Jail renews gratitude for 'simple' life in Hilton

Los Angeles, June 22: Jailed heiress Paris Hilton says she suffers from claustrophobia, a fear of confinement in small places, but that her time behind bars has renewed her appreciation for life's simple pleasures.

''I'm so much more grateful for everything that I have, even just to have a pillow at night or food,'' she told TV host Ryan Seacrest in a telephone interview yesterday for E! Entertainment Television.

Excerpts from his 10-minute interview with the millionaire socialite, who was sentenced to 45 days in jail for violating her probation in a drunken-driving case, were published by the cable channel's Internet affiliate, E! Online.

E! is the network that carries Hilton's reality TV show, ''The Simple Life.'' ''I just can't wait to see my family and have a nice meal and be in my own bed and appreciate all the things I took for granted,'' she was quoted as saying by Seacrest, best known as host of the hit talent show ''American Idol.'' The 26-year-old celebrity confirmed earlier reports she suffered extreme anxiety when confined to cramped quarters.

''I'm claustrophobic, and my cell is really small,'' she said.

''I was going a little bit crazy in the beginning. I'm getting used to it now.'' Hilton began her incarceration on the night of June 2 housed alone in a standard twin-bunk cell inside a sprawling county detention center for women near Los Angeles.

After she served just three full days behind bars, county Sheriff Lee Baca released her to house arrest under electronic monitoring, citing unspecified medical problems he later described as psychological.

The following day a judge ordered her back to jail.

Baca has said he expects Hilton to be freed for good after 23 days in custody, roughly half her original sentence, under a standard credit applied for time served on good behavior. Depending how the sheriff's department calculates her exact time served, Hilton is likely to be released on Sunday or Monday.

REUTERS >