First Published: January 22, 2014 5:14 PM EST Credit:
Caption Tonya Harding visits Access Hollywood Live on January 22, 2014
LOS ANGELES, Calif. -- It’s been 20 years since former U.S. figure skater Tonya Harding was embroiled in the attack on skating rival Nancy Kerrigan, something Tonya maintains she had nothing to do with.
On Wednesday, the former athlete appeared on Access Hollywood Live, where she reflected back on the scandal that rocked her life. Here’s what she had to say:
On why she kept quiet after learning about the scheme, masterminded by ex-husband Jeff Gillooly, to assault Kerrigan: “He said, ‘You will do what I say or I will kill you.’… You got 10 witnesses and the police standing right there and he’s like, ‘I’m gonna kill you or I’m gonna break your legs’ [and] nobody helps you? Why do you want to help if you can’t get any protection?”
WATCH: Tonya Harding Reflects On Her Figure Skating Scandal 20 Years Later
On her claim from her 2008 book, “The Tonya Tapes,” where alleges that ex-husband Gillooly and two other men raped her because she came forward: “My woman’s virtue was gone after that point.”
(Gillooly, who has changed his name to Jeff Stone, denies Harding’s allegations.)
On whether it bothers her that people think she knew about the scheme prior to it happening: “I don’t care. Everybody is entitled to their opinion, it was 20 years ago. We both have gone our separate ways. Get over it, okay? Its 20 years. I’m sure that she’s done and I am too.”
On whether a note with her handwriting and the location of Kerrigan’s practice rink linked her to the incident: “If they proved that I had done something wrong, how come I wasn’t in jail? They gave me 500 hours of community service. They sure nailed everybody else for doing things.”
On what she’s doing with her life now: “I’m married and I have a son… I wasn’t supposed to have children, so my son is my miracle… I love being a mommy and I like to do landscaping in the summertime, and then I kind of do these fire starters where I dip pinecones in scented wax.”
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