Miami Living Magazine features the best Miami has to offer. Click on any magazine below and enjoy. You can download our free app on iTunes. Ideal for iPad and iPhone users.
Issue link: https://digital.miamilivingmagazine.com/i/1464806
music, not for TV. When I got to E! a lot of the stuff we had to report on, I was thinking, “C’mon, this is so not right and not nice. I said to the producers, “So, I’m supposed to now deliver this to people at home about somebody. Who’s going out with who? Who’s having sex with who? God y’all, this is hard.” When I would do the interviews, I knew a lot of these [celebrities] already because I was already on The View, and they would come on The View. So, when I would go do the interviews with them, before I would get mic’d up, I would say to them, “Look, I have to ask you this. You don’t have to answer me.” I would say, “I can’t go back to my boss without asking you this, but I really don’t want to. This is an awful question, but you see it here [on the card].” Allison: That is hilarious. Debbie: You know what’s interesting about that? Because I took the heat off of them and the heat off myself, and I let them know that I wasn’t there to make them feel bad or make them feel uncomfortable about what was happening in their personal life, because I did that, 90% of the time they would answer it. You’re not being mean. You’re not a threat. You’re not trying to make them look bad. Then, I would go back to [editing] and I would say, “Guys take care of them. Don’t make them look bad. Don’t make it ugly when you cut this piece together.” All of those moments were defining moments in my life. The third one would be my dad passing away from ALS. That brought me to my knees. Allison: Oh my gosh! I am so sorry. When was that? Debbie: We are going on 9 years now. It seems like yesterday. Allison: ALS is a brutal disease. Debbie: So hateful. With ALS, the person knows what is happening to them, and they are a prisoner in their own body. They do understand what’s going on, and there is nothing they can do about it. They feel guilty, because everyone else has to take care of them. He couldn’t move at the end. I fed him. I bathed him. I would have to pick him up. I left Hollywood and I went home. I quit [my career] for three years. I quit E! and they would say, “Are you crazy? You are ruining your career. No one is going to hire you when you come back.” I said, “I don’t really care. If you don’t hire me when I come back because I went to take care of my dad, I don’t want to work for you. That is just disgusting. What kind of human are you?” I don’t want to work for a company like that. I have one dad. There will be a gazillion shows, and you know what, I don’t want to grieve thinking I worked at E!, but I didn’t go home to take care of my dad. Allison: You did the right thing. It goes without saying. Debbie: I was taking care of him one day, and it would take him a long time to speak and to get the words out. I had just heard about Fiji on the radio, and I said, “Gosh, I would really love to go there someday.” My dad was trying to say something, and I said, “What?” Struggling to speak the words, he manages to say to me, “Not someday. Today!” I said, “Dad today I’m taking you to physical therapy. How am I going to go to Fiji today?” He adamantly repeated, “Today. Look what happened to me. Not someday. Today!” He said, “Tomorrow is not a promised.” Allison: What a life lesson. Right? Debbie: I’ve never forgotten. I was always so strong. I was looking out the window like, “Do not cry. Do not cry in front of him. Be strong.” I said “You know what? You’re exactly right.” I stayed as strong as I possibly could in front of him, but I would walk out of rooms sometimes and just lose it. Allison: Let me ask you this. Do you pray? And if so, who or what do you pray to? Debbie: Growing up I was brought up in a Greek Orthodox family, and we went to church every Sunday. We did the Greek Easter and Christmas. We Fasted for 40 days which is why Greek people are so healthy. When they talk about the