Jailed celebrity heiress Paris Hilton has spoken of her desire to change her ways and her belief that God has given her a new chance.
Reuters reports that the 26-year-old telephoned US TV journalist Barbara Walters on Sunday from the medical wing of a Los Angeles jail, with Walters recounting the conversation on her ABC show 'The View' last night.
"I'm not the same person I was," said Hilton. "I used to act dumb. It was an act. I am 26-years-old, and that act is no longer cute. It is not who I am, nor do I want to be that person for the young girls who looked up to me."
She continued: "I know now that I can make a difference, that I have the power to do that. I have been thinking that I want to do different things when I am out of here. I have become much more spiritual. God has given me this new chance."
Hilton told Walters that she now felt she was a different person and had dropped her appeal against her sentence for violation of a drink driving ban.
"I feel that the purpose of my life is to be where I am," she said. "My spirit or soul did not like the way I was being seen and that is why I was sent to jail. God has released me."
On her release from jail, Hilton told Walters that she may like to get involved in work involving breast cancer or multiple sclerosis, diseases which her grandmothers suffered from, or build a "Paris Hilton playhouse" for sick children.
Walters said Hilton told her she had not been sobbing or screaming during her first three days in jail as had been reported.
After spending those first three days in jail, Hilton was moved to house arrest but was transferred back to jail to serve out her sentence last week.
When asked why she had been moved to house arrest Hilton said: "I was not eating or sleeping. I was severely depressed and felt as if I was in a cage. I was not myself. It was a horrible experience."
Hilton said the other inmates were being friendly towards her but said her skin was very dry because she was not allowed moisturiser.
"It doesn't matter," she added. "I'm not that superficial girl. I haven't looked in the mirror since I got here."
