Me & Brian Austin Green Go WAY Back!

Who else was super excited to see that Brian Austin Green has joined the ladies of Wisteria Lane on Desperate Housewives?  I was thrilled!  You see, me and Brian, we go WAY back.  Let me explain...

You may remember from this post from this summer that I mentioned I was South Carolina's Junior Miss in 1994. 

For those of you who are not familiar with the Junior Miss program, it is...

"a national scholarship program that inspires high school girls to develop their full, individual potential through a fun, transformative experience that culminates in a celebratory showcase of their accomplishments by encouraging continued education and providing college scholarship; by developing self-confidence and the abilities to interview effectively, to speak in public, to perform on stage and to build interpersonal relationships; by encouraging and showcasing excellence in academic achievement, physical fitness, on-stage performance skills, and the ability to think and communicate clearly; by creating opportunities to beneficially inspire the lives of others."

I entered my local program for the main purpose of getting extra credit in my 11th grade English class so that I was sure to have an A instead of a B for my final mark... my English teacher that year was also the coordinator of our local Junior Miss program.  Little did I know that I would win that local program, and that I would then go on to win the State program, allowing me to represent the State of South Carolina in the 1994 National America's Junior Miss competition.  1994 was the last year that the National event was televised, and NBC carried the coverage.  Leanza Cornett was one of the co-hosts that year.  BRIAN AUSTIN GREEN WAS THE OTHER HOST!

Keep in mind this was back in 1994... during the prime hype and drama of 90210.  I was already a "David Silver" fan, but I think I became his biggest fan after that summer!

I remember it as clearly as if it were yesterday.  It was the Friday before the live televised finals on Saturday.  We had already been through three nights of preliminary competitions, and the Friday was being used as a dress rehearsal.  We had been through the performance twice already with the stand-in hosts, and the producers told us (the 50 contestants) that we could break for lunch and meet back on stage in 90 minutes.  I finished my lunch, and went back into the auditorium to wait instead of going up to the dressing room.  I was tired, and I was really wanting to just lay down across a few of the chairs to take a nap.  I figured the auditorium would be a quiet place... WRONG!  The crew was in the middle of sound and light checks, so it was kind of crazy in there.  I sat down to watch the chaos, and before I knew it I was being asked to come up on stage for a sound check.  The producer and the choreographer were standing off to the left of the stage talking with someone that I couldn't see in the shadows.  I was asked to take a seat on one of the interview boxes to test how everything would look the next night during the final on-stage question.  Seconds after I took a seat, the person in the shadows stepped forward to come take a seat beside me... it was Brian!

I was super star-struck, but I tried to play it cool.  For almost 45 minutes, we sat there while the crew changed the lighting, played with the overhead mics, and kept busy around us.   We had to do the occasional fake conversation of a mock-interview, but we mostly sat there and talked like two normal everyday people.  I remember that he made a comment about the fact that his girlfriend was also named Tiffany (he was dating Tiffani-Amber Thiessen at the time) and I replied with, "Oh yes, I know!"  Then I asked him if it was weird knowing that everyone knew his personal life, and he remarked with how he had finally started to get used to it.  We talked about a few of the other cast members of 90210... I can officially tell you that NONE of the cast was disappointed to see Sharon Doherty leave the show!  But mostly, we just talked about normal stuff... growing up, high school, me going away to college, etc.  He teased me endlessly about my Southern accent, and I teased him right back about being famous.  My teasing was made much easier when he casually mentioned that he was hungry and within mere seconds, there was a crew member at his side asking what he would like to eat.  "A plain burger with A1 sauce and extra pickles, and whatever she wants" was he reply as he pointed to me.  I declined since I had just finished my own lunch, but was flattered that he included me.  Like I said before, I was star struck!  By this time, many of the other girls had made their way into the auditorium, and some of my closest friends from the two weeks of competition were giving me the thumbs-up!  Someone had the foresight to go get my camera, but obviously from the picture above, she wasn't the best with a camera!  Thankfully later that night, after the final dress rehearsal, I was able to get a decent picture with him...

So, like I said, I was very excited to find out that Brian was going to be on Desperate Housewives this season.  The show needed a kick, and he has certainly been able to provide it as Bree's new handyman.

I have to say that this is one gentleman who just gets better with age!!