Paris Hilton among ‘most fascinating’ for 2004

Barbara Walters to interview Hilton, Jeopardy champ and more

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updated 3:07 p.m. ET Dec. 7, 2004

NEW YORK - Paris Hilton has been named one of the 10 “most fascinating” people of 2004” by Barbara Walters.

Walters will host an hour-long ABC News special Wednesday night (9 p.m. ET) highlighting some of the year’s most prominent names in entertainment, politics, sports and business. Besides Hilton, the list includes filmmaker Michael Moore, “Jeopardy!” champ Ken Jennings and Boston Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling.

In an interview for “Barbara Walters Presents: The 10 Most Fascinating People of 2004,” Walters asks Hilton about the now infamous sex video with her then-boyfriend Rick Salomon. The tape surfaced just before the premiere of Hilton’s reality TV show, “The Simple Life.”

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“I was in love with him and people, I think, do that sometimes,” Hilton says. “I never thought that it would get out and that I’d be hurt like that.

“It was (very painful). I thought it was the end. I thought, I was so embarrassed for all my teenage fans and my younger fans. I thought it was over.”

Despite her fears, “The Simple Life” became a hit. “The Simple Life 3: Interns,” starring Hilton and her friend Nicole Richie, will premiere on the Fox television network on Jan. 26.

Also in the interview, Hilton reveals that she doesn’t just sit around saying “That’s hot” all day: She even reads books. And the most recent one? “Maneater,” a novel about an uninhibited Los Angeles woman’s search for a man.