We all have our favorite celebrities, and whether they be actors, musicians, models, or fit into some other professional category, fans are usually pretty intrigued by their lives and like the idea of knowing as much about them as possible. This, of course, includes not just who said famous folk might be dating, but even more personal details about their sex lives, which they do sometimes give freely. Brooke Shields, who became famous as a teen actor and model in the late 1970s, recently opened up about the “mistake” of revealing her virginity in the ‘80s, and how it actually led to having additional “resilience.”
What Did Brooke Shields Say About Publicly Revealing Her Virginity?
Celebrity memoirs and autobiographies are certainly nothing new, and fans have long looked to these books so that they can get some inside information on the famous people that they enjoy watching. By 1985, The Blue Lagoon star was one of the most famous people around, and was about two years into her studies at Princeton when she released a memoir, On Your Own, with advice for kids going off to college. In that book, the actress revealed that she was a virgin, and during a recent chat on her podcast, Now What? with Brooke Shields, she talked about her belief that it was a “mistake,” and said:
I mean, I think it was, in hindsight, a bit of a mistake for me to be so open about my virginity because it never left me alone...I became the most famous virgin in the world...To be in the line of fire at such a young age in that way, I gained a resilience and it set me up to be ready for anything in this industry, which can be difficult.
The A Castle for Christmas star (who spoke about writing this and other memoirs with her co-star in that film, Cary Elwes) said that her version of the story was rejected by the publisher after she sent in her first chapter, because they’d been expecting “a simple, stupid book,” and she’d delivered a “very in-depth” accounting of her time at the prestigious school. So, a ghostwriter was assigned to the task, and it was then that a part of the book she’d written about teens and young women simply “owning your choice” about whether or not to have sex, was cut so that the only information left was about Shields, herself, being a virgin.
Aside from the fact that, once the book was released, everyone knew something that was very personal to her, it led to a number of what she calls “very creepy” interviews, where the young woman felt forced to “defend” her choice to older, male talk show hosts and reporters. But, looking back on the experience, she’s able to note a positive side effect of being so open, because it did help to prepare her even more for the potential difficulties of continuing to work in entertainment.
