PAULA SHUGART
PRESIDENT, MISS UNIVERSE ORGANIZATION
by Rafael Robert Delfin
RRD: Now this is one of the questions that was posed actually during this year's pageant.
What makes you blush?
PS: (Laughs) Just about everything! I'm a little too Irish looking.
RRD: The first time I heard that question, I said to myself, "This is really stupid!"
I mean - trying to be politically correct - how do you ask that question to a
dark-skinned girl?
PS: That question was picked just about when we went on the air. There were so many things
about 9/11, about Osama bin Laden, and questions that have been more appropriate.
"What makes you blush?" My first reaction was: Wait a minute!
But I guess it is something that you have to think about. I actually thought that
they got a good reaction out of everybody. But it was not my favorite.
RRD: I'm sure it boosted the ratings, too.
PS: (Laughs) I actually thought about how I'd answer that question when it
was first posed. And I you know, sometimes it's that embarrassing situation when you
stick your foot in your mouth. I am the worst. I cannot, uh… I have the hard time
recovering 'cause I start to blush and obviously I've stuck my foot in my mouth
and I try to make up for it and it just gets worse usually.
RRD: Okay, good enough. Ten points! (We both laugh). Now what makes you angry?
PS: Uhhh… do you want to talk to the staff? (Laughs)
RRD: Uhhh… I can probably interview them later!
PS: Well, actually some of the people are on location in South Padre right now
could answer that. I'd say inefficiency… not being a team player. Accountability -
that was my big thing when I first came here, especially with all my years in
production and doing live specials - you're only as good as the weakest member.
There are certain things when you go live on the air, like the Academy Awards,
you're counting on everybody. I learned at an early age you have to be responsible
for it, so that was one of my things that I brought here starting with the
production department and now trying it with the company. You've got to take
something on - if you have an assignment, you have to embrace it as your own.
Sometimes I run into people that will, uh, sort of be responsible but when it
fell part, they were the first one to point the finger at somebody else.
"Why I assigned it to so and so?" And I finally have to say,
"No! I made you responsible, so if it didn't happen, you need to be
accountable." And I was in news for years, too, so it's one of those
things where you always have to be sure of your facts.
RRD: In other words, no incompetent people need apply!
PS: (Laughs) I guess so!
RRD: Uhhh… which person, or persons, has had the most influence on your life and on
the way you perceive things in general?
PS: Definitely my father. I thought he was one of the smartest people I've ever known.
RRD: Were you Daddy's little girl?
PS: Oh, yes! I had two older brothers, I was the baby, and I was the only girl.
And he was gone a lot. He was in Vietnam when I was growing up and he was actually shot
down in Vietnam. He was picked up by a seaplane, but when he came home, he was a great Dad.
He never spanked me; instead, he would always out-logic me. "Now, why did you this?
Explain to me why would you think this was a good idea?" By the time he was done with me,
I felt like such a fool. I knew that I would I never do whatever it was I had done wrong again.
But he was somebody that I could always talk to - no matter what. He was a pillar of strength.
He taught me to control my temper. I think when you're growing up, sometimes people mistake
getting angry quickly and flying off the handle as a sign of strength.
My father showed me that when you loose your cool, you lose your power.
Staying calm and objective is much healthier than being at the mercy of your emotions.
RRD: When was the last time you went grocery shopping and what did you buy?
PS: (Laughs)
RRD: Knowing that you're so busy, maybe you have neglected your household chores?
PS: I did neglect them! Actually, it's funny because I was home last weekend. I was home
for a few days and my husband said, "There's nothing in the house!" The worst feeling
in the world is that when you get up to that cup of coffee and there's no coffee and no milk!
I should explain that since I became President a year and a half ago, I still live in Los Angeles
and I commute to New York. The production office is still in LA and I travel back and forth
between the two. Unfortunately this year I've spent most of my time here and I don't
get to see my husband that much.
RRD: It's interesting because that reminds me of Julia Child. When the press went
to her house in Cambridge, Massachusetts and asked her what she had in her fridge,
she opened it and showed them an old sandwich and a bottle of beer, half-empty!
PS: Oh, really?
RRD: She turns 90 this week. That's all she had in her fridge!
PS: I'm sure Martha Stewart has a lot more in her fridge! (Laughs)
RRD: That's another topic!
PS: So anyway, I basically start getting my coffee and milk. After that, I stock up on
frozen foods for my husband while I'm gone.
RRD: You know what you should try? Online shopping! It's wonderful!
PS: I did it once. But they couldn't get the truck to my house which is on a little
street by itself and nobody can ever find it. By the time it gets there, everything has
thawed. (Laughs) But I like to grocery shop. It's kind of cathartic. So when I'm home,
I probably do it every other day.
RRD: Describe a romantic evening with your significant other.
PS: Let's see. You know, I've been married a year, and because I see my husband so
infrequently, it's really quiet time at home on the deck. He has his nice Belgian beer
collection and I have my glass of wine. Probably watching the sunset off the deck.
RRD: That's romantic? Just the two of you?
PS: It's more romantic with just the two of us.
RRD: If a movie were ever to be made about your life, which actress would you like to play you?
PS: (Laughs) Good question! Gosh! Uh, I'd love to be able to say Julia Roberts but we don't have anything in common. She's tall and very beautiful. (Laughs. Then pensive.)
After much thought… I'd have to say Vivien Leigh, just because I've seen "Gone With the Wind" a million times. Or maybe Bette Davis. "All About Eve" is one of my favorite movies.
RRD: If you were to host an intimate dinner party, name three people that you would invite
and why?
PS: Do they have to be living?
RRD: No. They can be dead.
PS: Well, I'm a history buff. I finished reading the life of John Adams last year and I was fascinated. I'd love to talk to him and see what he did. I don't know whether you've read him, but well, being in Boston…
RRD: Uhh… John Quincy Adams! The house where he was born is just a mile away from where I live.
It's now a museum.
PS: Wow!
RRD: So you'll invite John Adams…
PS: John Adams and two more! Probably Eleanor Roosevelt. Does that… does that sound like a
good pageant answer?
RRD: Good choice! Good choice! Very strong, brave woman. I admire her a lot.
PS: And uh… if I could squeeze two and I probably…
RRD: Sure! Okay, four! Make it even.
(Laughter)
PS: I'd like to invite my parents just to see how they're doing. But probably more history characters…
RRD: Napoleon, maybe?
PS: Nah, not Napoleon.
RRD: Queen Elizabeth the First?
PS: Yeah! Actually, Tudor England is a big thing for me, so that's an excellent choice, actually.
RRD: I'm sure that the conversation would be interminable. Everybody would be, like,
battling with each other!
PS: Yeah, yeah… just like in the old Steve Allen Show, where they had characters from history
on a panel together!
RRD: If you had the chance to travel in space, name three things that you would NOT bring
and why?
PS: Hairspray? (Laughs)
RRD: You probably wouldn't need it.
PS: Hmmm… I thought I would able to answer quickly! Hmmm… Luxury items? Actually, I just
had this conversation because of Lance Bass going to space.
RRD: They're still waiting for his money.
PS: The check is in the mail! Uhhh… I just… I don't know. I'm so claustrophobic and I
actually discovered it at a water park a couple of years ago. The idea of even being in a
capsule…
RRD: Or the elevator!
PS: Elevator is as far as I go! I got stuck in an elevator. I don't know what I would bring!
I would probably bring some sort of dramomine or something to help me get through it.
RRD: You probably don't need luxury items because space people are really not that
judgmental about looks, so what's the point?
PS: Yeah! And it's not like they really show you on camera anyway?
RRD: (Laughs)
PS: Well, I love the idea of being weightless, so I would probably bring stuff that you can
play with…
RRD: What about M&Ms that you can toss in your mouth?
PS: (Laughs) Yeah, I'll probably end up starving in space!
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"You're not a bitch, are you?"
OCTOBER 2002
