Who – August 10, 2019

INTERVIEW

neofhermostrevealinginterviews yet,

theburlesquestarandstyleicon opens up

abouttoughdecisionsshe’smade in her life

D

itaVonTeeseisusedto

strippingoffinfrontof

strangers.The46-year-

oldprettymuchsingle-

handedlyrevivedthe

sexyartofburlesque

inthe1990s,creating

a hugelysuccessful

careerfromshowcasing

herenviablephysiqueonstage.However,

baringhersoulandthedetailsofherprivate

lifeisanotherissueentirely.

TheAmericanstar’sfamereacheddizzying

newheightswhenshedivorcedcontroversial

singerMarilynMansonin2007.“Iremember

whenI wasgoingthroughmydivorce,”

shetellsWHO. “I’dbeasked

aboutit andI waslike,

‘Wow’.It’ssorawandwe

allhaveintensefeelings.

It’sa weirdthingtoact

likethere’snofeelings

attachedtohavinga baby

ora break-uporwhateverit is.”

SpeakingcandidlyfromherhomeinLos

Angeles,thebuxombrunetteisn’tafraidto

addressdetailsofherprivatelife,shejust

doesn’twanttobeprobedandproddedfor

information.

Nowina long-termrelationshipwith

graphicdesignerAdamRajcevich,VonTeese

returnstoAustraliawithherGlamonatrixTour

attheendoftheyear(ticketsonsalenow).

ForVonTeese,Australiaisa homeaway

fromhomeasherlingeriebusinessisrun

byAussiebusinessAndersonBrockhurst

Enterprises,withitsheadquartersin

Melbourne.“Inmyfirstmeetingwithmy

lingeriepartners I said, ‘I’ll do this deal if we

candoa rangeof sizes’,” she reveals. “It’s really

amazingwe’reliberating the stigma around

olderandbigger bodies and we get to see

othertypesofbodies. As time goes on, how we

talkaboutsexand ageing will start to change.”

Here,VonTeese opens up about everything,

fromgettingolder, her decision not to have

childrenandher acting aspirations.

Yousaidyouwanted to retire by 50.

Doyoustillfeel that way?

Afewyearsago, I thought I should retire

becauseI was43. I thought it was time to

slowdownand have a baby so I don’t have

regret.You’resupposed to hide yourself

when you age, and you know

what?I lookatwomenwhoare

olderthanme,especially

womenwhoarein

entertainment,andI amso

inspiredwhenI seethembeing

sexual,eroticandbeautiful,andthey’reolder

thanme.I needtodothesamethingformy

fansandnotbeafraidandnotshelvemyself.

Whydowekeepputtingoursexualityonthe

shelf ?Becausepeoplekeeptellinguswe’re

supposedto.Butthat’snottherealityofit

andwecanchangethat.Therewillbepeople

whoares----yandageistandwillwanttosay

terriblethingsaboutyounomatterwhat.We

canchangethiswholeconversation.

Haveyoubeenaskeda lotthroughout

yourcareerabouthavingchildren?

ThethingI findstrangeaboutitisthatit’s

sopersonal.WhatifI weresomeonewho

couldn’t have a baby and people were asking

me? What a terrible thing. I would be

mortified to ask someone who couldn’t

have a baby. That’s not what happened to

me, but what a personal thing to ask. Also,

that whole holier than thou thing that people

say, “You haven’t even loved until you’ve

had a baby”. What about the people that

can’t have a baby? I’ve been bothered by

those super personal questions. I’m used

to being bombarded with s--t like that and

people thinking that I don’t have feelings.

In what way?

Of course, I have feelings about babies and

sometimes I think, “Oh gosh, did I choose

right? Did I choose the right path?” I’ll never

know. There’s a lot of, “You can do it all”

and I’m sorry but I think there are some

things you are going to sacrifice. I would

not have been able to do these tours, and

this is my life’s work. I’m not sorry that I

picked something else. I enjoy writing my

books and I enjoy being at the forefront of

this burlesque revival. A lot of mothers, too,

are inspired by burlesque and that you can

be empowered. I don’t understand people

needing to have it all. It’s OK for me to say,

“I don’t think I could handle having a baby

and juggling my lingerie collection and

my books and the tours and all these things

that I want to do.”

Do people sometimes misunderstand

you?

Yeah. I don’t mind that though. I’m not

curing cancer or anything over here.

I’m in showbiz. It’s a little bit of a funny

thing to think back on my history and

how what started as me taking little pin-up

photos and doing burlesque shows with

feather fans in a strip club in Orange Country

turned into this big tour. It’s fun to see how

far I can push it and what I can do next.

■ By Holly Richards

In on

BODY

OF WORK

“When people think they’ve

seen every burlesque show, I do

something different,” Von Teese

says. “I’m also working on a

beauty line. When you google

red lipstick, my picture is one

of the first – so why do I not

have my own red

lipstick?”

“Therearesome

thingsyouare

goingtosacrifice”

Von Teese and

Marilyn Manson

split in 2007.

She’s now in a

relationship with

Adam Rajcevich.

FROM LEFT: SEQUOIA EMMANUELLE; GETTY IMAGES (3)