Latest / In My Hometown / From Playboy Bunny to Society Columnist: Candace Jordan on Playboy, Fame & Golden Era

Transcript

From Playboy Bunny to Society Columnist: Candace Jordan on Playboy, Fame & Golden Era · In My Hometown

• 0:00
  From Playboy Bunny and nine time cover model to one of Chicago's most recognizable media personalities and society columnist, Candace Jordan, has spent decades at the center of celebrity culture and reinvention.
• 0:14
  And she's with us today for a candid conversation about what it was really like to be a Playboy bunny, what it was like to live at the mansion.
• 0:24
  We're gonna talk about aging and confidence.
• 0:27
  We're gonna talk about our golden era, we're gonna talk about so much more.
• 0:31
  You're in my hometown with Jamie and Pascal.
• 0:34
  Stay with us.
• 0:57
  Jamie, thank you and Pascal.
• 0:59
  Thank you.
• 1:00
  Long time friends.
• 1:01
  Long time friends ever.
• 1:03
  I met I met Candy uh when I moved in the state in the late 70s, early 80s.
• 1:08
  She was the icon of Chicago.
• 1:11
  Yes, and she still is.
• 1:13
  And she still is.
• 1:14
  Okay.
• 1:15
  And I remember what I remember about you is uh you've done a lot of uh work with Playboy, but uh I think the most impressive was you did the cover, the you did a cover and center of uh page of Playboy, which at the time there was no internet, there was no newspaper, there was no uh social media, so newspaper was what we were with.
• 1:38
  Exactly.
• 1:39
  So I want to know a little bit about how you felt at the time and uh what what was what what was what was your experience?
• 1:46
  My experience was spectacular.
• 1:47
  I have absolutely zero regrets.
• 1:50
  Playboy has been my family from the very beginning, from the moment I started in St.
• 1:54
  Louis as a bunny, which was like 19, I don't know, 73, I think, to, you know, and then I came to Chicago to the Playboy Mansion.
• 2:01
  I lived there with when Hefner was in residence, and uh and I worked at the Chicago Playboy Club.
• 2:06
  They have always been top drawer, all the photographers, you know, so respectful.
• 2:10
  Hefner, the best there ever was.
• 2:13
  And uh yeah, all my experience, I have no negative feelings about Playboy whatsoever.
• 2:17
  And it was a breeze to pose.
• 2:18
  I mean, you know, what girl when they're in their 20s, I mean, is worried about how their body looks, nobody.
• 2:23
  So we have some of your um covers and some photos that we could show.
• 2:29
  Oh my god.
• 2:30
  I mean, you're gorgeous.
• 2:31
  You are like I said, you're gorgeous now, but um some of these are just down memory lane.
• 2:35
  Uh when when people think of Playboy and they think of a Playboy bunny, I mean, so much comes to people's minds, right?
• 2:43
  And what they conjure up and just the perception of it.
• 2:46
  How much of that is like the reality versus the fantasy?
• 2:50
  Or what what do you think?
• 2:51
  I think it's pure fantasy.
• 2:52
  And you know, I uh it's they're they're not glorified waitresses, although they were really heavily trained uh by you know, to do all these serving of drinks, serving food, you know, how to react to VIP guests and all that big intensive training session.
• 3:07
  And uh, of course, for me, fortunately, I didn't serve drinks or liquor.
• 3:10
  I worked the uh door, greeted guests, and I played bumper pool, and I, you know, I worked in the gift shop.
• 3:16
  But, you know, by working the door and meeting all the people that came in, I think it really, really helped me as far as, you know, I was the first face they saw when they came to the Playboy Club.
• 3:25
  And so all the art directors came in, all the photographers came in, and so I had a little bump on that head start and they would always ask me, you know, if they were testing for covers.
• 3:33
  Candace, would you come up and test this cover with us?
• 3:36
  And then they'd print it, and you know, there I would be.
• 3:38
  So uh yeah.
• 3:39
  So for people that don't know, that sort of just know the magazine existed.
• 3:43
  So, because you mentioned, and I didn't even know St.
• 3:46
  Louis club, the club in St.
• 3:47
  Louis, I just knew in Chicago.
• 3:49
  Talk a little bit about that at the beginning and how, because you you're such a Chicago fixture right here, what was that club for Chicago?
• 3:58
  Yeah, and how the role?
• 4:00
  Uh the I came from a really small town in southern Illinois, it's about 3,000 people.
• 4:04
  And so I um got the job at the St.
• 4:07
  Louis Playboy Club.
• 4:08
  I had a scholarship to St.
• 4:09
  Louis University because I was valedictorian in my class, but I was so sick of school that I didn't couldn't move another inch in that direction.
• 4:16
  And so I went to the St.
• 4:17
  Louis Playboy Club.
• 4:18
  I wasn't even old enough to serve drinks at that time, but they hired me, and that's how I started, you know, working the door there and greeting people.
• 4:24
  And I did a Best Bunnies pictorial.
• 4:26
  I'll never forget it.
• 4:27
  David Chan was a photographer and he was wonderful.
• 4:30
  And uh they loved it in Playboy in Chicago at the hub, and so they asked me if I'd like to move to Chicago.
• 4:35
  And oh, I just were you naked in this picture or partial.
• 4:38
  Partial, yeah, partial.
• 4:40
  And and I mean that was the first time you ever did that, but it at the time I had no, I had been modeling since I was 13 in St.
• 4:46
  Louis.
• 4:47
  So this, you know, posing for a camera was not it was not new to me.
• 4:50
  Okay.
• 4:50
  And uh, and I was very pleased with my figure, and I had no qualms about it.
• 4:54
  And, you know, like I said, the photographers are all, you know, first rate professionals.
• 4:59
  Um, but when I moved to, you know, Chicago, I mean, it was like the Emerald City.
• 5:02
  I had never even visited the city before.
• 5:05
  And uh, you know, much less to go into the Playpoint Mansion from a railroad town in southern Illinois.
• 5:11
  Yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 5:11
  It was uh it was quite a shift.
• 5:13
  So what what was the the the backslatch of the being a center page of Centerfold?
• 5:19
  You know, I mean some people think it's great, some people think did you have a lot of controversy on that?
• 5:24
  Did you have a lot of people thought, you know, what is she doing?
• 5:27
  Yeah, what what was the feeling of you being the center page?
• 5:31
  Well, you know, surprisingly, in such a small town, you would think that the the you know, Bible thumping people, and uh, but when they came over after I did the centerfold, my mom and my dad were at our house and they had a uh a camera crew come over from St.
• 5:43
  Louis to interview them after I did the centerfold.
• 5:45
  And so they said, um, you know, to my dad, you know, how do you feel about your daughter posing in Playboy?
• 5:51
  And he says, if they would have paid me what they paid her, I would have done it myself.
• 5:55
  I love that.
• 5:56
  Right?
• 5:57
  So, you know, unfortunately, I'm an only child and I had my parents 100% behind me in all my decisions.
• 6:02
  That you love that, yeah.
• 6:04
  And so then you had taken some of these pictures, you can't you get to Chicago, and then I I I've seen some of these, like, well, I've seen like Star 80, like a lot of the Playboy movies, right?
• 6:15
  Right.
• 6:15
  But I also saw as a child, um, did was it Barbara Walters that did some retrospective?
• 6:21
  Or who went in as a Playboy bunny to show?
• 6:23
  That was Gloria Steinem.
• 6:24
  Gloria Steinem.
• 6:25
  Okay, right, all right.
• 6:26
  And yes.
• 6:27
  Yeah, well, her experience was far removed from what my experience was.
• 6:30
  But I think she went in there with an agenda, obviously, and it wasn't a good one.
• 6:33
  It was not pro-Playboy.
• 6:35
  So um, yeah, I I put a grain of salt in whatever she thought.
• 6:38
  But what I did see of it, and not the necessarily the negativity was just more how you is you said there you were trained, and everyone you had a um when you served and you said you weren't a server, you were in another role, but some of the servers had to bend down and the bunny hip.
• 6:52
  Yeah, the bunny hip.
• 6:54
  Oh, and listen, you know, the girls were fabulous.
• 6:56
  They were all beautiful.
• 6:57
  Most of them were all from small towns.
• 6:59
  Okay, you know, and truthfully, no jealousy.
• 7:01
  You would never expect that to be the case, but it was absolutely I'm still friends with almost every single one of those girls that I worked with.
• 7:08
  Uh, even in St.
• 7:09
  Louis, you know, Patty Connors, Jimmy Connors' wife, was one of the bunnies in St.
• 7:12
  Louis.
• 7:13
  We're best friends.
• 7:14
  She called me yesterday on my birthday.
• 7:15
  But um, yeah, all those girls.
• 7:17
  Happy birthday.
• 7:17
  Happy birthday.
• 7:18
  Yeah.
• 7:19
  But it was a sisterhood, you know, and it was a very, very elite sisterhood.
• 7:22
  Not many girls were in it.
• 7:23
  And uh, it was really, it was totally exciting from beginning till now.
• 7:27
  And I'm still involved with the organization.
• 7:29
  Yes, that's so wonderful.
• 7:30
  Yeah, is Playboy still Playboy still around?
• 7:33
  The magazine?
• 7:33
  No, there isn't up, yeah, because I remember they were talking about eventually bringing back the magazine, but for a while, yeah, they shut it down.
• 7:43
  I mean, they were just online.
• 7:44
  Right, it was just online.
• 7:45
  Yes.
• 7:46
  And uh, but now they're gonna bring back a magazine, not monthly, but you know, like every six months or something like that.
• 7:51
  And um, I'm not in favor of the magazine.
• 7:53
  They had like 10 centerfolds in it.
• 7:55
  It's ridiculous, which takes a little sp of the specialness out of uh, you know, that position.
• 8:00
  But um, you know, I I listen, I'm glad they're still around, period.
• 8:03
  You know, as long as they're around, then you know, all my memorabilia is worth a lot of money.
• 8:07
  I heard I heard then you give a lot of um your memorabilia to charity because you wanted to preserve the well I didn't know that's not exactly the case.
• 8:16
  Um the uh I was on the Antiques Roadshow.
• 8:18
  Yes.
• 8:19
  And they had appraised all of my Playboy memorabilia for quite a lot of money.
• 8:23
  I mean, it the it was$25,000 was the last appraisal.
• 8:27
  And shortly after that, I got a call from the Chicago History Museum that they were interested in my collection.
• 8:32
  So um they came over and they looked at it and uh, you know, they loved it, they wanted it, they wanted to build an exhibit around it and me, which I thought was terrific.
• 8:40
  That was fine.
• 8:41
  But uh they acquired my collection.
• 8:42
  Yeah.
• 8:43
  Oh, that's so cool.
• 8:44
  Yeah, it's so fine.
• 8:44
  Yeah, we did just the end of it.
• 8:46
  And if we could show too, so that you had a cover, one of your covers is in this um gorgeous suit, swimsuit, I believe.
• 8:54
  Oh, the year?
• 8:56
  So this is 1970.
• 8:57
  December February 1970, 1980.
• 9:01
  And you were missed so you were missed December.
• 9:04
  I was missed, it was the largest issue they'd ever published.
• 9:07
  Amazing.
• 9:07
  And um, and that was that was an iconic cover.
• 9:10
  They have made, they recreated, they had me recreate.
• 9:13
  Yeah, we have a picture of the reason.
• 9:14
  When I was older, uh like 30 years later.
• 9:17
  Yeah.
• 9:18
  And um, but uh yeah, well, that's not exactly one of my favorite pictures.
• 9:21
  But fabulous.
• 9:23
  Oh, I look more than about it.
• 9:25
  You know what?
• 9:26
  You always had something about you, which uh always always was fatuated by his eyes.
• 9:32
  Oh, yeah.
• 9:32
  You had those beautiful blue person eyes.
• 9:34
  Yeah, you paint.
• 9:35
  And I think that's what that's what you know it it it's he's getting lost in your well, you know, that was one of my covers, was just my eyes for the February 80 covers.
• 9:44
  Okay, I think that was an award-winning cover.
• 9:46
  And if the funny story behind that was Hefner did not want to publish that cover because it wasn't she's not looking at your art, he wasn't looking at it.
• 9:53
  He wasn't looking at your eyes.
• 9:55
  Well, thank God the art director was, because he thought it was a really special idea for a cover.
• 10:00
  And so he finally pushed it through and half-okayed it, and it turned out to be one of the best-selling covers of all time.
• 10:05
  I love to hear that.
• 10:06
  Yeah, so what I mean, he is such a care, was such a character.
• 10:11
  Yes, and I think definitely polarizing in in some ways.
• 10:15
  Um, I I came to know him from there was a show uh with the bunnies that lived on in his girlfriends.
• 10:23
  I forgot now.
• 10:24
  The girls next door.
• 10:25
  Yes, the girls next door.
• 10:26
  I was in love with that show.
• 10:26
  That was I loved it.
• 10:27
  I was on a couple of years.
• 10:28
  When he was in wearing pajamas with all his girlfriends, yes, yeah, he had the TV show.
• 10:35
  Yeah.
• 10:36
  He had the TV show.
• 10:37
  He had the TV show.
• 10:38
  Called The Girls Next Door.
• 10:39
  Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 10:40
  And so um, and that's how I really sort of came to he came into my consciousness away.
• 10:44
  Great show.
• 10:45
  That was one of the first real reality shows.
• 10:48
  And they were able to, I think it really did uh wonders for the Playboy brand.
• 10:52
  It was licensed in Paxson and all these different places.
• 10:55
  So it's amazing.
• 10:56
  Was he was that his how he really was?
• 10:59
  Like a lot of it was, yeah.
• 11:01
  I mean, he knows he's not good at pretending to be somebody's not.
• 11:04
  I mean, even when he would make cameos and films, he appeared as Hugh Hefner.
• 11:08
  Right.
• 11:08
  He wasn't playing.
• 11:09
  He was on Sex in the City, yes, exactly.
• 11:11
  But um, yeah, no, he didn't need to be anybody else.
• 11:14
  He was enough as himself.
• 11:15
  So did he ever want to date you?
• 11:17
  No, actually not.
• 11:19
  You know, I've had people ask me that because there's a lot of photos of us together at parties and things we have.
• 11:23
  Yeah, I think we have one.
• 11:24
  Yeah, okay.
• 11:24
  And uh recent one.
• 11:26
  I I don't, you know, I was dating somebody, and I just, you know, he wasn't exactly my type, although I admired him greatly and respected him.
• 11:34
  But um, you know, no, he was just an incredible person.
• 11:36
  Yeah, incredible.
• 11:37
  You were you were dating a guy named Jay, if I remember.
• 11:43
  I remember because I was really jealous of that guy at the time.
• 11:47
  The guy Jay, who used to own a bar.
• 11:49
  Yes, and then and I say, how the hell these guys going out with this woman.
• 11:54
  You know that's funny.
• 11:55
  That's funny.
• 11:55
  But that's true.
• 11:57
  Did you ever ask Candace Allen?
• 11:59
  No, no, I never never asked her, no.
• 12:01
  No, I was we all loved each other and admired each other.
• 12:04
  So were you ever at the um you weren't at Chicago?
• 12:08
  Yes, I was in the machine.
• 12:09
  Really?
• 12:09
  Yeah, but we a couple of times, yeah, a long time ago.
• 12:12
  Yeah, okay.
• 12:12
  Yeah, had the chance to meet everybody, went to the pool downstairs.
• 12:16
  Right, right.
• 12:16
  And it was a kind of fun fun.
• 12:18
  But you know, you it's you mean you were so you were at the mansion in Beverly Hills.
• 12:22
  No, it went in here.
• 12:24
  Oh, it went in Chicago.
• 12:24
  Oh, yeah.
• 12:26
  Yeah, right.
• 12:27
  Oh, okay.
• 12:27
  I'm sorry.
• 12:28
  Okay, very good.
• 12:29
  That was that was I was I was I was uh I know I was lost.
• 12:34
  I was I was you know, I was young, I was uh handsome, uh had that action.
• 12:39
  What do you mean?
• 12:39
  You're not I didn't speak, I didn't speak a word of English, it's even better.
• 12:43
  Wait, seriously, it's better.
• 12:44
  Yeah, I didn't know that.
• 12:45
  I had a new couple people and I went as well.
• 12:47
  Wait, so when you came here, you didn't speak English?
• 12:49
  No, not a word.
• 12:50
  Oh my gosh.
• 12:51
  I came here, I had a couple bucks in my pocket and a lot of dreams.
• 12:55
  Wow.
• 12:55
  And not a word of English.
• 12:56
  That's incredible.
• 12:57
  No, I didn't know this.
• 12:58
  And then I end up being connected with Candies and a lot of people, and uh, you know, they were I was the little little toy.
• 13:07
  Right.
• 13:07
  The guy we bring alone for.
• 13:09
  Well, listen, everybody wanted to have their hair cut by you.
• 13:12
  I know.
• 13:12
  I you guys are still this to this day, he's as cute as a button.
• 13:16
  Look at him.
• 13:16
  He is, and he drives around in his little fast cars.
• 13:19
  So wait, do you but getting back, so you felt did it did being in Playboy mean part of that whole life?
• 13:26
  Did that open doors for you?
• 13:28
  Oh God, are you kidding?
• 13:29
  Most certainly it opened doors.
• 13:31
  You know, um, when I decided after I was the Buddy of the Year, and then I did the Centerfold, and then I did the covers, I I had done everything I wanted to do at Playboy.
• 13:39
  And so I want to go back to modeling and the art directors, they all did comps for me.
• 13:43
  And as I started working as soon as I left the organization.
• 13:46
  I went to New York, was with Wilhelmina and Ford there.
• 13:49
  I worked in Europe.
• 13:50
  I mean, I was in risky business with Tom Cruise, and you know, I was like, Yeah, I was trying to get that clip.
• 13:54
  Yeah, you did a couple movies actually.
• 13:59
  You're good.
• 14:00
  You're way up to it.
• 14:00
  I know he he did some homework.
• 14:02
  I follow you, Candy.
• 14:04
  I've been following you my whole life.
• 14:06
  Wait, who was oh my god, I love Beth.
• 14:08
  She's married.
• 14:09
  I know, but she was single for a long time.
• 14:12
  She was single for a long time.
• 14:14
  Actually, I love your husband.
• 14:16
  You know.
• 14:17
  Wait, um who was in Smoking the Van?
• 14:19
  I'm like escaping Reynolds.
• 14:23
  Oh my god, was he as like cool as he seeing it?
• 14:25
  Yeah, he's you know, he was you know, that type of that era, you know, the mustache and all that kind of stuff.
• 14:31
  Okay, yeah.
• 14:31
  I didn't see him a lot.
• 14:33
  I saw Paul McCormick more in the scene that I was in, and also uh Paul Williams.
• 14:38
  Okay, and was that the one where Sally Field was in this one, or no?
• 14:41
  Was she not in that movie?
• 14:42
  I think she was in every year.
• 14:44
  Yeah, I know she was in every movie.
• 14:45
  Okay, that was the girlfriend.
• 14:46
  So that's so fun.
• 14:47
  So you were doing some movies, and is that what you wanted to do?
• 14:50
  No, no, I was just you know, any door that opened, I was just going with the flow.
• 14:54
  And I mean, I was just I was really lucky.
• 14:56
  I just I worked constantly and I loved the business, I love the people I worked with, and you know, I'm I kind of parlayed that into doing what I'm doing now.
• 15:04
  So right.
• 15:04
  And so you came, I know we was Pascal and I were talking a little bit about you before, and he was talking about we really want to know how you came to be to come here because you're not from Chicago.
• 15:15
  You're not from Chicago, but you're from Illinois.
• 15:16
  Yeah.
• 15:17
  Okay.
• 15:17
  Right.
• 15:17
  And how did that all happen?
• 15:19
  Well, you know, like I said, it's you know, a small little town, and I was valedictorian.
• 15:23
  And then I started at the Playboy Club in St.
• 15:25
  Louis, and then I came to Chicago, and that's it was in 1974 that I moved here.
• 15:29
  Okay, that's where that's where I was going.
• 15:31
  Right.
• 15:32
  Okay, yeah.
• 15:33
  And the rest is history, but I I mean I guess we don't want to just say that because we have more to get into.
• 15:38
  So I love to get moving.
• 15:40
  So I think where I wanted to go is though you went from like, how did you get into covering the entire Chicago scene?
• 15:46
  Yeah, well, that's an interesting story because um I've always been a, you know, a diarist and I've always been a writer.
• 15:53
  I love to write.
• 15:54
  And when I moved here, you know, since I'm an only child, my mother and I are really, we were really, really close, more like girlfriends than you know, mother-daughter.
• 16:01
  And so when I came here, I wanted to be able to relate to her all the experiences that I had when I came to Chicago, and I wanted her to see it through my eyes.
• 16:08
  And so I would write her these lengthy things, and you know, I went to this party and here's what happened.
• 16:13
  And so it kind of honed my skills just to be descriptive in what I wrote.
• 16:17
  And that um, you know, and so then I got a blog from um Chicago Now is uh was a platform for the Chicago Tribune, and there was like 300 writers on it.
• 16:26
  I was the first one they asked to join the platform, and um shortly after I and I covered all the events, you know, nonprofits and parties and fundraisers and this and that.
• 16:35
  And the tribune was looking for a social columnist at the time, and so everybody that was on the Chicago Now platform suggested that they interview me.
• 16:43
  And so I interviewed, got the job, and I had my candid Candace column for like 10 years until COVID struck.
• 16:49
  So yeah, you cover a lot.
• 16:51
  I mean, you cover every event in Singapore.
• 16:53
  Every event, I am covering every single event.
• 16:55
  You have you've you've met a lot of people along the ways.
• 16:58
  Yeah.
• 16:59
  Which one, which one really struck you to during your your career?
• 17:03
  Which one struck you as you felt like that was a very interesting you learn, you you mentor, and you look upon?
• 17:10
  Oh God, there's so many.
• 17:11
  There is most be one.
• 17:13
  So many.
• 17:13
  No, there's you know, the ones that I I just wrote a blog about this because people ask me, you know, what were your favorite events, Candace, and this and that.
• 17:20
  Well, the most exciting events that I've been to were, and I just went to one of the Joffrey Ballet.
• 17:25
  They put together the most incredible celebration gala.
• 17:29
  It was disco themed.
• 17:30
  Also, the Museum of Contemporary uh Sci uh Contemporary Art always has an Art Edge event, which is so spectacular.
• 17:37
  All celebrities, I mean it's just packed.
• 17:40
  And then also the other one is the Steppenwolf Theater Company.
• 17:42
  Those are the three top event throwers because they are so creative and so different, and you never know what to expect when you go to these parties.
• 17:50
  Yeah.
• 17:50
  But you know, every single little event, no matter how big or small, always has a little bit of magic to it.
• 17:55
  And so, you know, you never know what you're gonna see.
• 17:57
  And that's what keeps me excited about doing that.
• 17:59
  You were just recently you were in one where they had the lunch on the hat in the Ritzkout.
• 18:03
  That's the service club of the club.
• 18:05
  Which is a very good uh it's a wonderful organization.
• 18:08
  They do a lot of good.
• 18:09
  They have their uh Day on the Terrace fashion show coming up on August 10th.
• 18:12
  Yeah, yeah.
• 18:13
  You should be in that show.
• 18:15
  They the Sherry called me and asked me to attend, and I just was busy, I couldn't make it.
• 18:20
  But there was this year, August 10th.
• 18:21
  We'll we'll see.
• 18:22
  We'll see.
• 18:23
  How is Chicago?
• 18:27
  How has Chicago changed over the years or evolved you?
• 18:31
  Oh, well, it's gotten uh first of all, I don't like the fact that there's more crime.
• 18:34
  That's you know, that's kind of top of mind for me.
• 18:37
  You can't go out after dark like you used to and you know, go crazy in the streets drinking and carousing, which I really miss.
• 18:44
  But um, I don't know, it's uh it's more crowded, obviously.
• 18:48
  You know, there's more people.
• 18:49
  And you know what I really miss because I did a panel discussion uh called Women Who Lead a couple days ago on Sunday, and the question was asked, you know, what do you miss the most about Chicago?
• 18:59
  And the one thing that I thought that I missed is you know, remember all the great restaurants we used to have and all the characters that were on Rush Street.
• 19:06
  I mean, they had characters, real like Damon Runyon characters, you know.
• 19:10
  I don't there's no more characters.
• 19:12
  You know, I think what's happening, uh Candice, is the city expanded a lot, you know, before we had the Gold Coast, which was condensed.
• 19:19
  That was condensed.
• 19:20
  That was the the Hugo's at the time.
• 19:22
  That was uh I I I I believe that was sweet waterwater, yes, exactly.
• 19:27
  So that was a very small community.
• 19:29
  Now the sea's restaurant.
• 19:30
  Billy's restaurant, you remember that uh the that was uh Faces, the nightclub, you remember those were the but the city expanded so fast, and now there is the West Loop, there is the River North, there is the Bucktown, right?
• 19:44
  There is so many different neighborhoods, and uh uh I I personally like it because there is a lot more variety.
• 19:50
  Oh, I understand.
• 19:51
  But I agree with you that before Chicago was a much smaller city, everybody knew everybody.
• 19:55
  Yeah, that's right.
• 19:56
  You go somewhere, you knew somebody, you remember yeah, yeah.
• 19:59
  So that's that's you're right.
• 20:00
  That's exactly what I missed is the you know, the friendliness.
• 20:04
  And do you think that is there um uh what is the tenure right now for restaurants?
• 20:10
  Is it a long tenure?
• 20:11
  Like are restaurants tinging around long enough, or is there a big turnover then?
• 20:15
  Well, there's a turnover, but you know what I see?
• 20:16
  There's so many restaurants opening.
• 20:18
  Yes.
• 20:18
  I mean, I was just at Naya's opening party that said 12,000, 11,000 square foot.
• 20:24
  The one below below Chicago Cut.
• 20:26
  Yeah, dude.
• 20:26
  And it's spectacular.
• 20:28
  I don't know.
• 20:28
  You know, they opened their reservation line up for the public, and in 47 minutes, it was sold out for three months.
• 20:34
  Wow.
• 20:35
  So the restaurants, you know, there might be some that aren't don't have a lot of longevity, right?
• 20:39
  But there's a lot that are coming to Chicago.
• 20:41
  You know what I love about Chicago that I love is the the size of the, you just mentioned the size of Naya.
• 20:48
  These restaurants that are so big.
• 20:50
  Because when you're in New York, a lot of them are just very small.
• 20:53
  And I, of course, there's something about that.
• 20:54
  Yeah, I like it.
• 20:57
  But it's it's fun.
• 20:58
  Like um Marshea used to be around and red light.
• 21:01
  Those are really big places.
• 21:03
  Right, right.
• 21:04
  Oh, and I like both.
• 21:04
  I like the big, but I love like intimate little spots like Swifties used to be in New York.
• 21:09
  And you know, I those places really appeal to me.
• 21:12
  But I I there's room for all the types of restaurants.
• 21:14
  I'm just glad that Chicago seems like they're coming back after COVID, after all this time.
• 21:19
  Definitely.
• 21:19
  The restaurant scene, like you said, Steppenwolf Looking Glass Theater, I suppose.
• 21:22
  Yeah, looking glass, right, right, right.
• 21:24
  Yes.
• 21:24
  There was it a gala for that.
• 21:26
  Yes.
• 21:26
  Um, so that for people that don't know is um David Schwimmer's.
• 21:29
  David Schwimmer has founded it.
• 21:31
  And then who's the one?
• 21:32
  Um, there's another, is Looking Glass also um, oh my God, I'm having really bad like menopause brain.
• 21:45
  But the cover of the TV think about sometimes TV, okay?
• 21:48
  You're probably trying to segue into that.
• 21:50
  Like Steppenwolf has uh, you know, Gary Sinise.
• 21:52
  Yes, and you know, and uh John Malkovich and Lori Madke.
• 21:55
  And Lori Amy Morton.
• 21:57
  I mean, so they just had their gala for to celebrate fifth.
• 22:00
  Years and uh yeah, we have so much talent in the city.
• 22:03
  What do you like to cover?
• 22:04
  What is the the most exciting thing for you to cover?
• 22:07
  Because I know you've done a you go everywhere.
• 22:09
  Which one is what you enjoy doing, uh covering?
• 22:12
  What kind of I gotta tell you the truth, I love it all, and I love the variety of it.
• 22:16
  I can't pick one department that, you know, like arts and entertainment.
• 22:20
  Yeah, I like that, but I also like pets.
• 22:22
  I love Paws, Chicago, then their events.
• 22:25
  You know, so I just everything that I cover, I cover it because I want to.
• 22:28
  You know, I'm not directed to cover anything.
• 22:31
  Those are all my own ideas.
• 22:32
  Jeremy Piven is who I was.
• 22:33
  Jeremy Pivenne.
• 22:34
  Yes, right.
• 22:35
  Yeah, okay.
• 22:37
  Jimmy Pippen was in entourage, I believe.
• 22:39
  He was.
• 22:40
  He was in the entourage, yes.
• 22:41
  Yes, uh.
• 22:42
  See, you got it.
• 22:44
  I get you.
• 22:45
  I get you.
• 22:47
  When she's got a blockage, I'm here.
• 22:49
  That's why you're here.
• 22:51
  That's why I'm here to um what are do you ever get tired?
• 22:55
  Are you ever tired and not wanting to go, you know, go out to one of these?
• 22:59
  No, and I'm blessed with a lot of energy.
• 23:01
  I really, and uh, you know, my mom had dad, I had to always tell the story.
• 23:05
  My mother and my father were always the last people to leave a party.
• 23:07
  You'd have to get a hook to get my parents out of a party.
• 23:10
  So I think that it's definitely in my DNA.
• 23:13
  Yeah.
• 23:13
  Yeah.
• 23:14
  I mean, you like to go out too.
• 23:15
  I mean, I go out to the city.
• 23:17
  Yes, you know, exactly.
• 23:18
  I'm out all the time, but actually sometimes we bump each other.
• 23:22
  But uh I like going out.
• 23:23
  I like Antônio, I like people, I like it.
• 23:25
  I love it.
• 23:26
  I like restaurants, I like art.
• 23:28
  Actually, uh Saturday night I went to see uh a play um the Monte Piton.
• 23:33
  Uh uh was that play.
• 23:35
  Um C, C?
• 23:36
  Now you're not, right?
• 23:38
  Take over, take over, Jimmy.
• 23:39
  Take over.
• 23:40
  Do you have menopause?
• 23:41
  Are you in menopause?
• 23:43
  I'll take over my own.
• 23:44
  I don't have metapose, but I got short time lost.
• 23:47
  No, what I so I I'd like to we could stay on Chicago for uh for a while and just tell you about it, because in Pascal, he's uh into photography now too, and he loves to take pictures of you know the city and these great pictures and all that.
• 24:00
  And I it's a great place to live.
• 24:02
  But what I would love to know too is how um, you know, a lot of women, as we get older, we struggle a little bit with sort of the turns, right?
• 24:11
  To to and and pivots that we take.
• 24:13
  And it seems that as you've mentioned, you just sort of are following and you're going and you're open to everything.
• 24:19
  What has that been your answer to it?
• 24:22
  Totally the answer.
• 24:22
  It's say yes to everything.
• 24:24
  You know, go through every open door.
• 24:25
  Um, you know, you never know where it's gonna take you, you never know who you're gonna meet.
• 24:28
  I mean, I just absolutely that's one of my problems when I was asked at this other discussion, you know, what would you like to uh slow down with?
• 24:34
  And I'd say saying yes to everything.
• 24:36
  But then again, if I didn't say yes to everything, then I would miss out on opportunities that I wouldn't have had before.
• 24:40
  So is there anything that you haven't said yes to that you would have?
• 24:44
  No.
• 24:44
  Okay.
• 24:45
  Oh, okay.
• 24:46
  Right.
• 24:47
  I mean, I guess.
• 24:48
  So so uh uh uh about five years ago or six years ago, I believed then Playboy asked you to do a picture of you undercover, am I right?
• 24:57
  Yeah, and that uh yeah, the one we showed that purple the recreation.
• 25:00
  Was that there or the most recently?
• 25:02
  That's not the other one, that's another one.
• 25:04
  Um I did a cover a 12-page cover feature with four other playmates.
• 25:08
  They had celebrated five decades of Playboy.
• 25:11
  Yes.
• 25:11
  And um, and I was in my 60s when I did that.
• 25:13
  Yeah.
• 25:14
  I'm ready for them to come back now.
• 25:15
  I th I think that was awesome because I think it showed that in any age you have your self-confidence and you know the relegated to 20-year-olds to you know to feel you're sensitive or sexy or whatever.
• 25:27
  Yeah, but that's what we cover.
• 25:28
  Jimmy and I cover the pre-golden and golden years, and you know, we have you.
• 25:32
  I thought you were saying we cover sexy or something.
• 25:34
  We do we cover sexy.
• 25:36
  Because we do.
• 25:39
  We we talk a lot about this going golden and golden era because I love that.
• 25:44
  You know, I I don't even know where the golden starts and where it doesn't, but it's it's all sort of that idea.
• 25:49
  I think that the golden bachelor idea was absolutely genius.
• 25:52
  Yeah.
• 25:52
  I mean, you know, all these young kids with all these shows, you know, and let's like you have to be a teenager to enjoy sex or have a partner.
• 25:58
  And I thought when they thought of that idea and I heard that you were in it of top of the line.
• 26:03
  I mean, it was just the best idea ever.
• 26:06
  And you were perfect for it.
• 26:08
  Yeah, yeah.
• 26:08
  I uh we agree and feel like hopefully it's not that they haven't ruined it all, because I think, you know, um they they could be doing more with it.
• 26:18
  I think why aren't you?
• 26:20
  I just think Jimmy and I talk over over the the the few podcasts is I think you know, I mean, the franchise is about over 20 years old.
• 26:28
  And as you know yourself, you recycle yourself, you change, you reinvent, you recreate, you come up, you you you you become something new every every decade.
• 26:37
  I just don't think that the franchise had changed much besides bringing the golden, which was good.
• 26:42
  Yes, but I think the last guy they had as a golden didn't make the impact they were expecting.
• 26:48
  Really?
• 26:48
  Yes.
• 26:49
  Because they did they pick you?
• 26:50
  No, no, no.
• 26:51
  Although that's why it didn't have an impact.
• 26:53
  Right.
• 26:53
  That's what I said.
• 26:54
  The answer was clearing on your face.
• 26:56
  I know it's on your face.
• 26:57
  Were you ever approached for a reality show?
• 26:59
  Actually, yes.
• 27:00
  Yeah, I bet.
• 27:00
  Yeah.
• 27:01
  Um, you know, it was interesting.
• 27:02
  You know Shauna Montgomery.
• 27:03
  Yes.
• 27:04
  And you know her sister Shelly Farley and Whitney Laskey.
• 27:07
  Do you remember Whitney Lasky?
• 27:09
  Beautiful blonde.
• 27:11
  Okay, well, the the four of us were asked to as a posse to come together for this.
• 27:17
  We had a day-long interview for the first time that it was ever mentioned to come to Chicago.
• 27:23
  And so we were there and we were talking everything.
• 27:25
  And you know, um, it didn't happen in Chicago for that.
• 27:28
  And I think the reason is because the women in Chicago are too sensible to be throwing shoes and screaming matches and pulling hair and doing all the antics that they're you're required to do to be, you know, to make that work.
• 27:39
  And so I think that the Midwesterners are just not the right uh ilk.
• 27:43
  That is interesting.
• 27:44
  I had heard over several years, over the past 10 years, you'd keep hearing that the real housewives, right, were coming to like Wanaka Glencoe, and they never have have done it.
• 27:54
  I wonder if that is the reason.
• 27:56
  That's my opinion.
• 27:57
  You know, I've traveled pretty much all over the state and I've been to New York and LA and Florida and blah, blah, blah.
• 28:03
  I just think then Chicago is a world-class city.
• 28:06
  World class.
• 28:06
  Yeah.
• 28:07
  No doubt in my mind that Chicago has it all.
• 28:10
  You know, I don't like when somebody says, Oh, New York is better food, oh, New York is better play.
• 28:15
  You know what?
• 28:16
  I think Chicago is underrated.
• 28:18
  I do too.
• 28:19
  Uh it's it's a magnificent city.
• 28:20
  We've got to be a good thing.
• 28:21
  Got nothing prettier.
• 28:22
  You will never find a prettier city than that.
• 28:24
  I agree with the wonderful art, wonderful culture, wonderful food, wonderful fashion.
• 28:29
  Yeah.
• 28:29
  You know, I mean, they should do something in Chicago.
• 28:32
  They should do the housewife of Chicago.
• 28:35
  They should.
• 28:35
  They should be doing more.
• 28:37
  Um, I do think that I the weather is not as prohibitive.
• 28:41
  Yes.
• 28:41
  And it's I do New York, it's just a little bit milder weather um all year long.
• 28:46
  They've been bombarded the last year.
• 28:48
  No, they've had some snow.
• 28:49
  They've had some snow, but we we really have some bad weather.
• 28:52
  But I agree.
• 28:52
  I don't know why.
• 28:53
  I think they definitely should.
• 28:54
  Absolutely.
• 28:55
  And then, you know, uh, years ago, then there was another group of people who was trying to do something similar.
• 29:00
  It wasn't the housewives, but it was something like the housewives.
• 29:02
  Yes.
• 29:03
  And so they interviewed me for that.
• 29:04
  And it was fun to, you know, the girls were cute.
• 29:06
  And you know, there's a lot of opportunities.
• 29:08
  I don't know why somebody hasn't picked up on this, uh, Chicago Fred.
• 29:11
  So do you you seem to I I you don't fall into this then that women of a certain age become invisible and that we have issues.
• 29:18
  You know, you know that's just no, I'm loud and proud.
• 29:22
  Right.
• 29:22
  I love that.
• 29:23
  And what what do you say to women who maybe feel that way?
• 29:27
  Well, you know, I I get a lot of girls that ask me stuff like that.
• 29:30
  And you know, it's just you can't be a wallflower.
• 29:32
  I mean, you have to be out there, you have to, you have to, and you can't force it.
• 29:36
  So it's it's kind of a double-edged sword.
• 29:38
  You just, I mean, if you are have a so social personality, you know, use it.
• 29:42
  Get out there and and you know, meet and greet people.
• 29:44
  And uh, and I think that's it.
• 29:46
  That's the key.
• 29:47
  You know, just I and do you think that there's a bit of a shift?
• 29:49
  We one of our um recent shows, we were talking a little bit about how some women over 40 seem to be now the leading sort of the romantic lead again.
• 29:58
  Or not again, but I they are exactly with Michelle Pfeiffer.
• 30:02
  Yes, and I love it.
• 30:04
  I absolutely love it.
• 30:05
  And they look spectacular.
• 30:06
  And they do, right.
• 30:07
  And Pascal.
• 30:08
  And they add a certain gravitas.
• 30:10
  Pascal doesn't think they look that great.
• 30:12
  You don't mean I mean, uh, you know, when I look at Debbie Moore, I just think then no, I don't think she looks great.
• 30:18
  I think she's done too much to establish.
• 30:21
  She definitely has done too much to do.
• 30:22
  She's done too much to fail.
• 30:23
  I think the problem I have to do.
• 30:26
  And I never thought I would ever say that.
• 30:29
  Yeah, they're pushing it too far, I think.
• 30:31
  And that's that's a problem.
• 30:32
  They're pushing it too far.
• 30:34
  They don't, they they don't know how to stop.
• 30:35
  Yeah, that's it.
• 30:36
  It's the Ozempic culture.
• 30:37
  And look at Kelly Osborne.
• 30:38
  I'm afraid she's gonna die.
• 30:40
  No.
• 30:40
  I mean, that I've never seen anybody look so horrible.
• 30:42
  Yeah, well it's a quick we get we a country of a quick gratification.
• 30:47
  We want to lose weight, yeah.
• 30:49
  Yeah, we want to uh look younger, we do a fist lift.
• 30:52
  You know, and that's yeah of society.
• 30:55
  What do you think that when people you say you're asked a lot by young people, like what do you think that they um maybe misunderstand about aging or that they are worried about?
• 31:04
  I mean, it's just there is still this culture of of you know, the youth is where it's at.
• 31:09
  Yeah, well, they think their lives are over at 25, you know, and when I was in my 18 or my teens, I thought life was over at 25 until you get there, then you realize, you know, and it's like somebody says, Oh, like Mick Jagger, his song was like, you know, I'm gonna be, I want to die by 80 or whatever.
• 31:24
  And then of course now he's like 90.
• 31:25
  90.
• 31:26
  And he that all is.
• 31:27
  And he's still dancing in the quiz.
• 31:29
  He's taking all that back.
• 31:30
  Right.
• 31:31
  So, you know, I think it's just, you know, it's how you look at life yourself, you know, you just have to have an open mind about it.
• 31:36
  Yeah.
• 31:36
  But I think any age, as long as you're healthy, health is wealth.
• 31:39
  There's no question.
• 31:40
  I mean, that's an old cliche, but there's nothing truer than that.
• 31:43
  It's not money, it's health.
• 31:44
  If you have your health, you can go anywhere and do anything.
• 31:47
  Yes.
• 31:47
  How long have you been married now, Candice?
• 31:49
  Uh, 36 years.
• 31:50
  36 years.
• 31:51
  And uh, let me ask you a question.
• 31:52
  You you don't have any children.
• 31:54
  You never wanted children.
• 31:55
  Oh, I have a chihuahua.
• 31:56
  Oh, yeah.
• 31:56
  Yeah, chihuahua, that's it.
• 31:58
  But you never wanted children, or you what what what was the reason for?
• 32:01
  Well, you know what?
• 32:02
  You seem like you're very nurturing.
• 32:04
  I am very nurturing.
• 32:05
  And you know, and I I I don't remember ever having a moment though where I had cravings for children.
• 32:11
  I had I was surrounded by kids.
• 32:12
  I mean, you know, my husband had a child from another marriage, and so, you know, I thought, well, I have another one.
• 32:19
  We've already got one, and uh it's it wasn't anything that I, you know.
• 32:24
  No, I never had the urge.
• 32:25
  Okay, where did you guys meet?
• 32:27
  Um we met uh at the old palm on Oak Street.
• 32:31
  Okay.
• 32:32
  The old palm?
• 32:33
  The old palm.
• 32:33
  Remember the old palm region.
• 32:34
  The palm, yes.
• 32:35
  Yes, that's where we met.
• 32:36
  Okay.
• 32:37
  A friend of this is a funny story.
• 32:38
  A friend of mine, I would always only go out at night.
• 32:41
  I mean, I was like a real night owl.
• 32:43
  I've never missed a party at faces.
• 32:45
  And so my friend, a guy friend of mine, says, Candace, you're not gonna meet anybody, you know, those late hours, those bars.
• 32:50
  He says, Why don't you come with me during the day and let me introduce you to some nice people?
• 32:54
  And so, you know, I set my alarm for noon and met him at Lee Pom.
• 32:59
  And um, there was uh maybe three, three guys there at a booth, and so he introduced me to all the people.
• 33:04
  And of course, my husband chucked it out like a you know, shining beacon.
• 33:08
  And uh, we got married six months after we met.
• 33:11
  Wow, love that.
• 33:13
  Yeah, yeah, there's that that saying nothing good happens after.
• 33:18
  You know what?
• 33:18
  When I go out, when I go out, I have a time clock where I go home.
• 33:22
  If I don't meet anybody before that time, they're not for me.
• 33:25
  Yeah.
• 33:25
  So if it's 11 o'clock, if I go out, if I go out, I go out to 11 o'clock.
• 33:29
  I gotta be home by 11, 11.15.
• 33:31
  Oh, that's an interesting thing.
• 33:31
  If I don't meet anybody on the NAF, they have they don't have my lifestyle.
• 33:35
  Yeah.
• 33:35
  Well, that's smart.
• 33:36
  You follow me very small.
• 33:37
  If I go to two o'clock in the morning and meet somebody, most likely.
• 33:40
  You are so fine.
• 33:42
  That is the true car.
• 33:43
  I have my, you know, even when I have a party in my house by 11 o'clock, everybody's gonna get the hell out of you.
• 33:49
  Yeah, yeah.
• 33:49
  Shut the light, everybody out.
• 33:50
  Yeah, right.
• 33:51
  You need your beauty, he needs his beauty.
• 33:54
  That's right.
• 33:55
  He gets a lot of it.
• 33:56
  No, no, but but but but what I'm saying is after after a certain time, you have a different type of quad who goes out.
• 34:03
  Am I right?
• 34:03
  Oh, 100%.
• 34:04
  100%.
• 34:05
  Yeah, and the quad is not that's not my quad.
• 34:07
  No, and when I would stay out later than I should, I didn't like the way I was.
• 34:12
  Right.
• 34:12
  Was it wasn't pretty.
• 34:14
  Was the Playboy mansion was it as crazy as everyone thinks it was?
• 34:19
  Yeah, it was.
• 34:20
  Yeah.
• 34:21
  I mean, you know, the one in LA, I think was a little crazier because they had more room to spread out and get more people involved.
• 34:26
  And, you know, God, their Midsummer Night Dreams parties, the New Year's Eve parties, all the celebrities, everybody who was anybody wanted to come to those parties.
• 34:34
  And the girls were all gorgeous, you know, so it was a beautiful crowd, A-listers.
• 34:38
  And in Chicago, you know, it's more contained.
• 34:40
  They only had that little ballroom to have the parties in.
• 34:43
  And uh, I mean, the Rolling Stones were there.
• 34:45
  I mean, they it's people still wanted to come to Hefter's parties, but it wasn't I never saw it as crazy as it was in California.
• 34:52
  Right, right.
• 34:52
  Which I liked better.
• 34:53
  Yeah.
• 34:53
  Or the Midwest was a little bit more conservative.
• 34:56
  Yeah, yeah, right.
• 34:56
  You know, the Midwest was a little bit more.
• 34:58
  Well, you know, you have to also remember at that time they were all over him trying to nail him with drugs, and you know, the people the but it was a big controversy with the drug because I think his personal assistant dating a guy who was a drug addict, a drug dealer, and I think she got arrested.
• 35:15
  Yes, and I believe then you didn't stand behind her.
• 35:19
  Yeah, and that was a very big controversy.
• 35:23
  They were horrifying to her.
• 35:25
  Yes, and to the point where she killed herself.
• 35:26
  She committed sort of crap.
• 35:28
  Yes, you didn't know that story?
• 35:29
  No.
• 35:29
  So the you Hefner right hand, the his mentor was dating a drug addict, a guy who was a drug dealer, and he was selling drugs all over, and you didn't want that to happen because that was a gangst.
• 35:42
  Right.
• 35:43
  And uh she got uh uh she got convicted of drug trafficking.
• 35:47
  Yeah, and I believe And they did that to get close to Hefner because they thought she they would turn her to give lie and give evidence and uh and Afner Afner, I believe, Tony's back on her and led her because he didn't want to be involved with that.
• 36:02
  Well, I don't know about that.
• 36:03
  I don't think that's but she killed herself, am I right?
• 36:06
  She did kill herself, but shortly it devastated Hefner.
• 36:08
  And shortly after that, he sold the mansion and moved to California because of that.
• 36:12
  Yes.
• 36:13
  Wow, that's so horrifying.
• 36:14
  Because what I brought up earlier was the Star 80, which was a movie that was based, I Dorothy Stratton on her.
• 36:21
  And she was a Playboy, and she had this crazy boyfriend that uh killed her, right, because he wanted to control her and everything, which is another.
• 36:29
  I mean, I'm sure there were a lot of those just awful stories.
• 36:32
  Well, nothing as bad as Dorothy Stratton's story.
• 36:34
  Yes.
• 36:34
  I mean, that was the worst that everything was.
• 36:35
  Dorothy Stratton is the one that the boyfriend killed her?
• 36:38
  Yes.
• 36:38
  Yeah, Robert.
• 36:39
  She was dating Peter Buddha.
• 36:40
  Star 80.
• 36:41
  They call it Star 80, am I right?
• 36:42
  That was it.
• 36:43
  The movie Star 80.
• 36:45
  Did you say that, Jimmy?
• 36:46
  Well, listen, you gotta listen to James.
• 36:48
  I just wanna be mindful of Star 80.
• 36:51
  Who is that?
• 36:52
  Julie Roberts' brother, Eric Roberts, played in that.
• 36:55
  Right.
• 36:55
  And then, but it was about her, yes.
• 36:57
  She was stunning, she was stunning, right, and sad.
• 37:00
  And then you were saying, right, she was she was gonna be with that director, Peter Bogdanovich, right?
• 37:05
  Right.
• 37:05
  So that's but after after Playboy, when Playboy came up and became very popular again, we didn't have the internet, we didn't have we didn't have a cell phone.
• 37:13
  No, there was a lot of competition come up.
• 37:15
  There was a Hustler magazine with uh Penthouse.
• 37:18
  Yes, Penthouse.
• 37:19
  It was Hustler Maxim.
• 37:20
  Yeah, there was a lot of magazine who came up and start competing.
• 37:24
  Do you felt like that was the big a little bit of downfall of Playboy?
• 37:28
  Well, there was a moment that Hefner tried to compete with those instead of maintaining his own integrity with the magazine.
• 37:35
  He did do a thing where he tried to compete with, you know, the the pictures were a little more risque, yeah.
• 37:39
  Yes, yes.
• 37:40
  And uh, and that was a bad decision for a while.
• 37:42
  But he he got out of it.
• 37:44
  But yeah, yeah, he it was not a good time.
• 37:47
  And like you said at the beginning, he it was a very big deal to be this Sunnerfold.
• 37:53
  Odd, yeah.
• 37:54
  Yes, I mean huge.
• 37:55
  It was like a big big star that was like being a movie star, basically.
• 37:59
  I mean, they had playmate, uh I I worked some of the uh Playboy Playmate hunts, you know, they would call them, and they'd have them in New York, and they'd have them in Chicago, and the wrap around the block with women.
• 38:09
  I mean, it was unbelievable.
• 38:11
  You go all day long and the line never diminished.
• 38:14
  That's what we used to do.
• 38:15
  We used to hang around those lines.
• 38:18
  When is your audition?
• 38:20
  Okay, we'll be there.
• 38:21
  You were no fool, Pascal.
• 38:22
  No, I mean I graduated high school in '89, and I remember there was a short amount of time where I sort of thought like that that would be an interesting path.
• 38:31
  It did not go down that path.
• 38:32
  But I know at that time, I think it was a stepping stone.
• 38:36
  There were so many, like a Carmen Electra or Jenny McCarthy, a lot of these young women who, like I was, wanted to get into like um, you know, something at MTV or do things that was sort of a stone, a stepping stone to it.
• 38:51
  Definitely.
• 38:52
  Well, yeah, yeah.
• 38:52
  Pamela Anderson, I mean, I she she is just ethereal.
• 38:56
  I mean, I think she was his favorite by far.
• 38:58
  So did you meet you met her?
• 38:59
  Yeah.
• 38:59
  Okay.
• 39:00
  And you know, she's a little bitty, bitty, bitty thing.
• 39:02
  But um, she looks very compact in her photos.
• 39:05
  I mean, she could fit all of her legs in one frame.
• 39:07
  Um so you know, that helped.
• 39:09
  But she I have never seen anybody photographed as as well as she.
• 39:12
  Yeah, her story is.
• 39:12
  Pamela Anderson's been discovered as a football in a football game in Canada.
• 39:17
  Yeah, right.
• 39:18
  Right.
• 39:18
  She's the camera come up and spread to her, and that's how she gets the fame.
• 39:21
  Yeah, yeah.
• 39:22
  It's not amazing.
• 39:22
  And then a beer company reaches out.
• 39:24
  She's so gonna like that.
• 39:25
  That's when you know it's fate.
• 39:27
  Yeah.
• 39:27
  Right.
• 39:28
  Right.
• 39:29
  I mean, she uh and then she was on a TV show called Home Improvement.
• 39:33
  She had a small role.
• 39:34
  Yeah, she's gorgeous now.
• 39:36
  Gorgeous, stunningly gorgeous and an incredible actress.
• 39:39
  Yes.
• 39:39
  I a lot I we I used to watch Baywatch and think that she was really good on it.
• 39:44
  And um love her.
• 39:45
  So there were a lot of of women's got good taste.
• 39:48
  Right?
• 39:48
  Yeah, but he definitely had a look.
• 39:51
  Well, he had a look for a while where it was all blondes and blondes.
• 39:53
  The will bloom, the world bloom, yeah.
• 39:55
  Blondes and implants, but uh, he got through that.
• 39:58
  I used to have that statement.
• 40:00
  I used to have black hair now in the blonde.
• 40:04
  But you know, he didn't, you know, in the eight when I did the center folder, it was December 79, all those girls from the 70s, what I love the most about them is that they were so such a variety of women.
• 40:15
  There was no cookie cutters, uh, you know, there was other every ethnic group.
• 40:19
  Um, and it was just it was just so different.
• 40:22
  And, you know, all the fans, they had their distinct favorites, and you know, and shortly after that is when he got into that blonde phase where every single centerfold was that looked the same to me.
• 40:31
  They looked the same, yeah.
• 40:33
  And uh so that happened for a while, but then he got out of that and on things.
• 40:36
  But um, yeah, I I think that my era, actually, I call it the golden age of Playboy.
• 40:41
  I agree.
• 40:42
  I agree.
• 40:42
  When you were in Playboy, those were the golden years of Playboy.
• 40:46
  And all those girls were stunningly beautiful.
• 40:47
  When he had those casinos, the the club, the tens, and we he was uh involved with uh Morton, I think.
• 40:55
  Annie Morton was opening his steakhouse in his Playboy mansions, in his Playboy Clubs.
• 41:01
  Mm-hmm.
• 41:01
  Yeah.
• 41:03
  Yeah.
• 41:03
  Did you ever meet Christy?
• 41:04
  Oh god, we're friends, yeah.
• 41:06
  And is she still in Chicago?
• 41:07
  She's still in Chicago.
• 41:08
  Okay.
• 41:08
  She looks fabulous.
• 41:10
  Um smart as a whip, uh, silver complaude, and uh ran the company expertly at a young age.
• 41:17
  And uh yeah, so all of his kids were fabulous kids.
• 41:20
  Yeah, he has a son that didn't want to have anything to do with Playboy that lives in Colorado, but his name is David.
• 41:25
  But I met him, he was not all the kids were wonderful.
• 41:27
  They the two boys were um Marston and Cooper.
• 41:31
  Right, the sons of the woman that was on the I forgot her name.
• 41:33
  Oh, Kimmelie, she lived on on the property for a long time, right?
• 41:37
  Okay, yeah, she was beautiful too.
• 41:38
  She was one of the playmates where they that they recreated her centerfold too.
• 41:42
  Oh wow, okay.
• 41:43
  Oh, she was so she was there during that whole thing.
• 41:45
  Okay, and so what a fun experience that you you guys had.
• 41:49
  And so for the most part, like you said, there was not a culture of competition within the ladies and the girls.
• 41:55
  No, because where everybody was different, you know, it's not like you know, when they would shoot a photo or they'd be looking for a certain type, you know, it's not like everybody looked the same, so let's just pick one of you.
• 42:05
  And uh yeah, but it was just you know, helpful.
• 42:07
  They look here's you need some makeup, you know, you want here, I'll help you put the tail on.
• 42:12
  And I mean, it was a real true sisterhood and still is to this day.
• 42:15
  So so if if I ask you a question, if you you know, if you have any regret or any change you would have loved to do, what will it be?
• 42:24
  Well we all have regret.
• 42:26
  We all have things we wish we could have done differently.
• 42:29
  Uh we have uh no.
• 42:33
  Um when I did my center fall, they asked me to move to California.
• 42:37
  And uh um so um and it for a while I thought maybe I should have, and then I got over it quickly because that means I wouldn't have had the life I have now with my husband and and everything else.
• 42:48
  So you know I thought for a millisecond that should I have done that or did am I doing the right thing staying in Chicago?
• 42:54
  But I am definitely I did it the right thing.
• 42:56
  I questioned myself, but I did the right thing.
• 42:58
  But you don't regret.
• 42:59
  Oh no, no, no, no.
• 43:00
  Oh, no regrets.
• 43:01
  I love that.
• 43:01
  How do you keep away from regretting things?
• 43:04
  Well, you can't live in the past, you know, and you can't change the past.
• 43:08
  And the thing that you could do if you think you've made a mistake is learn from it and make it into a positive, you know, turn the turn the limits into limiting.
• 43:16
  But you have a very big group of friends.
• 43:18
  I mean, I've seen you with uh Katy Omari, a few with Sherry Fox.
• 43:22
  Well, I've been here a long time.
• 43:23
  I know you have a lot of people.
• 43:24
  You have a lot of friends, but hopefully, she has a very good one.
• 43:27
  No, no, but that's unusual.
• 43:28
  I mean, you know, some people usually mean I know I have two, three best friends.
• 43:32
  Yeah.
• 43:32
  Okay, but it seemed like you have a very wide range of friends because I've been involved in the world.
• 43:37
  Yeah, on all the events, all the nonprofits.
• 43:40
  You're absolutely right.
• 43:40
  I'm very lucky.
• 43:42
  I've got a very diverse group of friends from all different aspects of it.
• 43:45
  What advice would you give to a younger woman who's starting a life?
• 43:49
  And uh what would you say?
• 43:51
  Oh, I would just say what I said earlier is just say yes to everything.
• 43:54
  That's the best thing to do.
• 43:55
  And walk through every door.
• 43:57
  You never said yes.
• 43:58
  You never did.
• 44:00
  I love it.
• 44:01
  But you did give me a great haircut.
• 44:03
  Yeah.
• 44:03
  But say yes to everything be over.
• 44:05
  Say yes to best.
• 44:06
  That's the best advice I could give to anybody.
• 44:08
  Yeah.
• 44:08
  I'm I'm trying to do that now in my 50s.
• 44:11
  Yeah.
• 44:11
  That I that I had not really done was sort of roll with it.
• 44:15
  You know, a lot of times, and here's the thing that I found to be true.
• 44:18
  You know, if you have like going out and things like that, I said to Chuck, I said, you know, I don't feel so like going, I don't have the energy and this and that, but I'm gonna go because I've already committed myself.
• 44:27
  When I feel that way, I wind up having the best time I've ever had.
• 44:31
  I mean, it's always so unexpected that, you know, the things you regret are the things not regret, but the things you're you know not really looking that forward to turn out to be unbelievably fun.
• 44:40
  Yeah.
• 44:41
  And and something different.
• 44:42
  I love that.
• 44:43
  Yeah, we so we have we always like end, or we're not always, but sometimes with some rapid fire questions.
• 44:49
  Um, which I I have some.
• 44:51
  Oh, this is good.
• 44:52
  Oh, good.
• 44:53
  What do you think is the most glamorous decade?
• 45:00
  The 70s.
• 45:00
  Yeah.
• 45:01
  Yeah.
• 45:01
  Okay.
• 45:02
  The 70s?
• 45:03
  The 70s?
• 45:03
  Yeah, I'm kind of biased.
• 45:05
  Okay.
• 45:06
  Because of your your because that's the years that I was with.
• 45:09
  I will say the most glamorous decade will be more like in the 30s when men were with the wheels.
• 45:14
  Well, we're talking about when you're asking how she didn't ask you that question.
• 45:18
  Okay, but that was directed at me.
• 45:21
  I know.
• 45:22
  But I guess I was you sit in your little corner over there and I'll answer the question.
• 45:26
  I was also thinking that it would be the one of that you've lived through.
• 45:30
  But I but I think that's fine.
• 45:32
  No, but I mean you you look at the fashion today, you look at the the the 30s where men and women wearing suit and tie.
• 45:40
  And now you look at those.
• 45:42
  The underwear is what what where are we going with that type of fashion?
• 45:45
  Oh, I agree with you 100%.
• 45:47
  I do agree with it.
• 45:48
  Yeah.
• 45:48
  Um, this is not on my list, but if you could be um if you could be approached by any brand or work with any brand right now, who would you want to work with?
• 45:57
  Oh, God, that's a great question.
• 45:59
  Because someone should approach you if they haven't already.
• 46:02
  Oh, that's a good question.
• 46:03
  I know.
• 46:04
  Oh my god.
• 46:05
  I don't know.
• 46:06
  Okay.
• 46:06
  I I don't know.
• 46:07
  All right.
• 46:08
  Well, Philip.
• 46:08
  I thought a real I would say some jewelry line.
• 46:13
  Okay, yes.
• 46:16
  Okay.
• 46:16
  All right, good.
• 46:17
  All right.
• 46:17
  Oh, most overrated thing about fame that you see.
• 46:21
  Oh, that's that's good.
• 46:23
  Everything's overrated about fame, I think.
• 46:25
  Um yeah, I I yeah, there's everything.
• 46:28
  You know, fame is in and of itself kind of disposable.
• 46:31
  It's a short period of time.
• 46:32
  Yeah, yeah, right.
• 46:33
  It's a short lead.
• 46:34
  Yeah, one thing women over 50 should stop worrying about.
• 46:37
  Everything.
• 46:38
  Absolutely everything.
• 46:39
  I I used to lay in bed at night at like three, four o'clock in the morning, and I wouldn't just worry about things for myself.
• 46:45
  I'd worry about global things that I have no control over, which is so ridiculous.
• 46:50
  You know, and and I think women in general are worriers.
• 46:53
  And I don't know how to make that stop.
• 46:56
  Because I still do it.
• 46:56
  So is men.
• 46:57
  So is men, not just women.
• 47:00
  Pascal always loves to jump in with the men.
• 47:02
  Yeah, I mean, you you know, I mean, you you you you it's not just women worry, men worry, worry about how they're gonna pay the bills, how they're gonna keep their job, how did they build their career, or uh, you know, they have tuition for college and this and that.
• 47:15
  Men, there is a lot of worries about men.
• 47:17
  Stay awake at night, like say awake yeah, you lay in bed and say, okay, how am I gonna pay that bill?
• 47:21
  How am I gonna fix up this?
• 47:22
  I'm gonna do that, you know.
• 47:24
  That's all right.
• 47:24
  Well, men were universal.
• 47:28
  Um sexier, sexier now or in your 20s?
• 47:33
  Oh, I think I'm sexier now because I'm wiser.
• 47:35
  But I my figure obviously was back in my 20s.
• 47:39
  Right, right.
• 47:39
  I mean, don't you so I when I think of it.
• 47:42
  If I could have the best of both of those worlds, I'd be okay.
• 47:44
  But I prefer now.
• 47:46
  Yeah.
• 47:46
  Uh most unforgettable celebrity encounter.
• 47:49
  Oh, Al Pacino, hands down.
• 47:50
  Al Pacino, hands down.
• 47:52
  Where was that?
• 47:52
  Besides Hefner, I mean, he's a celebrity.
• 47:54
  So besides Hefner, I had the opportunity on a red carpet to interview Al Pacino, Christopher Walken, John Bon Jovi, Alan Arkin, and they were all in town for a film that my friend Michael Kutza, who was founder of the International Film Festival, um, had arranged that he had me right there on the red carpet.
• 48:11
  And I am telling you, Al Pacino was one of the nicest men I have ever spoken to.
• 48:15
  He would have talked to me all night long.
• 48:17
  I mean, his uh agent had to tap him on the shoulder to get him to move.
• 48:20
  But I am adored him.
• 48:24
  He answered every question, and I was so nervous my questions were just inane.
• 48:28
  Uh, but he was just a class act and a real gentleman, and I love him.
• 48:32
  Okay, I love to hear that.
• 48:33
  He just had a baby.
• 48:34
  Al Pacino, actually, Al Pacino was cast, Al Pacino was cast for the movie The Godfather, and he wasn't the first choice.
• 48:42
  They didn't want him at all for the godfather.
• 48:45
  Unbelievable.
• 48:46
  They want him, and finally the producer said, I want him, that's the guy I want, and that's how he launched his career.
• 48:52
  Yeah.
• 48:53
  He's the godfather.
• 48:54
  Yes.
• 48:54
  Yeah, that's I love that.
• 48:55
  I love Al Pacino when I think to me is what I'm saying.
• 48:57
  And didn't Francis Fort Coppola does?
• 49:00
  Yes.
• 49:00
  He uh Pacino was on a talk show one time and he was so adorable.
• 49:03
  He said that Francis Fort Coppola had him doing, he says, you know, then I want you to dance, and he says, and then you're gonna have to just drive this car over here and this and he says, I don't dance, I can't drive.
• 49:13
  And he had all these things that he couldn't do that he was supposed to have to do in the film.
• 49:18
  So his personality is just adorable.
• 49:20
  I love to hear that.
• 49:21
  I haven't really heard that.
• 49:22
  One word to describe Chicago.
• 49:25
  Oh goodness, one word.
• 49:27
  Friendly.
• 49:27
  Okay, yeah, friendly.
• 49:29
  Uh, one thing people get wrong about beauty.
• 49:33
  Um, well, they they think that they can buy it.
• 49:36
  And uh, and beauty is much deeper than the skin surface.
• 49:40
  So, you know, uh I say you have to be proud of your wrinkles because they're there for a reason.
• 49:45
  Yeah, yeah.
• 49:46
  I love you.
• 49:47
  And the biggest lesson aging has taught you Oh gosh.
• 49:52
  To give myself more credit.
• 49:54
  Yeah, you know, I'm I've been so hard on myself all through my life, you know, not I have to do this, I should have done that, you know.
• 50:00
  I I I could do this better, I know I could do this better, and to just give myself a little more time and be more patient with myself.
• 50:07
  Love that.
• 50:08
  Most empowering thing about getting older is knowing more, having more wisdom, and not putting up with the bullshit.
• 50:14
  And uh, you know, knowing when you want to say no, you say no, and you don't have to give an explanation.
• 50:20
  Right.
• 50:21
  And you agree.
• 50:21
  It's 11 o'clock, I gotta go.
• 50:24
  Get out.
• 50:25
  You know, I mean, I agree.
• 50:26
  I think as you get older, you don't give a shit.
• 50:29
  No, and you listen to yourself.
• 50:30
  You do, you know, you get a little more selfish, which there's nothing wrong with it.
• 50:33
  If you don't like it, they don't like it.
• 50:35
  No, right.
• 50:35
  Absolutely, I agree 100%.
• 50:37
  So, Candace, this has been so great.
• 50:39
  I mean, you have had had so many lives.
• 50:41
  You've been played by bunny, cover model, and an actress, and a columnist, a media personality.
• 50:46
  So, which version of Candace is the happiest?
• 50:49
  Oh my god, the one that's juggling every plate.
• 50:51
  If I don't have a lot of plates spinning, then I'm not happy.
• 50:54
  I mean, I'm a double Gemini and I get bored really easy.
• 50:57
  So, um, yeah, so I'm very lucky to have all the platforms and the things that I'm involved with.
• 51:02
  Yeah, and your husband is able to You know, in the beginning.
• 51:09
  Because I see him, you know, I mean, I know your husband very well.
• 51:12
  Right, right.
• 51:12
  Yeah, I mean he's he's following you.
• 51:14
  Yeah, well, listen, he didn't care so much for my lifestyle when we first met.
• 51:19
  But now that he's knows the people that I know, we have mutual friends together, now he looks forward to it because when we go out, we know all the people together.
• 51:25
  So now he has fun with it.
• 51:27
  Yeah.
• 51:27
  Yeah, I love that.
• 51:29
  Yeah.
• 51:29
  I mean, finding a partner that is gonna grow with you.
• 51:32
  And if he uh if I can't look over and see him in a corner of the room, then you know, I am not, I'm not well.
• 51:37
  I'm not good.
• 51:38
  Love that.
• 51:39
  Well, we are good because you are here with us today.
• 51:42
  Thank you so much.
• 51:43
  He's not here, he's not here right now.
• 51:45
  Right.
• 51:46
  Well, he's at he's at home, but best time.
• 51:49
  Jamie and Cal.
• 51:50
  You are so good.
• 51:51
  Oh, thank you.
• 51:51
  I'm so honored to be a part of your team.
• 51:53
  Thank you.
• 51:53
  And uh Candid Candace.
• 51:56
  Candid Candace.
• 51:56
  And what else?
• 51:57
  So it's Candid Candace for Crane Chicago Business.
• 52:00
  I'm associate publisher for Chicago Star Media, which is a fabulous publication online.
• 52:04
  Um, a WG and radio with Rick Cogan.
• 52:07
  Um, let's see.
• 52:08
  I have my podcast, uh Candid Candice the Podcast, and and of course my blog, which is the first and longest running lifestyle blog in Chicago.
• 52:16
  Wow, I didn't have this.
• 52:17
  Yeah, it's like 17 years now.
• 52:19
  Okay.
• 52:19
  Well, I just uh but the scene of Chicago, what's going on in the city?
• 52:22
  You want to know, you go to and yeah, go there.
• 52:25
  And uh and thank you for being here.
• 52:27
  Thank you, thank you, and follow us.
• 52:29
  Yeah, follow us.
• 52:30
  Love you, comment.
• 52:31
  Yeah, keep commenting.
• 52:33
  We will see you uh next time in my hometown.