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DR. DREW

Is Tan Mom Done with Tanning?

Aired November 20, 2012 - 21:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. DREW PINSKY, HOST: Tan Mom -- two words that grabbed headlines this year and a face that shocked the country. Tonight, she`s got a new face embracing a new life and ready to show us the woman who has been hiding beneath that burnt face.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(MUSIC)

PINSKY: Joining us, tan mom, Patricia Krentcil. She`s here with us, along with Dana Ramos who has been working with Patricia to reverse the damage to her skin from all that tanning.

Patricia, let`s start off with this. Thank you for joining us. Are you OK there?

PINSKY: This is you back when everybody was calling you tan mom.

PATRICIA KRENTCIL, "TAN MOM": I`m shocked.

PINSKY: What goes through your mind now when you look at those pictures?

KRENTCIL: Oh, my God. And then I have to say as well that state is, I definitely was dark. But oh my God. Wow!

PINSKY: Did you not perceive how dark you were? Is that what was happening?

KRENTCIL: I -- no one ever said anything. I can`t believe that shot. That`s incredible.

PINSKY: And I understand that you were upset that it caught on and the media was so interested in your story. Can you understand maybe what people were interested in when you look at those images?

KRENTCIL: Forgive me. Just the ending part of that question?

PINSKY: Just I heard you were sort of surprised that people were interested in your story. But when you look at those images, can you understand why it caught so much attention?

KRENTCIL: Well, when I look at everybody that walks out of those tanning booths, there`s several women that were darker than me. And then I do have to emphasize that those certain pictures were tainted. People don`t understand that.

I was definitely dark, and I didn`t even think I was. So now after this whole process, I do believe wow. Wow. I really am dark. I didn`t realize it, to be honest with you.

PINSKY: Was there something impairing your ability to see that?

KRENTCIL: No. I just like being tan. It`s natural. I don`t wear makeup so just being tan with pink lipstick is what I did. Like I told you, I liked just to go out with my friends. That was one of the things just to get out of the house for a tad.

PINSKY: OK, let me show you another piece of tape. This was videotaped at a recent red carpet appearance in New York.

KRENTCIL: Oh my God!

PINSKY: I`ll let you react to this.

Let`s watch this tape. Tell me what was going on there.

KRENTCIL: All right.

PINSKY: See if we can roll that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That looks great.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PINSKY: So this was at a fundraiser, red carpet, and something went wrong. What was going on, my dear?

KRENTCIL: I guess I was -- all right. Nobody understands me, so I`m going to cut to the chase and not make it long. When I was in there, I was over-tired. I was pursued by the paparazzi for three months.

My children were very upset. And it just blew up. And then that night -- I didn`t belong in that club, because I have to emphasize, I don`t drink. Occasionally I might have a glass of wine, whatever.

And I made a joke about I used to live in Chicago. A martini straight up. I was very nervous. I did enough. But I have to be honest with you, I was drunk once in L.A. at a party and I don`t do drugs. Alcohol is a drug, but I`m saying drug drugs. And that was not me.

So I really don`t -- and I do fall all the time. I`ve got plates in my head and exhaustion, stress, five children, and you know --

PINSKY: OK. Slow down. Tell me about the plates in your head. You had skull fractures?

KRENTCIL: Somebody hit me when they were on steroids and I almost died twice. They had to put three plates in my head. So my equilibrium -- and I`m anemic. I don`t like eat meat and stuff like that. So, my balance is always off even if I didn`t have nothing -- Excuse me, Dana, nothing -- it`s just incredible, like, I will trip and bump into things and if I bump into anything --

PINSKY: I get that. Head injuries can predispose that. But that`s not what we`re looking at in that footage. I mean, let`s be fair. That was intoxication.

KRENTCIL: No. I don`t know. I swear on my life, polygraph, OK? That`s not me. I don`t know what happened that night.

PINSKY: OK. So you don`t have a substance problem. That was just a bad night for you, right? That`s how we understand that?

KRENTCIL: I call it complete exhaustion. After that I left. I went to a spa for five days just to get away. I couldn`t leave my house for three months.

PINSKY: OK.

KRENTCIL: I don`t know what happened that night. I swear on my life. But they showed the bad footage. They didn`t show the good footage of -- everyone loved -- you know, pictures, photographs, this and that and the other thing.

And then now they turn certain things into other things where people want me to go box at a boxing ring with them.

PINSKY: I heard about that. Somebody wanted -- Nadya Suleman, somebody offered to have you fight Octomom. What do you think about that? That`s wild, right?

KRENTCIL: At first, I know -- well, first of all, I`ve got a disk out in my back. Another winner. And then I have one right now as we speak.

PINSKY: OK.

KRENTCIL: But I`d just go for physical therapy. I`m not getting caught up again.

PINSKY: All right.

KRENTCIL: But my point is, it`s not ladylike to go in a boxing ring. You want -- I mean --

PINSKY: Do you have to take -- let me ask you this -- do you have to take painkillers for your back problems?

KRENTCIL: No, I just take Advil.

PINSKY: OK. Let`s take a call. Donna in Pennsylvania -- Donna, what do you got in Pennsylvania?

KRENTCIL: What?

PINSKY: We`re going to take a phone call. Donna, are you there?

DONNA, CALLER FROM PENNSYLVANIA: Hi. Yes, I am. Hi, Dr. Drew.

I am appalled. She looks like she`s on some type of narcotic or something. Her face is twitching and just moving around. She`s talking about ladylike. What is it?

PINSKY: Well, hold on. Donna, let me -- stop.

So I think what they`re seeing -- I`m going to come to your defense here, Patricia. Let me -- people can see that you have some twitching in your mouth. To me, that looks like something called tardive dyskinesia, which is something from medication. Is that something you have?

KRENTCIL: No.

PINSKY: You don`t have that.

KRENTCIL: I have plates in my head and then my jaw. I`d like to tell this woman -- and forgive me. You need to, like, be quiet, because that really ticks me off. I do slant on that side because I don`t have any feeling on that side. So my lip turns that way.

And how dare you make an accusation. Look in the mirror at yourself. Don`t you dare.

PINSKY: Do you think, Patricia --

KRENTCIL: Don`t piss me off. I`m serious.

PINSKY: I`m on your side here.

Patricia, do you think those head injuries have something to do with the perception of the tanning maybe?

KRENTCIL: Not whatsoever.

PINSKY: No.

OK. Let`s go to Robin in Michigan. Rob, what do you got?

ROBIN, CALLER FROM MICHIGAN: Hi. I don`t want to be mean or anything, but it definitely does look like she`s on something. I mean, we saw a picture of her falling down and she`s got all that suntan. She`s definitely on something.

PINSKY: Well, again, Robin. Let me interrupt. We don`t want to make Patricia angry, is that she says she`s had head injuries. That is something that can effect people`s perception. It can make people sensitive to alcohol. I`m going to take her at her word that she doesn`t have an alcohol problem.

Should I, Patricia? Is that accurate?

KRENTCIL: Accurate.

PINSKY: OK. And you say you`re not on painkillers. And that most of what we`re seeing --

KRENTCIL: No.

PINSKY: OK. So what the callers are responding to primarily is something leftover from your head injuries. Is that probably accurate?

KRENTCIL: Yes. And as I got older -- I have to go -- I hate going to doctors. Dentists, doctors, any --

PINSKY: How old were you with these terrible head injuries? Somebody on steroids --

KRENTCIL: I was 25. I`m 44 now.

PINSKY: -- bashed your head.

OK, here`s what I want to do, Patricia. We have pictures of you back in your modeling days when you were in your 20s. You mind if we show those? To give people a sense of who this was, who Patricia was before this attack which I didn`t know about. I`m learning about it now.

As we go, I`m going to show -- oops, there are the pictures now. We`ll get more into that after the break. More of your calls. More with Patricia -- Tan Mom.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PINSKY: Patricia Krentcil, so called "Tan Mom", is here with me. We learned she had a head injury. Got a steroid-addicted gentleman in the rage, I guess, hit her over the head, is the best that we can understand this.

And I was saying, I wanted people to see a picture of you, as you were on your 20s. You were a model and then you were attacked. Let`s see if we can get those pictures side by side. Can we do that?

Patricia, are you still with me? Are you in one piece?

There she was. And got hit in the head, multiple children, and then Patricia may have had a head injury that might have affected her ability to perceive things like what her skin looked like, things like that.

Now, Patricia, are you still with me? Are you all right?

KRENTCIL: Yes, I`m fine. I`m sorry.

I have to comment to these two women. I have to say something. I have to speak out. I just have to say this.

First of all, number one, you don`t know me. You see my mouth. No, I`m not on drugs. I don`t take drugs. I don`t like drugs, because first and foremost, you don`t know when you take a drug what the drug is going to do to you.

When I had the back surgeries and head surgeries, I threw (INAUDIBLE) out my back. How dare you. You don`t know me.

Oh, this is what you think. I don`t care what you think. Don`t think. Think about yourself. Don`t waste your time on me.

I`ve moved on in my life. I`m trying to make things different, and you know, we all have things that happen to us in our life.

And I am -- those comments you just made are the most naive. Do you sit at home and watch those reality shows? Is that what you do for a living? I work my butt off. OK?

PINSKY: What do you do for a living, Patricia? Let`s tell people who you are more. What do you do for a living?

KRENTCIL: Well, I used to -- I`ve done a lot of things.

PINSKY: What are you doing now?

KRENTCIL: I`ve done multiple, I was -- now I`m a mom that stays at home. But I am promoting Dana Ramos` book. I`m writing my own book, getting out my own skin cream.

PINSKY: Let`s address these things that these women were saying. Again, I think you had a serious head injury and people need to be empathic and understanding about that.

KRENTCIL: I almost died. My husband had to choose. I was pregnant, had to choose me or the child. And the baby was three months old and he chose his wife.

PINSKY: This is heavy stuff, my dear. Now, let`s talk about --

KRENTCIL: Very.

PINSKY: Let`s talk about the mouth movements that people are -- people think that`s methamphetamine. That`s what you think. I`m not saying that`s what it is. For me --

KRENTCIL: No. I have plates --

PINSKY: Yes, I understand that. But it also looks to me like a side effect of medication that you may have taken a long time ago. No?

KRENTCIL: I got punched -- no, I got punched directly here in the mouth. I don`t want to get into that whole thing.

PINSKY: OK. All right.

KRENTCIL: But because of that -- no, keep it simple. Because of that I`m at my dentist which I hate going. I love the guy, but he`s trying to rebuild my jaw line. That`s what I kind of -- like my mouth goes like that.

PINSKY: OK.

KRENTCIL: I don`t do drugs. Let`s move away from that whole --

PINSKY: I am moving away from that. But I was trying to clarify about medication someone may have prescribed to you that can cause a similar thing. But let`s get of that now.

KRENTCIL: No, no. Anything --

PINSKY: Let`s talk about how difficult it was for you when the police showed up and arrested you for your child allegedly having been endangered by going with you to these tanning salons. How awful was that?

KRENTCIL: They didn`t come to my house and arrest me. I went to the police station. We`re suing everybody for what they`ve done for me. My daughter had a half a day of school. She was outside and she`s a redhead, white skin, rest of my kids have my skin --

PINSKY: We just saw her a minute ago. So, she`s lovely.

KRENTCIL: No, she`s gorgeous. But she`s very fair. My husband`s white. There she is.

She -- look. Dumpling. Hi.

But, OK. Yes. Just real quickly, is that she was in her kiddie pool. I was out on my deck gardening or whatever I do, read books and so forth.

OK, cut to the chase, all I`m trying to say they called. She told her she had a burn. They called the cops. They didn`t -- it`s illegal. You have to call mom and dad. If you don`t call mom and dad, you call a guardian.

I have to emphasize how serious I am about that. I`m almost done. Just one second.

And then after that took her to the pediatrician. All the pediatrician said is that she needed a little bit of extra derm. She had a little red mark. She -- I would never: (a), put her in the tanning booth. I have to say this. I never -- she`s -- gosh. Come on.

No. That never happened. It`s a room with a booth. She comes with mommy. OK?

PINSKY: OK.

KRENTCIL: And but if she ever went in there, she would have been toast. Like they did on "Saturday Night Live."

PINSKY: Interesting. Yes. "Saturday Night Live."

All right. Next, I`m going to talk to a woman who is helping Patricia get her skin and health back. More with Tan Mom after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PINSKY: Joining us is Dana Ramos. She`s the author of "The Skin Regime."

Sorry, Dana. We had trouble getting to you as we were learning all about Patricia. There`s the book. She is working with Patricia to help get her skin back on track.

So what is your take, Dana, on how people perceive Patricia?

DANA RAMOS, AUTHOR, "THE SKIN REGIME": I`m really upset, because people haven`t met her. I`ve met her. And I`ve seen the scars she has from having to have plates put into her head, the nerve damage that she has. And people make assumption.

What they don`t know about this woman is she has a tremendously big heart, a wonderful sense of humor. She`s never hurt a fly.

Don`t you start laughing.

KRENTCIL: It`s a fruit fly.

RAMOS: And you know what? I`ve been working with her now for three months. And people -- she`s been bullied, absolutely bullied in the media. I promised her that would not happen when we come here tonight.

And so, really, let`s move on to the positive. Because I can`t -- they made her cry. And it`s just -- good things are happening now in her life.

KRENTCIL: They made me cry because you`re naive.

ROMAS: Because the callers are.

KRENTCIL: Right. You don`t know me at all. Quite frankly, I probably wouldn`t hang out with you anyway.

PINSKY: Well, it`s your chance to set the record straight. I think one of the things I wanted to show my viewers, which I didn`t understand about you, Patricia, is the tremendous impact this head injury had had upon you. I mean, we`re seeing you here alongside of me with the tanning episode where you didn`t seem to perceive what was going on. And that`s interesting.

Now, tonight we learned there was a severe head injury that might have impaired your ability to perceive those kinds of things, right? And people don`t understand that. They`ve not heard that part of your story before.

KRENTCIL: No. No, they haven`t. They didn`t hear -- they don`t understand. I don`t walk around telling -- everybody has a medical problem in some capacity -- every single person in this world.

Let`s -- we`re here today to move on and be happy and, you know, stop talking about -- you know what? It is unbelievable how tan I was. I didn`t even realize to be honest with you. I did not -- let`s forget the tan. The tan is over.

PINSKY: That`s before and after now.

RAMOS: There`s the new skin.

PINSKY: OK. Do you want to talk about that, Dana?

RAMOS: Yes, I do.

PINSKY: Go ahead.

RAMOS: Patricia`s been following the regime in my book called "The Skin Regime: Boot Camp for Beautiful Skin". I met Patricia about three months ago when I was looking for someone who had bad skin. I wanted to prove to the public that you can heal your skin at home.

And she was game for it. And we became friends during the last three months because obviously we`re working together on that. And it has transformed her skin. And you can see the evidence.

She doesn`t tan anymore. She looks tan. She has some natural olive skin and she`s allowed to use suntaner or bronzer.

KRENTCIL: I`m allowed?

RAMOS: No, allowed.

KRENTCIL: I`m 44. Let`s move on.

RAMOS: All right. Not allowed. That`s the wrong word.

She`s -- if you`re following, it`s like being on a diet. How you take care of your skin. But she`s allowed to --

KRENTCIL: It`s me being healthy.

RAMOS: Right. She`s allowed to use makeup if she wants to put makeup on and such.

PINSKY: OK.

RAMOS: But she`s definitely trying to move beyond --

KRENTCIL: Let it go. I was tan. Forget it.

PINSKY: Let me take a quick break here. We`re going to give people a chance to call. I hope you`ll allow us to have callers call you, Patricia, and ask you questions.

Phone number is 855-373-7395.

And, Patricia, I want to get more into -- the thing I`m struck by -- no, don`t go on the phone right now. You`re still on the air right now. Don`t go on the telephone. Thank you.

Be that as it may. I want to hear more about you and what people don`t understand and I give you a chance to set the record straight and maybe make sense of all this, and what the head injury has done to you, where you were before the head injury.

And again, we`ll talk about the skin too. That`s fine.

But again, call us 855-373-7395. We`ll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PINSKY: I am back with Tan Mom, Patricia Krentcil, and Dana Ramos. She`s helping her fix the tan man skin. She`s the author of "The Skin Regime: Boot Camp for Beautiful Skin."

Patricia, I`d like to go for callers if you`re up for that. Are you`re OK with that?

KRENTCIL: No, I`m fine.

PINSKY: All right. So -- and, I want to get into your story a little more. So, what we`ve learned so far is that you were a model in your 20s. You had a terrible head injury.

You were basically dead, where the doctors asked your husband to choose between your unborn baby and yourself. He chose you. But you`ve had this (INAUDIBLE) head injury and that`s causing at least some of what`s going on that people are seeing here tonight.

Would that be accurate?

KRENTCIL: That`s completely accurate.

PINSKY: OK.

KRENTCIL: The tanning issue has nothing to do with the -- OK, you know, the slant in my mouth, that whole side of my face is busted up. OK? I`m working on surgeries and so forth, you know, to try to even it out. OK, let that aside. I`d like to quickly and then end it this tanning thing. I really -- it was my time to get out of the house, see my girlfriends. We`d go to the gym, tan, workout, all that stuff.

Go out to eat, go to a movie, go shopping, whatever. I have a certain amount of time because there are five children. My husband gets up very early in the morning five, you know, 4:00-ish. Excuse me. And, you know, he`s a Wall Street man. And my point is that there`s only a certain amount of time that you really have in a day.

PINKSY: Patricia, does the moniker tan mom bother you. Does it trouble you that people call you that?

KRENTCIL: Not really -- if you really are so addicted to me, feel free.

PINSKY: OK. Let`s go to Erin in Wisconsin.

KRENTCIL: It`s your addiction. It`s not my addiction.

PINSKY: Erin, what do you got, Erin? You got something for Patricia. You go ahead.

ERIN, WISCONSIN: Hi, Drew. Hi, Patricia.

KRENTCIL: Hi.

ERIN: Patricia, you look naturally beautiful.

KRENTCIL: Thank you.

ERIN: I would like to know how do you define beauty now and has your definition of beauty changed as your new look has changed and why?

KRENTCIL: You want me to answer it? Could you repeat that again?

(CROSSTALK)

PINSKY: Yes.

KRENTCIL: Oh, I always want my body tan. I`m more concerned about -- I like to be tanned. I want it to be the sun, outside, flowers, birds. OK? I love gardening and all that stuff. Why -- but I really, really have to emphasize two things. One, that was tainted. And two, I definitely was dark.

And I didn`t even -- no one ever said anything. Everyone said wow, where`d you go on vacation. And I didn`t realize how bad or how bad it can be. And now, I`m looking at my age and moving forward with my girlfriend, Dana, who -- it`s like therapy. It`s changed me completely. Her book, her thoughts, her friendship, the way she handles things with me.

She`s like my best friend therapist. And why is that? Because, inside, she sticks up for me where other people would have walked over me. And she chose me and I`m grateful. Everything I believe happens for a reason. And I really, to be honest with you, I didn`t even think I was tan. That`s how crazy it is.

PINSKY: And Dana, what did you see in Patricia that prompted you to choose her?

DANA RAMOS, HELPING FIX "TAN MOM`S" FACE: Well, you know, let`s get it straight. It was a business idea. She had -- the media had already moved on at the time I met her in about July. And I was looking for someone I wanted to treat, someone people might remember used to have really bad skin. She had a lot of sun damage.

And I wanted to find somebody I could say this method, it works. And it`s based on dermatological principles. It was -- technical adviser was a very well known dermatologist, Dr. David Bank (ph), in New York. And, I was looking for somebody, and I sought her out. And I met her.

And over the course of just working together and hanging out and talking about things, we`ve become -- I`ve come to understand her. You know, at first, like meeting anybody, you just go, who is this person? And I began to understand that we had a lot in common. We have a lot of tragedy in our past.

PINSKY: What is Patricia`s tragedy? What happened? Patricia, what`s the tragedy?

KRENTCIL: I`ve had a very rough life.

PINSKY: What happened?

KRENTCIL: People have hurt and abused me, physically and mentally.

PINSKY: Since childhood?

KRENTCIL: Excuse me?

PINSKY: Since childhood? Did you have sexual and physical abuse in childhood?

KRENTCIL: Yes. That or stuck in a hole, kidnapped --

PINSKY: When were you kidnapped?

KRENTCIL: Drugged.

PINSKY: Hold on a second. When were you kidnapped? How old were you when that happened?

KRENTCIL: Nineteen.

PINSKY: You were 19. You were sexually abused, you were physically abused. You were kidnapped at 19. You became a model, and then, you were bashed over the head and were thought to be dead from the head injury. That`s your life?

KRENTCIL: Yes. A lot more than that, but I`m not going to get into everything. If I got into everything, you don`t have time.

PINSKY: Well, give me --

KRENTCIL: It`s very upsetting.

PINSKY: Give me a hint of what we`re talking about here. What kinds of things does that everything include?

KRENTCIL: I think it`s just a little tad much to get really into everything. It`s really just physical and mental abuse since I was a little girl.

PINSKY: Do you have -- let me ask you. We`re talking a little bit about your brain. Do you have a diagnosis of bipolar disorder, too? Is that part of what`s happened to you?

KRENTCIL: No. It was mentioned a couple of times, but no one followed through with, like, that was definitely it or something like that. I have more anxiety. You know, I`ve lost a few children, you know, naturally lost them. You know, --

PINSKY: What are you thinking about?

KRENTCIL: You know -- I`m sorry, what?

PINSKY: What are you thinking about now?

KRENTCIL: It`s just really -- it`s very upsetting. There`s a lot of things people don`t understand. If you understood, then it`s not something you can, like, go out and like run around and tell people. That`s why you go and talk, you know? And meeting Dana, she understands me.

People make judgment calls too quick. And you got to learn in life that you should just be -- you know, mind your own business and stay, you know, to your own business.

PINSKY: Patricia, I think you are absolutely right. That`s why I wanted to keep you on here and try to get to the bottom of what makes you tick. And we`ve already learned about head injury, now we`ve learned about horrible trauma. And people saw the tan mom and attacked.

And I think when people understand more deeply that there`s a lot of serious stuff going on here, maybe they won`t be so quick. You`ll teach them, perhaps, not to be so quick to get to judgment. So, we have to take another break. We are going to get more calls. Be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PINSKY: I am back with tan mom and Dana Ramos. Her book is "The Skin Regime."

KRENTCIL: I`ve got to call you back.

PINSKY: Yes, you`ve got to call her back, my dear. We`ve got to do television. I`m sorry to interrupt the phone call. Who might (ph) you be speaking to?

(LAUGHTER)

KRENTCIL: I`m on TV. I`ll meet you. All right. Bye. Oh, my God. All right. Turn it off.

PINSKY: Thank you. Thank you for your attention. Patricia, I`m glad you`re keeping your sense of humor, because we`ve been going through some very, very heavy stuff here. And I hope we are moving closer to your goal of getting people not to -- no, put your phone down. I`m hoping people to get not to jump to judgment when they see somebody on TV that there are often reasons for what the choices people make.

And we`ve learned a lot about you tonight. So, I want to go to some phone calls. Again, that number is 855-373-7395. Shay in California -- Shay.

SHAY, CALIFORNIA: Hi, Dr. Drew. Hi, Patricia.

PINSKY: She`s right there. Go ahead.

SHAY: Hi. I just want to say two things. When someone is trying to change their life, you know, it takes baby steps. It doesn`t happen just at one time. And I think, you know, by her doing what she`s doing with her skin, it looks very good. It looks very refreshed. I like her hair. I mean, she looks a lot healthier.

PINSKY: Right.

SHAY: And I wish every caller would kind of look at it that way. You know, she`s taking steps to change her life. So, you know, instead of putting her down, bring her up.

PINSKY: I agree with that, Shay. Thank you for that comment. Next, I think I`ve got Lisa. Is that right? Lisa on the line?

LISA, WISCONSIN: Yes. I guess, my concern is that I`ve had four skin cancers in the last couple years, and it was all from tanning bed use.

PINSKY: You bet you. So, you`ve had basal cell cancers, right?

LISA: Yes --

PINSKY: You got squamous also. So, it is basically three kinds of cancers that people (INAUDIBLE) dermatology here. You get basal cell cancer which is probably the most common. You get squamous cell cancer, which again, they can be cut out. They`re -- localized, but they can take of and be quite devastating.

And then, finally, the most dreaded is melanoma, which are the dark ones, the moles that could convert into cancers. If they hit to a certain depth are devastating as well. So, yes, this is a very serious topic being in the tanning beds and being in the sun too much. You know, we`re learning about Patricia, but let`s keep in mind that, you know, that, we`re looking at here is a significant health hazard. Patricia is asking who is that. You tell me who that is, Patricia?

KRENTCIL: I`m shocked. I mean, I really -- I`m shocked.

PINSKY: Is there anything you can --

KRENTCIL: Are you there?

PINSKY: Yes, we`re here. I`m watching you react to it. And I`m trying to understand back when this broke you were kind of defensive about it. What was happening that prevented you from having more insight into what was going on?

KRENTCIL: Everyone said I looked great. That is insane.

PINSKY: Let`s go to Pat in Georgia.

KRENTCIL: And again --

PINSKY: Go ahead. Go ahead, Patricia. Go ahead.

KRENTCIL: I just want to say. I know some pictures were tainted. That`s crazy.

PINSKY: Let`s go to Pat in Georgia -- Pat.

PAT, GEORGIA: Hi, Dr. Drew. I had a friend that had several head injuries and she has the same mannerisms that Patricia does. And I think it`s really unfair to assume that she`s drunk or she`s on drugs. I don`t think if you had a bad head injury you don`t realize the neurological things involved in it.

PINSKY: I absolutely agree with it. Now, I want to show footage again -- now, if you don`t mind, Patricia, where -- Patricia, to my eye, you are intoxicated. And let`s just be honest about it.

KRENTCIL: Oh, without a doubt.

PINSKY: And maybe you`re more prone to being intoxicated because of your head injuries. And things don`t go well for you when you do use. You ought to be aware of that. And there were no other substances involved in that time, right? That was just too much alcohol.

KRENTCIL: Listen.

PINSKY: Go ahead.

KRENTCIL: Unbelievable. Embarrassing. Again, I go to bed at 8:39. I have five kids. I do not drink. And, when I made a joke on stage at the pre-interview, and it starts at 10:00. When I`m trying to go to sleep by at least 8:30, because I wake up at like 3:00 or 4:00 when I get a lot of tasks done before everyone gets up because it`s done, you know?

And then, I can take a little nap after they`re all off. And then I go for another 12-hour, 15-hour shift. So, what I`m trying to emphasize on that notion, that was a two o`clock pre-call, and then, the show started at 10:00. Pitch black. And I know, I know I had one drink.

PINSKY: OK, Patricia. Patricia, don`t do that again. Don`t do that again. Don`t drink anymore. Pretty simple. Don`t drink anymore. If this is what happens --

KRENTCIL: No. What the problem was, I drank vodka.

PINSKY: Well, whatever you drank, don`t do it anymore. That`s all. I mean, if you`ve had a head injury, you can be predisposed, as you say, to ataxia, to problem with balance.

KRENTCIL: I made a mistake.

PINSKY: Let`s put that to rest. Let`s all put that to rest. I`m going to officially say we can put that one away and go to more calls. We`re back with Patricia Krentcil and Dana Ramos after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PINSKY: I`m back. We`re talking to tan mom, Patricia Krentcil, and Dana Ramos from "The Skin Regime," her new book. And we`re going to straight to calls. Marlene in Georgia -- Marlene.

MARLENE, GEORGIA: Hey, Dr. Drew, Dana, and Patricia. First, you look beautiful tonight. And I had a question.

PINSKY: Go right ahead.

MARLENE: I was wondering with my daughter is getting older, should I allow her to tan, and if so, at what age?

PINSKY: OK. So, I guess, the question, Patricia was your fair daughter, you`re beautiful little girl, are you going to prevent her from tanning because she, being fair skinned, would be at significant risk for the complications of sun exposure or UV exposure.

KRENTCIL: When she`s 19 at least. If she wants to go tanning, that`s her objective at that point. I truly believe that it really got out of hand. Again, I have to emphasize that I didn`t realize. I did not realize. But like, I was always at the beach. I was in California. I`m from Long Island, originally, but I live in Jersey now, this 15 years.

But, my point is that -- I don`t know. I feel better. Maybe, I was addicted. I don`t know even know. I just went because I could get out of my house for awhile. It was a normal -- you know, it wasn`t like I was bar hopping or something like that. I just went out with my girlfriends or go to the gym or things like that. We do all that together.

But, no, when it comes to my daughter, especially Anna, I have five, her skin`s the only one with the -- it`s from my husband. Very, very fair. Very fair. And I would suggest and I have to put so much moisturizer on her when she goes outside, but she still will fry. And you know, her hair`s not brushed.

PINSKY: Sunscreen. Sunscreen for everybody. Do not go out in the sun without sunscreen, especially the fair people. Stay out of the sun. Chelsea in Ohio -- Chelsea.

CHELSEA, OHIO: Hi. Hi, Patricia. Hi, Dr. Drew. I just want to say that I think you look very beautiful. And I don`t think you should listen to what those other people are saying to you, because I saw they made you cry earlier. You shouldn`t listen to them. You look great.

KRENTCIL: Oh, that`s really nice of you. Thank you. I really appreciate that, because it is sad, because, you know, sometimes in your life, you don`t realize maybe -- you know, you`re doing something to yourself and when I look at that picture, I`m just like who is that?

PINSKY: Let`s look at the other picture, too, Patricia. I want to give people a sense of -- not the tan mom picture. I know, but let`s look at the picture of you at 19 before your head injury, too. If you guys would put that up side by side, too. I think that`d be important for people to see. Can you put that side by side with where Patricia is now? That`s Patricia in your early 20s, I believe, or maybe just before the head injury.

KRENTCIL: Twenty-seven.

PINSKY: When was the head injury?

KRENTCIL: Give me a moment. When I was about 28.

PINSKY: OK. So, it was very soon after this. We have this young woman, there she is, hit struck on the head found essentially dead, had to give up a baby, and then, you end up with some chronic problems from that injury. And I think people have to understand some of what they`re seeing here with you now is related to that head injury. Would that be accurate?

KRENTCIL: Completely accurate. And I didn`t lose the baby. That`s Ashley, my daughter. She -- we both made it. But I had several operations on my face.

PINSKY: OK. Let`s go to Catherine in Kentucky -- Catherine.

CATHERINE, KENTUCKY: Hi, Dr. Drew. How are you?

PINSKY: Please, go ahead.

CATHERINE: Yes. I just want to say to Patricia that you need to give yourself a pat on the back, because you do absolutely look amazing. And you have accomplished a lot. Five kids, kidnapped, physical abuse, head injury, as it seems it can go on. And you`ve overcome many obstacles. And you still seem to contribute to society. And if tanning was your outlet, so be it.

PINSKY: Yes. Catherine, you bring up an interesting thing. Again, we`re talking about the head injury but what Patricia has revealed as well, we call her tan mom, but listen, what this woman has gone through is head injury, physical abuse, sexual abuse, kidnapping. Can you tell us about the kidnapping?

KRENTCIL: This guy from the army was infatuated with me. It was ridiculous. And I used him. You know, I was young, you know? I don`t know if you want to call it used.

PINSKY: Were you raped during the kidnapping?

KRENTCIL: No. He tried to rape me, but I`m way too intelligent. I got myself out of a bad situation. But then, this other guy -- another one. I`ve been through --

PINSKY: A second kidnapping.

KRENTCIL: -- weird stuff. He stuck (ph) with me.

PINSKY: OK.

KRENTCIL: He built a hole and stuck me in it.

PINSKY: Wow. OK --

KRENTCIL: It`s very scary.

PINSKY: If you wouldn`t mind, I have to take a break. We`d be back with the tan mom, Patricia Krentcil, excuse me, and Dana Ramos after this break. I want to hear more about that story.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PINSKY: I want to thank Dana Ramos for joining us. The book is called "The Skin Regime: Boot Camp For Beautiful Skin." You guys are free to hold that book up there. There it comes. And Patricia, we knew you at the start of the evening tonight as tan mom, and I think you`ve accomplished the end of getting people not to jump to judgement.

The calls we`ve been getting you should be aware have gone from sort of attacking to being very supportive of you. I have very limited time, Patricia, but would you tell us the story about being stuck in a hole and kidnapped? What happened? I`ve got about 30 seconds.

KRENTCIL: OK. So, all I have is 30 seconds then I have to say this guy kidnapped me, he stuck me in a hole, and finally, everyone searched and looked for me. But what I really, really want to do is positively move on in a positive -- it`s like therapy. You drink too much, you go to AA. Whatever you do, whatever you do.

Dana Ramos made a book, she did it herself, produced it, helped me. No, look at the picture of what I was and look at the picture of me now. And this woman did this. Just go online --

PINSKY: I agree with that. There you are. And I`ve got to say goodbye to both of you. Thank you, Patricia, for sharing your story. Thank you to Dana for bringing her here. Again, it is "Boot Camp For Beautiful Skin."

KRENTCIL: Dr. Drew, you`re wonderful. I love you.

PINSKY: Thank you all. I appreciate you putting up with some of the more difficult calls. And those of you that did call, I appreciate it. "Nancy Grace" begins right now.

END