'Cherry Pie' girl Bobbie Brown takes aim at reality TV in

‘Cherry Pie’ girl Bobbie Brown takes aim at reality TV in “Ex-Wives of Rock”

Bobbie Brown, the Cherry Pie girl is back!

 

DO IT TO ME ONE MORE TIME

Video Vixen Bobbie Brown, famous in the MTV days as the star of Warrant’s “Cherry Pie” video, is taking one last shot at stardom in the TV series “Ex-Wives of Rock”

By Gerry Gittelson

Metal Sludge Editor at Large

HOLLYWOOD — It’s been a generation since Warrant’s “Cherry Pie” video made Bobbie Brown an unforgettable MTV vixen, and the former wife of Jani Lane is on the cusp of a dramatic comeback as one of the stars of the new reality TV series “Ex-Wives of Rock” premiering Friday, Dec. 7 at 10:30 p.m. on Fuse Network.

The former Miss Teen USA runner-up and thirteen time Star Search spokesmodel is 43 now, and there is still lots of hair, teeth and boobs. For years Bobbie Brown has been pleading there’s more to her than her sultry image and cuddly association with rock stars – not just Lane but also a long engagement to Motley Crue’s Tommy Lee and flings with Sugar Ray’s Mark McGrath among others – and here is Brown’s chance to prove herself.

In “Ex-Wives” you’ll get to see what Brown is all about – with and without makeup, she swears – and the series already has proved a big hit in Canada last season before being picked up by Fuse. Fellow ex-wives Sharise Neil (Motley’s Vince Neil), Susan Ashley-Dixon (Warrant’s Jerry Dixon) and Athena Lee (Scorpions’ James Kottak) are the co-stars, and Shannon Tweed (wife of Kiss’ Gene Simmons) is the narrator.

You can see the trailer HERE.

Though Dixon had her 15 minutes back in the day as host for one season of the old MTV show “Remote Control,” Brown is by far the series’ most recognizable face, having parlayed “Cherry Pie” into TV appearances on “Married with Children” and other modeling/acting jobs before going through some wild ups and downs including drug addiction, financial problems and even a bout with Lupus.

Brown has grown up since being every guy’s fantasy on the lurid “Cherry Pie” video, and with Lane having died last year alone in a Southern California hotel room with an empty liquor bottle next to his body, Brown could, incredibly, become a bigger celebrity than all the surviving Warrant members combined – if “Ex-Wives of Rock” turns out to be a hit.

Metal Sludge took a go-for-it approach in our interview together, and wow did Brown hang tough with an exceptionally honest account of things. Here is Part 1.

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A younger Bobbie Brown pre cherry pie

METAL SLUDGE: Wow, Bobbie, this new TV show “Ex-Wives of Rock” premieres Friday, and you’re one of the stars. It’s been like 21 years since the “Cherry Pie” video, and you’re still hangin’ in there.

BOBBIE BROWN: “Yes, we’re really excited, especially because the show is coming to an American audience. Everyone here is dying to see it because it’s from here and it was shot here. Everyone is always asking, “When can I see it?” It’s just been a matter of time. The show is really good. It’s a really good show, not what you might expect. You’ll be surprised because it is, really, a really good show. I think people might be expecting one thing and be a little surprised.

SLUDGE: What you really mean is people think it’s going to be terrible, right?

BROWN: Well, they expect it to be terrible, they expect the show to dwell about the ex-husbands, but it doesn’t. The haters will always hate.

SLUDGE: I tried hard to find some clips or episodes from the site in Canada but I couldn’t find a thing on the Net. The other shows, you can click to see past episodes or whatever, but not yours.

BROWN; No, they don’t let you, which is good. It’s kind of a good tactic so it would be picked up in the states.

Sharise, Bobbie, Athena & Susan

SLUDGE: All those shows like Celebrity Rehab, I can watch a whole episode on the Net the next morning after the show airs, you know what I mean?

BROWN: Yeah, I know. This one, they did it on purpose. It’s huge in Canada, and they’re being smart about it. It’s going to be phenomenal.

SLUDGE: So the show did well in Canada? That’s gives you momentum.

BROWN: Exactly. They don’t do the Nielsen ratings or whatever, and they wouldn’t really tell us while the show was going along. Nobody wanted to freak us out, but the VP of Fuse Network was telling everyone in the press that he would put EX WIVES up against any similar reality show, anytime, any day. The pressure was like “Whoa.” It really is that good of a show. We’re very pleased.

SLUDGE: So Bobbie Brown is back in the limelight. The Cherry Pie girl. Here’s your new chance, Bobbie.

BROWN: It’s been a long time coming because I had first moved here from Louisiana to get into entertainment, and I disappeared for a while, some accidents along the way, and everything has fell into place. Everything happens for a reason. I’m really excited about this.

SLUDGE: I think your comeback is especially dramatic because you know your image, Bobbie – all looks, no substance.

BROWN: They would assume that, but they don’t know me. Now you get to see the real me, the real deal, what I have to say and what I do. The difference with our show and other reality shows is there’s a genuine bond from 20 years ago. You just can’t force that (on camera). So we pull from that history we have together because the relationships are genuine.

SLUDGE: So you mean it’s not like some of those other reality series that are obviously staged and rehearsed, like the one with Brooke Hogan. God was that awful.

BROWN: No, those kind of shows are scripted.

SLUDGE: And stupid.

BROWN: Well yeah, but I don’t want to say that. I will say this: Ours is definitely not scripted.

SLUDGE: I’ve got to ask you about your co-star, Athena Lee, who is Tommy Lee’s sister, of course. You say all these relationships are genuine, but she had some really nasty things to say about you on that TV special about Motley Crue and Tommy Lee on VH1.

BROWN: Yeah, it was not very nice, but ultimately, what happened with that, what went on with that was when me and Tommy Lee were together, she walked in when he and I were fighting, and she only saw the second part of the fight, when I punched him in the face. She missed the part of him choking me. I was defending myself after the initial fight, and that’s when she walked in and saw the punch. On the VH1 show, she was defending her brother. But it’s true, we had stopped talking to each other after the breakup.

SLUDGE: Well, what was your reaction when you heard what Athena was saying about you?

BROWN: We stopped being friends. It was kind of off-putting, but she didn’t know the whole story. She didn’t see the whole thing that night. I didn’t see here again until 2000. Maybe that does make sense, but like five years after, we were hanging out again, we were friends again. We went to Disneyland together.

SLUDGE: And the show is called “Ex-Wives of Rock” but Athena is still married, right? The divorce has not been finalized.

BROWN: We started the show two years ago, and they were still going through it.

SLUDGE: It’s been a long time.

BROWN: Yeah, well (Kottak) is the one not showing up to court and missing dates and stuff. He’s always on tour. It’s one-sided. They’re pretty good at slinging shit equally. Definitely, they go back in forth.

SLUDGE: You rarely see Athena and Tommy Lee together.

BROWN: When their mom was sick before she died, there was a strain. They weren’t speaking for a time. It was awkward for them because the mom was at Tommy’s house. He’s sober, going on two years.

SLUDGE: I know Athena had cancer, too. How is she doing now?

 

BROWN: She’s doing great. She has had some rough times, and this last year was the hardest of her life — the trouble with her health, her mom died, the divorce. She was hitting an all-time low.

 

The “Ex-Wives of Rock” girls on The Andy Dick Show

SLUDGE: You didn’t have such a good year either with Jani dying. He died during the filming, right?

BROWN: Yes, that was really weird. You couldn’t drudge up stuff like this for TV show even if you wanted to. It just kept coming.

 

SLUDGE: You and Jani have a daughter together, Taylar. How is she doing?

 

BROWN: She’s 20 now, and she’s on the Dean’s list in college in Louisiana. She’s doing great.

 

SLUDGE: What does she think of the show?

 

BROWN: She hasn’t seen it yet.

 

SLUDGE: What do you mean she hasn’t seen it yet? Her mother is the star of the show.

 

BROWN: Yeah, they don’t let anybody see it.

 

SLUDGE: What are you saying? You don’t have your own DVD copies to show your friends?

 

BROWN: No, I don’t fuckin’ even have a copy!

Taylar & Mommy

 

SLUDGE: I’ve got to ask you about the Motley Crue book. The stuff in there about you is pretty harsh, about you doing crystal meth. Is the book accurate?

 

BROWN: I haven’t read it.

 

SLUDGE: Well I’m sure millions of people have told you about it.

 

BROWN: They have. I went on TV and admittedly said I’ve been in and out of rehab, and that was my own doing.

 

SLUDGE: When was the last time you went to rehab?

 

BROWN: In the 90s, I think. It was a long time ago. The divorce with Jani, after that, I really fell off the wagon, and after Tommy Lee and I broke up, it was hard-core.

 

SLUDGE: Yeah, it’s not as much fun doing drugs without millions of dollars.

 

BROWN: Well, at first, back then, it was social and fun. We’d be doing it together. When the breakup happened, that’s when the downward spiral starts. But all that is behind me now. I’m good now.

 

SLUDGE: What about your love life now, Bobbie? Are you single?

 

BROWN: I can’t really discuss it because that’s part of the plot that unravels in the show. I don’t want to get in trouble. You’ll just have to watch it to find out.

Bobbie Brown & Tommy Lee

 

SLUDGE: So let’s take some inventory. According to Wikipedia you were married to Jani Lane for three years and engaged to Tommy Lee?

 

BROWN: Yeah, we were engaged for a year.

 

SLUDGE: What about Duff McKagen? For some reason, I picture you together back in the day.

 

BROWN: No, Duff and I just hung out and were good friends. Before Jani was Matthew Nelson.

 

SLUDGE: Oh yeah, Matthew Nelson. I like him, nice guy.

 

BROWN: I actually broke up with Matthew Nelson during the “Cherry Pie” time.

 

SLUDGE: So the “Cherry Pie” video set, is that where you and Jani fell in love?

 

BROWN: No, but Jani first started sending me flowers the next day, after the shoot finished. He was kinda shy, actually. Then, after he sent me flowers, he went on Howard Stern show and said: “Hey, Matthew Nelson, I’m in love with your girlfriend. Sorry, dude.” I was like, “Oh my god.”

SLUDGE: So Matthew heard it?

BROWN: Of course he heard it. Everyone heard. Howard Stern was huge on the radio at that time. Matt was pissed. He hated Jani, and that video was so huge, and at that point, Matt was trying to get some fame himself. Every time we would get in the car, “Cherry Pie” would be the first song on the radio, and Matt would be like “Ugh” and really annoyed, so we broke up.

The late Jani Lane with Bobbie Brown

SLUDGE: Did you sleep with Jani the first night?

BROWN: No no.

SLUDGE: Oh please, Bobbie.

BROWN: It’s true, I did not.

SLUDGE: Really? OK, then, let’s test your remember: Give me all the details of your first date with Jani.

BROWN: Actually, the first night we got together was in Louisiana. In Shreveport. Warrant was playing, and he invited me to the show.

SLUDGE: With Matt gone, you weren’t feeling the heat?

BROWN: No, I’m not one of those girls. What happened was, Joey Allen, the Warrant guitarist, his wife Cathy told Jani I was in Louisiana, so Jani called me.

SLUDGE: Describe your pass. Was it after-show, VIP, laminate?

BROWN: It was the all-access one. He even dedicated “Heaven” to me. The Warrant videos were really popular, and they shined the light on me at the soundboard, and everyone was going crazy.

SLUDGE: I’m assuming that’s the first time you’ve had 10,000 people cheering for you, right?

BROWN: Obviously, yes.

SLUDGE: Did you like it?

BROWN: I did!

SLUDGE: OK, take us through the rest of the night because I remember Jani being a very red-blooded guy.

BROWN: We hung out. We played pool and drank, whatever. I stayed at his hotel.

SLUDGE: Same room and no sex? C’mon, Bobbie. You’re the “Cherry Pie” girl.

BROWN: My friend came down with me and was there in the room with us the whole time. Being the “Cherry Pie” girl didn’t mean anything.

SLUDGE: So you’re saying you were not promiscuous?

BROWN: No, I wasn’t promiscuous. I was 21, and I was hard to get. I still am! I kissed him though, and he called the next day on the phone and told me he loved me.

SLUDGE: That’s not bad for one kiss.

BROWN: A little while later, he flew me out to Florida. That’s when we became boyfriend and girlfriend.

Stay tuned for Bobbie Brown Part 2 – we’ve barely scraped the surface of what’s to come.

Gerry Gittelson can be reached atGspot@MetalSludge.tv

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