The Buzz about Lisa B

What I hadn't grasped

about Lisa B is how

incredibly attractive she

is - more than any other

star or model I've met,

except Helena Christensen.

So it was a case of before

and after with her: before I saw her, reading the

cuttings, I thought she sounded very American,

with her comments on how ambitious she was and

how she'd never have stayed in the "hood" or

wanted to be with an unsuccessful man (she grew

up in a crack- and gun-ridden area of Brooklyn

and her brother was jailed for armed robbery).

But after I met her I thought, of course, if you

look like she does you're going to want a

successful guy.

She is perfect - you look at

her and can't find one flaw.

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Model, singer and actress Lisa B is living the ultimate modern-day fairy tale: She's married to a multimillionaire, has two children and enjoys a successful career

A quarter Irish, a quarter Italian and half Puerto

Rican, Lisa B - real name Lisa Barbuscia - arrived

in London in 1989 aged 17 to cut her teeth as a

model, having spent four years at the Fame school

- New York's High School of the Performing Arts.

She worked variously as a model, singer, actress

and photographer - she did modelling campaigns

for Chanel and Guess, recorded dance music for

Pete Tong at London Records, and her biggest

acting role was playing Hugh Grant's bitchy

American publisher girlfriend in the second

Bridget Jones movie.

But perhaps not surprisingly, given her looks

and the fact that she never quite broke through in

any of these arenas, she is still best known for her

boyfriends.

A month after she landed in London

she fell in love with Ben Volpeliere-Pierrot, lead

singer of band-of-the-moment Curiosity Killed the

Cat, and overnight her life became a "whirlwind of

fabulous parties" (though she describes herself as

quite spiritual and clean-living).

After three and a

half years with him she hooked up with the Marquis

of Cholmondeley, David Rocksavage, and spent

three years shuttling between his stately homes

and Brooklyn.

This was during her singing stage

when she was performing at obscure rave clubs.

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A quarter Irish, a quarter Italian and half Puerto Rican, Lisa B arrived in London in 1989 aged 17 to cut her teeth as a model

Then, having been linked to various eligible bad

boys - Bruce Willis, Prince Andrew, Damian

Aspinall, Mick Jagger, Hugh Grant - she met the

divorced multimillionaire property tycoon Anton

Bilton (who previously went out with her friend Tara

Palmer-Tomkinson) and married him.

Six years on they have two sons (Orlando, two

and a half, and Noah, 18 months), a house in

Kensington, West London, and a stately home,

Tyringham Hall near Newport Pagnell, which was

designed by Sir John Soane with grounds laid out

by Lutyens - Anton spent £10 million on the

renovation.

Meanwhile, Lisa, 36, has embarked on

a new strand in her career portfolio: writing. Her first

book, Lisa B Lifestyle Essentials, is essentially a

self-help manual; an attempt, she writes, to "distil

the knowledge I've gained from the various worlds

I've inhabited".

Hence it opens with the "essential

you", offering advice on confidence and positivity,

and moves on to various other 'yous' - the fit you,

the stylish you, the organised you - covering

everything from bleaching facial hair to correct

dinner party placement.

It's all rather delightful and

if some might question why Lisa particularly, more

than anyone else, can advise us how to live, the

answer could be a multimillionaire husband,

stately home, gorgeous kids and full-time nanny.

Speaking personally, I would say that she is such

a lovely person, so kind and open about her

background and her life, I would give her the benefit

of any doubt.

I totally understand why Anton Bilton,

having invited her to a weekend in the country,

followed her to the kitchen after dinner, leaned

over, and said, "You're lovely. Can I kiss you?"

"Well, I'd gone through enough relationships

at that point in my life, and, being very organised,

I was thinking, 'How do I organise having children?

How do I make a list for this?'

"And Mr Right hadn't

really come along," she explains.

"I knew clearly

what I didn't want - I certainly didn't want a

womaniser.

"I wanted someone who loved working

and was driven and enthused.

"Yes, I wanted

someone successful, because it's harder for a man

to be with a woman who is successful if he isn't.

"And definitely someone my equal because I'd

dated men who were not that, and it was tricky."

Anton, 43, is certainly sucessful. The grandson

of Percy Bilton, who founded one of the

country's biggest construction and property

companies and a director of Avanti Capital, he

bought a 'significant' stake in Warner Bros Studio

Stores UK and is the chief executive of the Raven

Property Group, which has bought 11 hospitals

in recent years.

So did she think he was amazing straight

away?

"No!" she exclaims. "Because when we first

met he was married and looked completely

different!

"Funnily enough, his ex-wife Anna sent me

a photo the other day and said, 'This is the version

you didn't get!'

"I think they were married about ten

years and you get settled and start gaining weight

- at the end of his marriage, he decided to sort

himself out, style himself up, get fit.

"He orchestrated

a long weekend at a house in the country and got

my best friend to make sure I came along.

"And we

spent three nights together, a big group of us, and

I saw him in a different environment.

"It was really

nice, because," her voice softens, "he's really lovely!"

Lisa maintains Anton was single by the time

they got together, despite subsequent claims that

she stole him from Tara P-T.

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Lisa B says: 'It wasn't so much that I wanted to get out of Brooklyn, but I had a lot of ambition'

We are talking in the

basement of their three-storey Kensington house,

which is where they spend their time during the

week - the L-shaped room has a brown cushioned

seating area around the TV, colourful kids' toys

piled in a corner and a big kitchen table at the end.

Lisa has laid out biscuits, fruit and water on a tray

and talks, kneeling on a cushion, pushing aside

her fringe with the tips of her fingers. She is

wearing a grey cashmere jersey and jeans, and

you notice her English-American accent - basically

American but with odd English pronunciations

for some words.

She says her mania for organisation and lists is

what prompted her book.

"I'm a bit of a geek and

I have a lot of PowerPoint programmes!" she

admits, laughing in embarrassment.

"Even my

builders look at me and say, 'Oh my God.' Every

single paint can has to be labelled.

"I've always

been very organised. There were times when I was

working in three cities a week as a model, and I

seem to have always been doing up a house.

"I plan on having another baby at the end of this

year. I'm having a girl!" she insists.

"It's part of my

schedule! Must have girl!"

Even given this, her guides to table manners

and dos and don'ts as a guest seem a little unlikely

from someone who grew up in a neighbourhood

"where sometimes people in the tenement house

across the street would break out into a fight or

you'd have someone running down the street with

a gun".

But - and she herself points this out – "I didn't learn any of that until I came to England, because we don't have seating plans in Brooklyn."

So being the girlfriend of a marquis, I say,

must have been daunting.

"It was a bit odd,"

she concedes.

"But people have this

perception of major celebrities or, say, David, who

has two stately homes, that they're not normal.

And they're just really lovely, humble and kind."

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Married to property tycoon Anton Bilton, Lisa divides her time between their house in Kensington, West London, and a stately home in Buckinghamshire

It was through Rocksavage that she met the

royal family and was later linked to Prince

Andrew, though she says she never dated him.

"No, I got photographed next to him and there

was another friend even closer to him and they

cut her out of the picture!"

What about Mick

Hucknall? "No."

Damian Aspinall? "Never. He's a

friend."

Mick Jagger? "I did his music video when I

was, like, 20, but nothing. I know him! I see him in

Mustique. It just makes good stories."

Bruce

Willis? "Friend."

Hugh Grant? "No, I was just his

girlfriend in the movie."

I say she has had a Cinderella ending and she

gives a laugh of pleased surprise.

"No! That's very

nice, but every part of what I've done in my life I've

always worked very hard for."

It's true. It's no coincidence that Lisa starts her

book with positivity. She is clearly an absolute

dynamo with five or six projects going at any one

time.

"There are fundamental essentials in life -

who you are, the foundation of you - that you

really need to get right," she says.

"Then the

rest falls into place. I think one of the most

fundamental things is if you're a happy person."

Of course, I note, people might say it's easier

if you're beautiful and rich.

"Well, yeah," she

concedes. "But, if I see a beautiful person, how I

perceive them can change as soon as they open

their mouth.

"The beauty can be gone in seconds

if I hear arrogance, rudeness or negativity."

But her biggest bugbear is judgmentalism.

This no doubt is to do with her brother Frankie

having spent four years in prison on New York's

notorious Riker's Island - he now works for the

Elevator Union of America.

She stresses that he

learned right from wrong from her Catholic

parents (her father Frank was a biomedical

engineer and her mother Melba a paralegal; they

worked in a hospital), but fell in with the wrong

crowd.

"That was hard," she says. "Prison was

scary for him, and we were scared for him.

"But

he's come out of it so much better. Like any

family, when you've got someone out of control,

they've got to hit rock bottom."

The Barbuscia

siblings have all had very different destinies.

Her sister Wanda works as a construction

foreman in Florida.

Lisa thinks her own success is down to her

parents' work ethic and getting into the Fame

school at 13.

"It wasn't so much that I wanted to

get out of Brooklyn, but I had a lot of ambition.

"So

much so that I would drive my mother to my own

auditions," she says.

"I wouldn't say the English

are becoming Americanised, because the English

would hate that!

"But they are certainly changing

their view, so that it's a good thing to want to be

successful at things and look great and be fit."

And what's her husband like, I ask? She

smiles.

"He's unbelievable. He makes me look

lazy - and that's saying something!"

Her routine these days is domestic - she

shares childcare with the nanny (the Filipino

woman, I presume, who I bump into wheeling

a slightly grumpy-looking Noah through the gate

as I leave).

"I've become more of a homebody

now I have kids," she admits.

"Because it's

exhausting!

"I'll cook dinner for me and my

husband here. Maybe two nights a week we'll

go out to an event."

She looks at her watch.

"I have to pick up Orlando!" She jumps to her

feet.

I leave with respect for this woman who

combines pragmatism and dynamism with a

feminine, almost radiant, good nature.

She

could be so spoilt - but she's not.

• Lisa B Lifestyle Essentials will be published by

Icon on Thursday, priced £12.99. To order your

copy with free p&p, contact the YOU Bookshop

on 0845 606 4204 or visit you-bookshop.co.uk

(lifestyle-essentials.com)

________________________

A CONFIDENT NEW YOU

There are many steps you can take to

help overcome your fears and allow the

positive side of you to grow and thrive.

Try to focus on the following:

BELIEVE IN YOURSELF

Trust your

instincts. When you get that feeling

in your gut, just go with it - it's

probably right.

SHARE YOUR FEARS

Our fears can be magnified when we're

alone. It's often better to share your

feelings and worries with a close friend, a

relative or even a professional therapist. Another person's point of view can help

you acknowledge your fears, keep them

in perspective and take positive steps to

overcome them.

POSITIVE VIBES

Associate with people

who make you feel good about yourself. It

will help you to build a positive self-image

and their support and encouragement will

give you confidence.

STAY FOCUSED

Take time to think

about what you want to gain from life.

Create a picture of your ideal life and

write down all that you hope to achieve.

To stay focused on what you want

you need to review this regularly. Don't underestimate the power of

positive thought.

TAKE RISKS

Let go of attachments that

might be holding you back and be

prepared to take some risks. Be open to

new possibilities and experiences as

these are what make life exciting.

SET GOALS

In life we need goals,

however big or small, to give us purpose

and direction. By setting goals and

focusing on attaining them, you learn to

use your time more productively. You'll

enjoy tasks much more knowing they are

shaping your future.

BE REALISTIC

Don't expect too much

too soon, as this can cause

disappointment and a sense of failure.

Instead, develop a realistic plan and

tackle it in achievable stages.

• This is an edited extract from Lisa B

Lifestyle Essentials.

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