Elvira, Mistress of the Dark, comes out as queer
Elvira, Mistress of the Dark and fan-favorite late-night horror TV hostess, has come out in a memoir and says she’s currently in a long-time queer relationship with a woman.
Elvira– or 70-year old Cassandra Peterson– made this declaration with a recently published memoir, Yours Cruelly, Elvira – Memoirs of the Mistress of the Dark, from Hachette Books.
Peterson described the memoir was “15 years in the making.”
As the camp icon Elvira, she had last starred in the 1988 film, Elvira: Mistress of the Dark, but she still has a cult-like following among her fans.
Elvira meets the love of her life
Peterson revealed this was the best-kept secret in her memoir, i.e. that for almost two decades, she had been a committed relationship with Teresa “T” Wierson.
According Peterson’s memoir, the two had met a Gold’s Gym in Hollywood even before they had started dating. Ironically, she didn’t know Wierson was a woman.
Peterson wrote: “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.”
“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,” she added.
It was only later that Peterson ran into Wierson– a trainer at the gym– again at the ladies’ locker room and realized that her crush was a woman– but still a hunk.
Wierson later on became Peterson’s trainer, with the two working out together three days a week for six years.
Friendship and love in the cards
This was also the start of a beautiful friendship between the two of them– and a timely one, as Peterson’s 25-year marriage to her manager and ex-husband Mark Pierson had ended.
Likewise, Wierson was undergoing a hard break up and was undergoing rehab. With no place to go, Wierson went to live with Peterson and her son.
After a night out at the movies, Peterson felt compelled to kiss Wierson, which surprised them both. She said: “I soon discovered that we connected sexually in a way I’d never experienced.”
“I think I was even more surprised. What the hell was I doing? I’d never been interested in women as anything other than friends,” Peterson wrote in her memoir.
She added, “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.”
Elvira faces off against Cassandra Peterson
However, that’s when Peterson found out that a roadblock to their relationship: while adjusting to her new sexual orientation, she also had to protect the legendary Elvira brand.
Writing in her memoir, she said that when dealing with the public persona of her character, Elvira, she would ask herself, “Would my fans hate me for not being what they expected me to be?”
In this case, she got her answer: “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.”
“For the first time in my life I’m with someone who makes me feel safe, blessed, and truly loved,” she said.
From then on, Wierson started working as Peterson’s assistant. Likewise, they kept their relationship private to protect the Elvira brand.