Originally published: 6 August 2012
The 44-year-old mum made global news when she was arrested over claims she took her fair-skinned, red-haired five-year-old daughter into a tanning studio, causing her serious burns. The booths – which emit UV rays – are known to cause skin cancer if they’re overused.
Patricia, of New Jersey, USA, vehemently denied the claims on TV, insisting daughter Anna had got burnt in the sun – but her own leathery appearance left viewers stunned, as she admitted she visited tanning salons up to 20 times a month.
Following the furore, the mum – who, incredibly, denied being “tanorexic” – accepted a challenge laid down by US magazine In Touch to stay out of tanning salons for one month – and, last week, revealed her staggering transformation.
'There have been moments where I've felt I need a tan. But I haven't been back to the salon- I've been banned!'
She admits: “Everyone says I look better, but I’m not sure – I feel weird and pale. There have been moments where I’ve felt I need a tan. But I haven’t been back to the salon – I’ve been banned!”
Patricia says she began using sunbeds years ago, explaining: “I realised I hated sweating in the sun. In a booth, it takes 12 minutes to get a colour, instead of two hours. I went four or five times a week. I was getting unlimited packages for over $100 a month. And I did all the spray tans and lotions – anything to get dark.”
Even a doctor’s warning of the high risks of skin cancer posed by using sunbeds didn’t stop her. Naively, the former model says: “I didn’t listen. I wanted to be dark.
But the mum-of-five – who says her older children, Ashley, 18, Alec, 17, and Austin, 15, all tan too – has denied a child endangerment charge, alleging she took Anna to tanning booths, although Anna reportedly told a school nurse in April she’d been “tanning with Mummy” and was in pain from the burns she’d sustained.
'Anna comes with me but not to the booth. She plays with her Barbie dolls while I tan'
As a grand jury continues to review the case, Patricia – who is also mum to daughter Addison, four – insists she has nothing to fear.
She says: “The whole thing will be dropped soon. They can’t find one person to say Anna was there… Anna comes with me, but not to the booth. She plays with her Barbie dolls while I tan. She wasn’t even there on the day they accused me. I don’t care what anyone says, I’m a good mum.”
But although she claims she’s now “done” with tanning, she hints it might not be easy to give up her habit – even admitting she’d applied self-tanner before her latest photo shoot.
She says: “It’s definitely been hard to stay away. I miss those first few minutes. Getting into the warm tanning bed… I might squeeze a tan in here and there.
“I’m sure I could go cold turkey if I really wanted to. But why should I? The whole world tans, so why are they picking on me?”