Out of the darkness and into the light! Cassandra Peterson, 70, better known as Elvira, Mistress of the Dark, officially came out in her recent memoir, Yours Cruelly, Elvira. The longtime entertainer opened up about her sexuality in the book, writing about her experience with Teresa “T” Wierson, with whom she’s been in a relationship with for 19 years. Cassandra described how the two met at the Hollywood Gold’s Gym and how she initially thought Teresa was a “bad boy.”
“Often, when I was doing my preworkout warm-up on the treadmill, I couldn’t help noticing one particular trainer — tan, tattooed, and muscular — stalking across the gym floor, knit cap pulled so low over his long brown hair that it nearly covered his eyes,” she wrote in her book, which was obtained by Just Jared. “Dark and brooding, he gave off such intense energy that when he crossed the enormous gym floor, the waters parted and people stopped in their tracks to stare.”
The horror hostess later realized in the ladies locker room that Teresa was more a “bad girl” than a “bad boy” and the two began a friendship which ultimately turned into a romantic relationship. Cassandra had recently split from her 25-year marriage to Mark Pierson while Teresa called it quits from a long term partner. After a dramatic night where Teresa showed up at Cassandra’s door with “a trash bag full of her belongings,” the two became serious and have remained a couple ever since.
“I think I was even more surprised. What the hell was I doing?” Cassandra detailed in her book. “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. I soon discovered that we connected sexually in a way I’d never experienced.”
The two have remained in a partnership for 19 years, with Teresa becoming Cassandra’s personal assistant in the meantime. Although the two have been happy together, Cassandra also revealed her reluctance to reveal the details of her love life with Teresa to her fans, unsure of how they would react. “Would my fans hate me for not being what they expected me to be?” she shared in the book, adding, “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.”