By Jenny Brown
She was the ‘big girl’ in singing group Wilson Phillips, but after years of struggle, Brian Wilson’s daughter is slim, sober and thrilled with her life.
There’s a lot less — and a lot more — to Carnie Wilson than there used to be.
The daughter of Beach Boys legend Brian Wilson is a recording star, TV host, motivational speaker, actor, voice-over artist, former Playboy model, wife and mother.
Singing in the girl group Wilson Phillips — with her sister Wendy and Chynna Phillips — she scored a string of hits and Grammy nominations, selling more than 11 million albums.
She was alienated for many years from her famous father, and battled food addiction, obesity, drug and alcohol abuse and postnatal depression. She did, however, write more than three cookbooks!
Yet Carnie is perhaps most famous for the 1999 gastric bypass surgery that helped her shed almost half her body weight — from 300lb (136kg, more than 21 stone) to 148lb (10stone8lb or 67kg) — in the space of 16 months.
Three months before the operation she met her husband-to-be, rock guitarist Rob Bonfiglio, and the couple wed a year later with proud father Brian Wilson giving her away.
Was there any downside to losing weight for you?
I didn’t have my food friend any more. I was living in a new body and I wasn’t used to the attention. It was a weird head trip. That’s why therapy is crucial to free you from that cage — although I still stray into doughnut prison or the Snickers cave of hell. I think about food a lot.
What does food mean to you?
It’s a security thing because I’m always striving to feel safe and calm. I’m wired really tight. I have to be slowed down because my instinct is to keep moving, like a shark. That’s why Rob and I balance each other out. He’s always thinking … Me, I’m like … honestly, how do I calm myself down without smoking pot or drinking alcohol, which is what I would rather be doing.
There’s a “fat” crisis, isn’t there?
Obesity kills 300,000 people in the US every year. The surgery I had was the best thing I ever did. It taught me some discipline and gave me some control — not 100 per cent, but a lot. Only one per cent of morbidly obese people are going to get it off and keep it off. The odds are not great.
Why do you embrace so many different jobs?
You know, part of it is that I don’t have a consistent world of work here. I have to take it where it comes. Artists don’t sell a lot of records these days. Don’t think I have millions sitting in the bank! I have a nice lifestyle but I have to focus on my daughter. I try to follow what my heart says.
And what is it telling you about the future? I want to open a restaurant one day. I’m in a much better place than I was, so I have a lot of gratitude. It’s funny, my husband just turned 40 and asked me not to tell anyone his age, although he doesn’t look 40 and he doesn’t act 40. Who cares? I’m 40 next April and I’m excited about it; I feel like I’m a woman.
Read more of this interview in Woman’s Day (on-sale December 24, 2007)
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