V. Stiviano, the vapid former gal pal of Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling, said she’s enjoyed virtually every moment of attention, since exposing her sugar daddy’s racist comments.
In an interview set to air Wednesday on “Dr. Phil,” the TV shrink asked if she’s reveling in the limelight. She enthusiastically responded: “Absolutely!”
“Are you kidding me? I get to experience first-hand what it is to be a celebrity in LA,” Stiviano said in the chat that’s set to air at 3 p.m. on Channel 2. “I have to think about what I’m going to wear, how I’m going to do my hair.”
The narcissistic other woman had previously poured her heart out to Barbara Walters, days after the Sterling scandal broke.
During the Dr. Phil interview, the host ticked off a list of cars, cash and real estate that Sterling has lavished on her.
He asked Stiviano if she believes estranged wife Shelly Sterling is jealous.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if his own children were jealous of me too,” Stiviano boastfully shot back.
Dr. Phil also asked Stiviano to describe, in detail, her relationship with Sterling, a show spokeswoman said Tuesday.
But “Dr. Phil” producers didn’t immediately disclose how Stiviano answered that sensitive question.
Then Stiviano tried to convince Dr. Phil that there have been times when all the attention has been too much.
Dr. Phil didn’t buy it.
He mocked Stiviano’s collection of oversized visors that she’s pulled over her face while rollerblading in public.
“You say you were covering up the pain. Then I look at these pictures,” Dr. Phil said.
“I see you on roller skates in Daisy Duke cutoffs with a color-coordinated welders mask [visors] to mach your jacket, out rollerblading in front of the paparazzi.”
Dr. Phil continued: “That doesn’t look like pain to me. That looks like attention-getting behavior to me.”
Stiviano said those odd antics are just her way of dealing with pressure.
“We all have different ways of coping. You live in Hollywood. You deal with Hollywood. So you tell me, how should I have acted ?” the defensive Stiviano responded.
“I was making light of the situation. You tell me what would have been better for me to deal with … should I have been crying? Should I have stayed at home? Should I have been drinking? Should I have used drugs? You tell me. What would have been better? I used the mask. I used the mask. I used the visor, as you call it, the welding mask.”
In the bombshell tapes that came to light last month, Sterling told Stiviano to stop hanging out with black men and ordered her not to bring any African Americans to Clippers games.
Days after those words became public, NBA commissioner Adam Silver hit Sterling with a lifetime suspension and $2.5 million fine. Silver also wants to force Sterling to sell his team.
The NBA launched formal proceedings against the Clips owners on Monday with a hearing and vote by league owners set for June 3.
If three-quarters of owners vote to boot Sterling, he’d be forced to sell the Clippers, according to Silver’s interpretation of the NBA constitution.
Sterling has said he won’t pay the $2.5 million fine and doesn’t believe Silver has the authority to force a sale.