Book excerpt: Hooray For Hollywood!: The True Story Of The Original GLOW Girl

Guest Column

30th January, 2025

Hooray For Hollywood!: The True Story Of The Original GLOW Girl

Let’s call it a tease … somehow that feels appropriate.

Jeanne Basone, who was Hollywood on the Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling TV show, has just released a memoir, Hooray For Hollywood!: The True Story Of The Original GLOW Girl, and has offered up a few tidbits for SlamWrestling.net readers.

“Having been a part of the GLOW journey from the very beginning—starting with the pilot and continuing through all four incredible seasons—I truly feel that I was the perfect person to write this memoir/book,” Basone told SlamWrestling.net during the process of selecting some pieces to share. “My experiences, the friendships I built, the ups and downs, and the moments I cherished make every story feel alive, and I can’t wait to share that journey with all of you.”

Beyond the GLOW days, Basone is also an actress, model, stuntwoman, and artisan soap maker. She resides in Nashville and Los Angeles with her partner Ryan, and their two cats.

Jeanne Basone with her book, Hooray For Hollywood!: The True Story Of The Original GLOW Girl. — Jeanne Basone with her book, *Hooray For Hollywood!: The True Story Of The Original GLOW Girl*.

By “Hollywood” Jeanne Basone

Chapter 9: The Audition

I had come home for lunch and there was a message on my answering machine from Atmosphere Casting. It was about an audition. The casting call was for a “sports entertainment show.” I was curious. What exactly does the term “sports entertainment show” mean? I didn’t know what this was all about, but it seemed like as good a way as any to break into show business. Plus, I would be able to participate because the audition was being held at 6 p.m., after my day job ended. That was key, because if the casting call had taken place during normal business hours, I might never have gone to it, and who knows what I’d be doing today? Surely not writing this book!

Chapter 10: Shooting the Pilot

When the GLOW executives told us they would fly us to Las Vegas to shoot the pilot, I had to take a week off from my “real” job. They put us up at the Riviera Hotel, which is also where we filmed not only our matches, but also the interviews and comedy sketches that were a prominent part of the show.

During the taping of the pilot — which was shot on December 5, 1985 — they filmed Vine and me doing a promo for our first match, which would be against “good girls” Tina and Ashley. I was pretty anxious about this, considering I had never had a speaking part on a TV show before. I asked the director, Matt Cimber, if there were any restrictions on what we could or couldn’t say — specifically, profanity. He assured me I could say whatever I wanted, since they were going to edit the tape before it aired on TV. When the interviewer asked me how I thought we were going to do in our first match, I had an answer primed and ready: ”We’re gonna kick their asses. They think their sweat doesn’t stink. They think they’re glamour girls. We think they suck; we think they’re sluts. People don’t fuck with us. ‘Cause if you fuck with us, we’ll get our friends on you. Me and Vine … we’re tough.”

Chapter 46: Bullying

I thought all the bullying was behind me once I left high school, and for a while, it was. When I joined GLOW I got along with all the other girls pretty well. We were young; we were beautiful; and we were on TV … what was there to complain about? After season two ended, I went on that modeling tour of Japan with eleven other women. Even though there were different cliques of girls who, just like in high school, didn’t exactly get along, my motto was always, “Just be nice to everybody.”

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