That's a very, very touchy subject, domestic violence. I think women don't realize is it's something that's very prevalent. It goes on, on a daily basis.

No one thought I would be successful. Everyone thought I would fail. You have no idea how much courage it took for me to do this.

Michael and I talk at least every two weeks. He understands why I've done the things I have.

There's a lesson to be learned out of everything we go through in life. I recall when I left [Jack Gordon], and my mother was so upset. "How could you allow him to beat you? You should really be upset with him." And I said, "Mother, I can't be." She goes, "Why?" I said, "Because I can't harbor hatred in my heart." I was extremely religious and extremely naïve. God took me through that for a reason, for me to learn the outcome.

I'm urging all women, I ask them the first time men hit you, please walk away. There is help out there. There are a lot of places that you can go and get help. That's the first step to your freedom and to your life is to walk away.

When you do the first season, you're putting your life out there and you're kind of hesitant about it, and then by the time you get around to the second season, you don't care. It's like, "This is who I am - like it, accept it, or don't." There are so many misconceptions that now they can see who I am.

That's one of the things that I say to myself as far as a ritual that I have every day: "What can I do today to make it better than it was yesterday?"