Tiffani Thiessen (2015)

I was doing a lot of my fan mail way-back-when, so if it was back then - probably!

Oh! Hahah! it was a professional decision that my agent of 20-some odd years decided I shouldn't use it anymore and just go with my first and last name.

It was nothing crazy.

I always think that characters are fun to explore. They're almost like an onion peeling back the layers. And I don't think you ever get enough time to explore a character, especially if you've been on for 6 seasons. So yeah!

Ahahaha!

Um... oh gosh, that's such a hard question. It depends on if you're asking a 16 year old little girl, or someone a little bit older! I can't pick just one. I love them both.

Thank you for the lovely invitation. I will keep you posted when I am in your area.

And you know, it's funny? I never really thought of myself that way. I was kinda just a kid who enjoyed doing what I did, which was acting, and I felt very fortunate to be on a show that I enjoyed working with the people I worked with. I got to do a lot of things that a lot of 14 year olds don't get to do. So I felt very privileged and fortunate in that sense. And that sense of feeling like an icon amongst the boys - my eyes didn't open to that until I was a little bit older, when I was 15, 16, when that sort of became what happens as you're a teenager? And when Mark-Paul and I were starting to travel to different states as well as different countries, and we started to see what types of audiences were for the show, and what types of people were attracted to our show and attracted to our characters.

That's hilarious. I would say the number one thing that i tell everybody with regards to health and beauty is WATER. You can never drink enough water. Water to me is the secret - even though I don't think it's a secret - to keeping healthy inside and out.

Not that I'm aware of! But sign me up if there was!

She'd probably be living in the Midwest somewhere, with 5 children probably and Zac Morris, ahahaha!

We all had a blast! I'm a huge fan of Jimmy Fallon, and it wasn't too hard to be convinced to do something like that with him. I think they'd been pressuring us for the last couple years to do a reunion, and it felt like this was the right time to do it. I keep in contact with all 3 of those people - Mark-Paul, Mario and Elizabeth - and you'll actually see Mario and Elizabeth on Dinner at Tiffani's!

Awwww. I'm so sad to hear that.

I've always had a love of cooking. I've been cooking with my mother, grandmother, my aunt since I was young, and I've always had a love of entertaining as well. So as I've gotten older, I've enjoyed sharing my love of cooking with friends & family, which is how I came up with the show idea, and I was happy to hear that Cooking Channel was onboard to want to do it!

My favorite dish - that's a hard question. The most requested dish I get from friends is my flatbread pizzas, and if my husband is asking, it's anything on the grill. And of course, if it's my daughter, it's ice cream for dinner (but that usually doesn't happen).

Well, hello fellow Aquarian! Hope you had a good birthday!

Some of my favorite moments were definitely ones where we were playing practical jokes on each other, offset.

Haha! Well, being that I've been in the business for 32 years, I've met a LOT of amazing people, so I'm hoping that between those people, I have a LOT of episodes I can shoot.

Haha! Yes, Sarah was definitely invited this season, but for her own working schedule and travel, she wasn't able to come this season, so I'm hoping to have her come by next season. Sarah's a good friend of mine.

I wouldn't know, because i never watched the movie. I have no idea! I just know that it was based on a book that was completely unreal (from what I know, that people have told me of stories from the book).

Hmm. I think my show's very different in that you're seeing a lot of familiar faces in a very organic way. I find that people coming over to someone's house to have a dinner party is a pretty fun, relaxed natural setting, so you get to see these familiar faces in that kind of setting.

Never.

Ever ever ever.

NEVER! Hahah!

I don't think you ever know what's going to take off, or what's not, when you're auditioning for roles in film or TV. So it definitely exceeded any of our expectations on how much the show has become iconic over the years.

Wow! Um... again, such a hard question. There's so many fond memories that I have. I always loved working with the guys - which I got to do a lot. I have fond memories of having my daughter, and literally having a brand-new baby on set - she was half-raised in New York, and that set was like her second home.

Hmmm. Oooh, it's a toss-up between Tim Dekai or Willie Garson.

Again, you're asking a woman who's pregnant, and that was over 25 years ago!

Oh! The biggest joker on SBTB was Mark-Paul, for sure. And he still is today.

Hahaha!

Uh, I am someone who gets bored very easily. So I do a lot of different things. Right now, being that I'm pregnant, I train 5-6 days a week. I do Pilates, I do spin classes, I have a trainer so I do circuit training and weight training, and I hike on the weekends with my family.

Oh! Ideal vacation! Um... well being from Southern California, I'm definitely a girl who was raised close to the beach, so it would have to be someplace warm, someplace with an ocean and a pool, and when I'm NOT pregnant, flowing cocktails! Cocktails that keep coming!

No. I've never even auditioned for that role, nor have i ever heard that story. You're the first.

Always something new!

Oh, that's funny!

Well, I kinda answered what's tonight - it's a Texas Feast tonight, with the boys of WHITE COLLAR. I'm cooking up bbq ribs, I'm showing them how to do a fun Texas Tea cocktail, I have collard greens, and I do a pimento-cheese spread (which is a very Southern dish that I learned how to make from my best friend from the South).

We eat everything that you see us eat! that's not fake! There's nothing not real about the show. I cook in real-time, I eat in real-time!

Well, I don't know about other chefs, but I don't do that, ahhahaa! I add what I say I'm adding, haha!

Well, funny enough, not tonight but next week I do a special episode of Breakfast at Tiffani's (or brunch as you would say). I cook up a beautiful frittata, a beautiful plum caprese salad, and I show everyone how to do maple-fennel bacon - it's a really fun episode that you'll see Lance Bass in! It's to die for, people who have the bacon say it's the best bacon they've ever had. So...

1.) I find it pretty funny? I mean, it was a character I played over 25 years ago, so I find it pretty hilarious, at the same time pretty surreal.

2.) You know, I think they were touching on a subject that is sometimes popular - with kids dating people that are older or younger. I didn't find it to be that strange, maybe because growing up in the business, I think I was dating at the time someone who was a little older than me, so it didn't feel that odd to me.

Oh gosh. I feel like i've been pretty fortunate to work with some amazing people that I think - sometimes when you have that work relationship, it's hard to have a crush? But the very first one that I had when I was young - and very innocently had a crush - I was a pre-teen, was Ricky Schroder from a show called SILVER SPOONS back in the day.

Mmmm! Thank you for the nice compliments.

I would say the one thing I would love to gain, quality-wise... could I go crazy and say the one gift I would love to have would be to learn how to fly! Who wouldn't love to learn how to fly!?

Hmmmmmmm.

OOOH! CHEESE!

It would have to be cheese.

Mmmm!

Well, if it's a burger that I'm making, it would be topped with probably... I'm an old-fashioned girl, so I'd have to say cheddar or American, with avocado, grilled onions, lettuce, I'm not a tomato girl on my burger (I know I'm crazy like that) and you gotta do the sauce. Thousand island! And if I really want to get crazy, I put a fried egg on top.

And if it's a quick trip in New York, it's Shake Shack. And if it's in Los Angeles, it's all about the classic In-N-Out.

sigh

Well, I just had Elizabeth Berkley on last week, so that hopefully answers part of that question.

I would probably bring it back a little old school, so I'd probably whip up some old school recipes from my mom, my grandmother and my aunt's recipe box.

Well, you definitely have to have ... kind've, you have to be aware of what's happening. You have to be centered when you go into Howard Stern. I'd heard so many things about him being a nice guy, so I wasn't too too concerned, but I think he actually - I felt that he was pretty nice and pretty easy on me, so I felt like I was able to do a pretty decent interview without getting too embarrassed at times!

Yeah, those shirts are floating around all the time. It's quite interesting to see that old face of mine (even though it's a young face). It's kinda surreal at times. It's funny to see how popular that character has become and still is for 25 years.

Heheheheeh!

I guess that's a question for YOU, not me!

Umm... let's see, tonight? If you want something EASY, I say my roasted chicken from my special is one of my easiest recipes and a home-run! Recipe can be found here.

Uhh. All the boys of WHITE COLLAR are awesome, yes. And I would say the biggest prankster would be - it's a tossup between Tim DeKay and WIllie Garson.

Well, it's funny, I'm not a traditional book person. My husband reads a ton of books. So we have a plethora of books. But the books that I read are cookbooks, or books that I'm reading out loud to my daughter.

I've had a lot of that, over the years, yes.

It was a tossup between people recognizing me from SBTB or 90210. Probably the most memorable fan interaction was in Las Vegas, with a woman who had a little too much to drink, and thought that I was really Valerie Malone and wanted to pick a fight with me. As my mother taught me, I walked away like a lady.

Hmmmm!

Well, gosh. You know what, it's hard? None of those are my kind of movies. You could ask my husband, and he's excited about ALL of them. I think I'm most excited about Cinderella, and I got to see an advance screening of it last Sunday, and I brought my daughter to it, and we both loved it.

Amazing. Definitely memorable. One of the top, I'd say, 10 best moments, for sure. He is a definite genius, and I enjoyed every moment that I got to work with him. I felt very fortunate to have that opportunity.

Yes, I was valedictorian. But it was for a private school that wasn't probably more than 100 children? It was a school meant for professionals - anyone from actors to musicians to Olympians. So yes, it was neat to be Valedictorian, but it wasn't a normal high school! I was a straight A student, though.

I was!

Oh, good question. I have NO idea what my speech was. You're talking to a woman who's pregnant right now, so I have massive baby brain!

My favorite sandwich?

It would have to be a good classic grilled cheese with caramelized onions.

That does sound delicious right now, doesn't it?

I would have to say probably my favorite episodes (and it was plural) was when we shot a few episodes on the beach. Those were my favorites. Definitely fondest memories there.

Oh, I can't pick a favorite! There's no way! That's an impossible question.

I wish I could say it was our AMAZING acting skills that allowed us to be that amazing with our chemistry on screen? But i will say it was definitely real. We all enjoyed each other's company, we all loved and respected each other, and we had such an amazing time that we were sad to see the show end last year.

Well, that's very sweet of you to say, thank you for the nice compliments.

I would definitely say that I share some similarities with Kelly. Being that i was portraying a young girl in high school, it was very much true to my heart in that sense. Dancing was a big part of my life, and even though she wasn't a dancer, she was a cheerleader, that was definitely part of it. She's very close to her family, and I can say that's a similarity. I remember her having a lot more brothers and sisters than I did - I only had 2, but she had a ton. That's why if you asked where Kelly is today, I feel like she would probably have a ton of children.

Hmm! Dinner for Five was actually a show I did look at a lot. I did enjoy that show a lot. I love Bobby Flay, the Barefoot Contessa, all the mainstream chefs, and then I have personal favorites, friends of mine who have influenced me in the cooking world as well as my family.

Yeah, it all depends on what comes down the pipe, you know, after I have my son! I hope to do many more seasons of Dinner at Tiffani's. But I love acting, acting is my first love, and I never want to give that up, so hopefully I will find another show or something creative that I can do as well as Dinner at Tiffani's.

I think to live my life loving the people that I love, and cherishing them, and making sure they know how much they mean to me, and living an honest life. Living a life that allows me to work hard (because I actually enjoy working hard) and hopefully staying as healthy as possible!

I wish I would come and visit the UK more than I do. I haven't been there in AGES.

My most popular shows that i watched when I was young were the COSBY SHOW and SILVER SPOONS.

Ooh, that's a good one! France, for sure. French food is my weakness.

OOOOH.

That's hard. I would probably have to say, it's a toss between - that's so hard, I watch all 3 of 'em!

Oooooh.

I watch more TOP CHEF and MASTER CHEF. So it's probably a toss-up between those 2.