As we wrote in our review of her book, "Jeanie Clarke has a remarkable story to tell and in 'Through the Shattered Glass' she has told it".
Better known to some as Lady Blossom, Jeanie Clarke has had a fascinating life, with immense highs and devastating lows. We had the opportunity to sit with Jeanie to discuss her new book, her relationship with Stone Cold Steve Austin and more. Make sure to read on and to buy her book and find out more!
Your book is a full and in some cases painful look back at your life. How did you find the process of reviewing your experiences?
It was therapeutic but it started from coming out of rehab which was quite daunting. I had several years of not having feelings and whilst it's good to get them back, it can also be a bad thing because you are facing fear and all the things you numbed yourself to. So when I came back and went into my house I saw a lot of the consequences of addiction... there'd be a stack of unpaid bills, my garden, my clothes....
One of the things that we learned in rehab was that if you have resentment or paranoia, to write it down or try and analyse it and my daughter encouraged me to keep writing when I came back. After looking back at my childhood, I decided I was going to write a book. The good thing about the book is that it allowed me to learn more about myself. You can look back and keep the positives and I can understand my mistakes as well and why I made them. I'm proud of the book.
Your ex, Stone Cold Steve Austin, obviously features in the book and you publish love letters from him. Why did you decide to do that?
Steve was in a relationship with his ex and I just think the letters give credibility to our early love affair. He gave me cards and letters and it drew me in. I didn't actually go out with Steve, he came on to me and I supported him. He'd say please, can I borrow $200 for some boots - he had none except those Chris Adams gave him - and if he would come visit me in Dallas, there was a Chinese we'd go to and he couldn't afford to pay for it. He didn't have anything and I had my own business so I'd loan him money. So I wasn't a home wrecker or a gold digger, which people assumed. He kept sending me cards and letters saying he was not in a happy relationship and I was in love. I didn't include them to humiliate him.
You have different wrestling voices throughout the book giving context to the state of the wrestling industry in the period you are writing about. Did you know what was happening in the wrestling world and sense its growing popularity?
Not me personally. The voices though - there's Marc Rocco - I used to have a crush on him. He's the first wrestler before I met Chris that I'd used to comment on to my mum. I talked to him recently and to Marty Jones. I thanked him for his contribution and we talked about Chris and me. They were all lovely. I thought Terri's little quote about pregnancy was good. We didn't talk wrestling, It was about baby showers and the like.
There are so many names in the book - Jerry Jarrett, Dusty Rhodes. You even had dinner with the Undertaker and Vince McMahon!
I'd love to have a quote from him! He was the one that suggested the rehab. It could be two ways with Vince. I mean, Steve was his guy and maybe he would have wanted me to get well so it didn't effect Steve but I don't know Vince that well.
You headlined a wrestling match, managed by Paul Bearer, you took bumps and were injured - people landed on top of you! Did you have any idea how important a step this was in the development of women's wrestling?
I didn't, no. I was quite naive, I just thought it was another of Chris' ideas. I mean we couldn't work, Toni and I, not at all. The idea was it was a part of the story. Chris was pretty clever and held Toni back for a long time. It was three months, they built it up slowly. When she finally came in and I went down the crowd went mad. Chris wanted the angle to go on for a year but the promotion shut down.
What do you want people to take out of the book? You clearly want to be channel for those not as fortunate as you were to recover, what else do you want people to take from it?
I just think that you can defy the odds. I want people to know, you can be at the lowest of the low but something positive can come out of it. Hopefully my relationship with my children will be stronger and hopefully the relationship with Steve and the girls will be healed. That's ultimately what I hope for. Seeing and hearing the children, they still look at him and don't know him. There'll always be a feeling within a child that if you're not loved by your parents, you're not lovable and that's been a lot of the problem with my self-confidence. I didn't want that for them. I don't know if the way it was written with Steve is something that will lead him to repair things with them. Not me, but them. That would be the ultimate. I've spoken to Steve more since the book has come out. He said he'd talked to our daughter, so we'll see how it goes.
Hopefully the good will out for Jeanie. Through the shattered glass is available on amazon. Signed copies can be ordered from Jeannie by emailing: throughtheshatteredglass@hotmail.com
Above: Royal Ramblings with Jeanie Clarke