,
knowing full well it was prohibited for anyone in the audience to possess these items. Of course, my kids were not about to come clean and get rid of their goodies when Sharon came around with the trash bag.

At the beginning of the show, the cameras would pan through the audience to capture the excitement and enthusiasm of the members of the crowd, who were anticipating being among the first four contestants called down to Contestants’ Row. My daughters and nieces, on the other hand, just sat there with stone cold, blank expressions on their faces, chewing gum as if to say, “What the heck are all these people so excited about? It’s just a dumb game show.”

Every time my adolescent family sat in the audience they repeated the same nonchalant, lackadaisical looks. It became apparent to the director and producers each time they viewed the tape that they just weren’t into the show or the audience participation.

When the shows aired, while I sat watching at home, I witnessed their lack of participation, gloomy faces, and gum chewing. “Oh Lord! How will I ever live this down?” As I continued to watch, I cringed, embarrassed to return to work.

One of the producers, Phil Rossi, pulled me aside and brought it to my attention
,
not that I wasn’t already painfully aware. Phil commanded, “If your kids want to continue to sit in the audience, they will have to show some excitement and lose the gum.”

I acknowledged Phil’s request and said, “I apologize, and I will talk to the girls and make sure this doesn’t happen again.”

“Okay, because they won’t be allowed to sit in the audience otherwise,” he said.

When I brought it to the girls’ attention, they promised they’d try and be more enthusiastic while sitting in the audience. They really liked being a part of the show and couldn’t wait to tell their classmates to watch them on TV. Disappointingly, during their next visit in the audience, they let me down. They just couldn’t seem to muster up enough energy and enthusiasm to convince the producers that they were trying to have fun. As a result, all children were banned from sitting in the audience
,
thus the audience participation age requirement was changed to eighteen and over.

Some families had waited months on end to finally receive their game show tickets via mail. Many carted all the way across the United States to be able to experience the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to be a part of
The Price Is Right
studio audience. It was their chance to meet Bob Barker, his Beauties, and hopefully hear Rod Roddy call their names to “come on down” or say, “You have a chance to win a new carrrr!” Can you imagine the disappointment when they showed up with their underage kids and were turned away because they didn’t receive the memo regarding the new age restrictions before they left home?

The production staff, cast, and crew were equally disappointed that their young family members could no longer be a part of the studio audience. To top it off
,
my
little darlings were the ones who had messed it up for everybody. Here I was, the first black Barker Beauty, and the first model-parent to have her children be the cause for a complete change in the production regulations!

Chapter 15

The Sex Tapes Scandal

I
n the midst of all of the other drama that was going on backstage at Studio 33, one day, during a break in the show, Dian came into my dressing room looking a little pale and perplexed. She said, “I just got some disturbing news from Kenny [Rogers], telling me that we’ve got to end our relationship immediately because all hell just broke loose. He said his manager’s phone is ringing off the hook from the tabloid TV shows.
The Globe
and the
National Enquirer
wrote articles about his sexual involvement with me and three of his other phone sex gal-pals. Those bitches are claiming that Kenny and
I
sexually mistreated them! Can you believe that shit?”

“What the hell happened? How did all of this drama unleash?” I asked.

“Evidently, he was getting too careless with his extramarital affairs, and now I’ve been dragged into this mess,” Dian ranted. “Kenny said that these three women are suing him, saying that he tricked them into becoming his long-distance lovers and wanted them to have kinky sex against their will.”

“But why were you named by the other ladies; just where do you fit in?”

“Remember when I told you that Kenny had asked me to meet him in Vegas for some fun with one of his other female friends? Well, I finally agreed to meet with him and his friend, Lori. She was as much of an eager participate as I was. She even picked me up from the airport, and Kenny gave us money to go shopping for lingerie. She knew full well what she was getting ready to play a part in that night. How dare she say that she was forced into a threesome against her will?” Dian continued, “Plus, his wife, Marianne, had always suspected that Kenny was fooling around, but now, the truth has just been confirmed. Marianne found out about everything that was going on over the last several months between me and Kenny and his other long-distance phone sex partners. As a matter of fact, he asked me not to mention their recent separation to anyone.”

Shortly after this shocking news hit the airwaves, the tabloids and news media were camped out in front of the CBS Studios, hoping to get any kind of information, confirmation, or dirt from one of the Beauties or production staff, regarding the latest scandal to hit
TPIR
. Several reporters obtained my private telephone number and called me at home. They were especially interested in my comments, because some insiders knew of the close relationship that Dian and I had and had reported it to the media.

I briefly commented, “My dear friend and co-worker, Dian Parkinson, is a very sweet and sensitive person, who would never set out to hurt or deceive anyone. I am sure that when the facts are presented, she will be removed from this circus of events. In time, the real truth will prevail to prove her innocence.” I knew full well what had happened and about Dian’s detailed involvement. But in reality, it certainly was not to the extent of which the victims had allegedly claimed.

While publicly acknowledging that he did have a private 800 number on which he recorded sexually explicit messages, Kenny insisted that the women called voluntarily and that he’d never pressured anyone into having sex.

The three women from the Dallas-Fort Worth area who had filed lawsuits against Kenny alleged that he’d forced them to submit to his depraved sexual desires, which involved phone sex and, in one instance, a ménage à trois with a TV game show hostess. In addition, the women allegedly claimed that Kenny had forced them to continue to participate in a sexually degrading and humiliating series of activities under the threat of public disclosure. As evidence, two of the women had produced audiotapes of Kenny actually engaging in phone sex with them.

Kenny stated in an interview, “It’s not like I took fourteen-year-old girls and tied them up and fed them drugs. I mean, these were conversations. These were words. You can go to any movie and hear this.” Kenny further stated, “I find it disheartening that three consenting adults would take what were clearly private conversations and place them into the public arena in an effort to extort money from me.”

The popular tabloid television show,
A Current Affair,
hosted by Maury Povich, got a hold of Kenny’s phone tapes and aired them on national TV.
A Current Affair
was only permitted to reveal just a few tame tidbits of Kenny’s sexual escapades; however, the tabloid magazines had a field day and printed most of the taped sessions, uncensored.

In one graphic taped message, Kenny revealed this fantasy to Lori:
“You’ve been in the sun. You’re hot, and you’re tired, so you go to this room and decide that you’d like a shower. A girl comes in and asks if you’d like a massage. She’s surprisingly beautiful. She takes you in and lays you down on the bed on your stomach and starts putting on hot oil. She starts rubbing it in, and you kind of let yourself drift, and you notice that she’s rubbing not just her hands down your back, but her beautiful, full breasts as well. She continues moving her hands slowly down, massaging your buttocks, and as she arrives at your thighs, she gently spreads your legs. You can’t tell if she is doing it intentionally or accidentally. It feels sooooo good. She then turns down the lights and puts on this very soft music. You can’t tell if you’re dreaming. You’re drifting in and out. She starts undressing, and you can’t believe it. She has the most beautiful body. She comes over and starts gently kissing you all over, starts kissing your mouth. You look over at the door, and I’m standing there. I’m walking to you and I have nothing on. I want you. I know how much you like to make love to me. The girl’s tongue feels so hot you can’t stand it. Suddenly, all three of us are making hot, passionate love.”

Dian was shaken by this whole incident but the charges against her were later dismissed.

Holly and Janice were not at all surprised by Dian’s latest Hollywood scandal, and they blamed her for the reason Marianne left Kenny. They didn’t think much of Dian before the scandal and they thought even less of her afterward. The CBS executives and
TPIR
producers were, once again, unnerved with this latest dark shadow, hovering the show. But oddly enough, the ratings soared.

As a good, loyal friend, I was there for Dian to support her through this trying time. After all, she and I both knew that Kenny was a great guy with a big heart—he just happened to like kinky sex.