The actress opens up about her longtime relationship in her new memoir.
Cassandra Peterson is sharing her personal life with fans like never before. In her new memoir, the 70-year-old actress best known for playing Elvira, Mistress of the Dark, reveals that she's been in a relationship with a woman for 19 years.
In Yours Cruelly, Elvira, Peterson writes that she first met Teresa "T" Wierson at a gym in Hollywood, California, multiple outlets report. The actress initially believed Wierson, a trainer at the gym, was a man, calling the person "a typical sexy bad boy."
When they had an encounter in the ladies room, though, Peterson realized that Wierson was a woman. Wierson soon became Peterson's trainer, and the pair developed a platonic friendship.
That shifted years later, when Peterson's 25-year marriage to Mark Pierson ended. Around the same time, Wierson was likewise getting out of a serious relationship.
The trainer showed up on the actress' doorstep one night, with no place to go after her breakup. Wierson ended up moving in with Peterson, and the actress soon felt the urge to kiss her friend.
"As shocked as she was, I think I was even more surprised," Peterson writes. "What the hell was I doing? I’d never been interested in women as anything other than friends. I felt so confused. This just wasn’t me! I was stunned that I’d been friends with her for so many years and never noticed our chemistry."
Soon, though, Peterson "discovered that we connected sexually in a way I’d never experienced."
The pair has now been together for nearly two decades, something Peterson opted to long keep out of her public life due to fear of her fans' reaction.
"Would my fans hate me for not being what they expected me to be?" she remembers questioning. "I’m very aware that there will be some who will be disappointed and maybe even angry, but I have to live with myself, and at this point in my life, I’ve got to be truthful about who I am."
With Wierson, Peterson writes, "I’m with someone who makes me feel safe, blessed, and truly loved."
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