Interview: Danielle House — 25 Years Later
25 years ago, Danielle House made headlines across the world as Miss Newfoundland and Labrador, Miss Canada International, her messy court trial and as a Playboy centrefold. In this, her first and only interview since 1998, House explains why she walked away from it all — and why she’s never been happier.
The very first thing you notice about Danielle House is her smile.
It was this smile which helped the then 19-year-old win the title of Miss Newfoundland and Labrador in August 1995 and, one year later, the coveted title of Miss Canada International. At the end of 1997, that smile most famously appeared on the cover of the December edition of Playboy magazine.
Then, suddenly, Danielle House’s smile disappeared from the public spotlight. Ever since that abrupt disappearance 22 years ago, many people have wondered, ‘Whatever happened to Danielle House?’ This has become a question that has been asked, primarily because she has not granted an interview to anyone in over 20 years.
“I’m a little nervous around reporters,” House begins our interview with a slightly nervous laugh. “Not all of them are nice.” She then reveals she hasn’t read any of her many previous interviews from the 90s. “God only knows what I said,” House offers with another laugh. She discloses she doesn’t open up to others easily and is very guarded — for a reason: “I just don’t want to get hurt. Nobody wants to get hurt. I have a tough exterior and a very mushy center.”
From Small Town Student To Miss Canada International
Danielle House was born in the small town of Daniel’s Harbour (pop. 253) on the Northern Peninsula of Newfoundland and Labrador. As a young girl, she loved the outdoors; pushing her toy metal dinkies in the mud along Francis Path but once she was inside, it was all about playing with her Barbie Dolls. She was a popular girl during her years attending Holy Cross All-Grade School and in grade 12, her class voted her “most likely to become a celebrity.”
For House, the idea of participating in town beauty pageants held little interest. She even told one newspaper that when it came to looks, she merely considered herself “average,” this despite her striking 5'8 height and porcelain-like facial features, showcasing her prominent cheekbones and wide almond-shaped eyes, inherited from her family’s Inuit ancestry.
House wasn’t the type of teenage girl to starve herself for a pageant, especially considering she was the daughter of Daniel House, a lobster fisherman and avid moose hunter. She loved eating a feed of fresh-killed game such as bear, moose and especially caribou. For dessert, she would treat herself to a tray of McCain’s Deep Deluxe chocolate cake and a cup of tea mixed with Carnation Milk.
House was encouraged to enter the Miss Newfoundland pageant (which she first heard about one night while watching NTV), even though she didn’t have the $50 to pay the registration fee or even owned the right clothes to take part. Friends of hers chipped in to cover the fee and the night before she was set to leave St. John’s (where she was studying nursing at Memorial University), she found the perfect dress, a hunter-green velvet at My Fair Lady located downtown, which she purchased using her father’s Mastercard.
Still, she never expected to win. In fact, believing she never stood a “chance”, just five minutes after arriving in Harbour Grace, where the pageant was taking place at the S.W Moores Memorial Stadium, she wanted to leave and return home. So, it was a complete shock to her when she won the title of Miss Newfoundland and Labrador, crowned by the previous title holder, Kerri-Lynn Power. It was an unexpected win for her whose final decision to take part was that she didn’t want to look back after ten years and regret not doing so. After her win, her family and community were extremely proud of her.
House, who had become one of Newfoundland and Labrador’s most popular individuals, was suddenly everywhere. She visited schools, hospitals, and elderly care homes and greeted fans and autograph seekers from all over the province.
In August 1996, three weeks before she was to compete in the Miss Canada International pageant, House’s relationship with her boyfriend of 15 months suddenly ended. It was a difficult period and she was even considering not going through with competing on the national stage but friends were encouraging her to put the breakup behind her by entering the competition. The Miss Canada pageant officials were encouraging her as well, especially after they were impressed by her presence in an anti-drinking-and-driving PSA which aired on NTV during that summer.
Many local companies including Newtel Communications, the Sundance Saloon, Fabian Janes Productions, Cape Spear Exports, Air Canada and Air Nova all held fundraisers and events to sponsor her trip to Toronto. Back in her hometown, money was being raised in bingo halls and her former high school. Everybody’s encouragement paid off. Danielle House was crowned Miss Canada International in Toronto on Aug. 27. She described her reaction to being crowned as one of feeling “stunned” — but she still kept her sash on all that night (over her favourite prize: a custom made Miss Canada International designer jacket from Roots Canada) and even into the next day, when she nearly missed her flight back home to Daniel’s Harbour. Within days, her proud hometown erected a sign in her honour that read “Welcome to Daniel’s Harbour. Home of Miss Canada International, Danielle House.”
With her celebrity rising, the next spring she presented at the East Coast Music Awards (where she met Rick Mercer) and the JUNOs. Still, it wasn’t all fun and wild times. While the after-parties were raging well into dawn on George Street (one of House’s favourite spots), she was sound asleep in bed. Under the condition that as Miss Canada, she had to adhere to a 10 P.M. nightly curfew. Life was tremendous for the 20-year-old.
However, that would all change before the end of the year.
The Incident
That fall, House began her second year in Memorial University’s bachelor of nursing program as an honours student. It was a course she enjoyed. “I wanted a job that would provide me with a feeling of ‘self-worth’,” she says. Being very social, she easily made friends. After one long, tiring night of studying for an anatomy midterm, on Friday, Oct. 18, 1996, she ventured into the campus bar, The Breezeway, to meet up with an old friend who was in town for a visit from the University of New Brunswick. Later that evening, she attended an Irish Descendants concert and then returned once more to the campus bar to meet some other friends. This time, House became involved in a physical altercation with another student who was also there that night — the 20-year-old girlfriend of House’s ex-boyfriend.
The 20-year-old victim, who was treated at the Health Sciences Center in St. John’s, across the street from the university, suffered a chipped tooth and facial injuries including to the nose and bruising around the eyes. An RNC officer arrested House the Tuesday morning after the incident in her dorm room residence and drove her to police headquarters (a five-minute drive) where she was questioned and interviewed. House wrote a 15-page statement of her recollection of the events pertaining to that night. She was formally charged with assault, causing bodily harm. It’s not a time of her life she now looks back on fondly. “That was the start of my nightmare,” she says. “1996 to 1998 were the toughest years of my life. There were some great memories, but they were the toughest years.”
The incident received national and international attention. Jokes were made at her expense on American shows such as The Tonight Show with Jay Leno (which invited her on to appear. She declined) and The Late Show with David Letterman (whom she was a fan of and would watch every night while eating a can of Spaghetti-O’s). Even the syndicated show Entertainment Tonight aired a segment on her. She turned down an invitation to appear on that program as well.
“Her story was one that everybody was into because of the sensationalism of it,” recalls Glen Whiffen, a reporter with The Telegram in St. John’s who was one of several journalists covering the House incident. “All the media were trying to get to talk to her.” That media included international shows such as Hard Copy (which even offered her money), A Current Affair and even The National Enquirer — who all requested interviews with her. Again, she turned them all down with a firm, “not a chance.”
The only media appearance she consented to was when she briefly spoke at a news conference in St. John’s where from a prepared statement, she read, “I have suffered the experiences of emotional and physical abuse prior to this incident and I wish to say that it had a direct impact in regards to this matter.” She also appeared as a guest on The Dini Petty Show but as the case was about to head to trial, there was little she could say regarding the matter.
House entered a plea of not guilty on Nov. 8, 1996 (the same week she held her press conference) and the next month she attended the Grey Cup parade in Hamilton, Ont. while back home, local support for her was overwhelming. Open-line radio programs were inundated with calls of support on her behalf. When she took part in the St. John’s Christmas Parade, the crowd cheered as she passed by (wearing her sash over her Roots jacket). “Newfoundlanders are the most exceptional people you’ll ever meet,” she now says.
The trial followed — delayed to May 28, 1997, because of the sudden death of her mother earlier that March. House was convicted of assault by Judge Greg Brown and sentenced to one-year probation and to undergo counselling — a sentence which she felt satisfied with. One thing House was never satisfied with was the unending media scrutiny. Describing herself at the time as a “private” person, she never imagined she would receive so much attention. This was one of the main reasons she swore off talking about herself to the media. A pledge she has kept — until this interview.
Leaving Home and Playboy
This was the first interview House has granted to anybody since moving from her home in Daniel’s Harbour to California in early 1998. A move she described as “heartbreaking,” — but necessary. “I needed a break,” she discloses. “Everywhere I went in Newfoundland, there were terrible memories. When I was in St. John’s, the memories were of the incident and when I was back home on the East Coast, there were bad memories because my mom passed away during everything.”
Although she carries many wonderful memories from that time, she confesses there was much pain. Media photos of her from the period of her trial often showed her pale, distraught, and on the verge of tears. “She went through a lot personally,” concurs Whiffen. “Her life became a tailspin.” House was new to dealing with the media and couldn’t understand why her story was so important and why everybody wanted a piece of her. To escape it all, she then decided to move to California. A move that was only supposed to be temporary — at least that’s what she told her dad. “There were more reasons to take the leap and move than to stay,” she revealed. Whiffen, for one, was not surprised that she left. “Many people looked at her in a negative light and I think she just wanted to get away.”
The opportunity to move presented itself after House received an offer to appear in Playboy, which she agreed to after her trial ended. After discussing it with her father, who gave his blessing, House flew to Los Angeles for the shoot, which took place over five days at a beach house in Santa Monica. She was the first Canadian to be featured on the cover since the late Dorothy Stratten in 1980. House never disclosed her fee (in an interview with CTV around that time she admitted to receiving “six figures”) and reportedly, was paid more than what 90s international supermodel Cindy Crawford earned for appearing in the magazine. And of course, she met legendary Playboy founder Hugh Hefner — twice.
The lead-up to the release of the issue was a whirlwind for her. During this period, House was granting up to 40 interviews per week with media from all over the country to promote the magazine and even one Canadian mall (one of the few comfortable with holding a Playboy-related event inside) hosted her and several Playboy PR representatives. Back home, anticipation was at an incredible high. So much so that the issue was released earlier than expected to boost sales. It paid off. The issue flew off newsstands nearly instantly all across Newfoundland and Labrador. House herself wasn’t even aware the issue was out until she saw it displayed inside Coles bookstore in the Village Mall while one day casually shopping.
During this period, casting agents became very interested in her and the prospect of perhaps becoming an actress was one which she found quite appealing. To get camera ready, she appeared as herself on several programs such as Canada A.M, The Royal Canadian Air Farce, Open Mike with Mike Bullard (where she appeared with fellow Newfoundlander Greg Thomey, writer for This Hour Has 22 Minutes), and TSN’s Off the Record. She even tried her hand at playing another character, Wanda, in a 1999 episode of the CBC series Dooley Gardens.
Even months after the trial ended, her story continued. At the end of 1997, Time magazine listed House as one of its “Newsmakers of The Year”, alongside The Spice Girls and Brad Pitt. Jim Furlong, the news consultant for NTV, realized the scope of her story one day when he was outside the country. “I was in Dublin a couple of months later, walking down a street and there in the window of a store was a Playboy magazine — with Danielle House’s picture on the cover,” recalled Furlong. “I said that is international fame.”
Danielle House Today
Danielle House lives in the San Francisco area of California. Berkeley, to be exact. She married her husband 19 years ago, whom she began dating in 2002 (she asked him out). She is working in the medical field (a job which she loves) while raising their three children — two boys and a girl and they also have a Black Lab. During the course of this interview, she sipped from a large mug of Tetley Tea mixed, of course, with Carnation Milk. She describes her life today as very “Norman Rockwellian,” living a happy, quiet life and enjoying every day as if it was her last. “I’m 41 and my mom died at 41. Anything could happen to us at any time.”
Even though House lives in California, occasionally a reminder from home will sneak up on her. “I remember being at the Troubadour (a famous California concert venue) watching Great Big Sea one night and being tapped on the shoulder by a guy from Cape Breton who was the cousin of somebody I was in MUN residence with.” House tries to return home to Daniel’s Harbour about once a year and while some may believe they give her a welcomed reception reserved for someone such as Beyoncé, House says it’s nothing like that at all. “No… back home, I’m just Danny’s girl,” she insists, referring to her father Daniel. “My grandmother still spoils me, though. You go home and see people you went to school with 20 years ago, it’s like nothing’s changed. Going home is like nothing else, although I do feel old when I realize some of my friends have grandchildren.”
House says she does keep up on the local news and what is happening in her home province. “I still get daily CBC news updates. I’m nostalgic about Newfoundland. I think about it every day. In a perfect world, I would spend my summers in Newfoundland running a bed-and-breakfast and my winters here in California.” House has even introduced the local tradition of Tibb’s Eve, something she loves to share with her best friends from Ireland and the U.K. “That’s my goal, to introduce everyone to Tibb’s Eve and have a Tibb’s Eve party here at the house.”
House used to devote her time to her community and charity organizations in Newfoundland and that is something she continues to be a part of. She is heavily involved in her children’s school and donates her time to two causes that are very important to her; the organ donation network and autism awareness, which she says have a very special place in her heart. Growing up, she was a big supporter of the seal hunt and remains so today. “Death on the Ice has a place on my bookshelf,” she says. “I even have my seal-skin boots. I just can’t wear them here.”
Stepping Away From the Spotlight
By the point in her life when she moved, the stories and news reports had slowed down. Still, many noticed that an individual who had been in the headlines for the better part of three years had suddenly gone quiet and over time, people began to wonder about her. Furlong also remembers the young woman who suddenly vanished. “Her story took on a life of its own,” he recalls. “I have often wondered what happened to Ms. House after her moment on the stage. I hope everything has worked out for her.”
House assures that it has. But it took her a while to appreciate everything that had happened. “I feel like I have learned some tremendous lessons,” she confesses. “I’ve gone through some things that I wouldn’t wish on anybody, but I realized why I was getting all those challenges — it has made me stronger. I remember from the get-go people telling me everything happens for a reason and at the time I just didn’t want to hear it,” she admits. “Now, 20 years later, in retrospect, as bad as everything was — and it was bad — I’m grateful for it because I like where I am now. I’m happy and I’m here because of everything that happened. I have many people ask me ‘do you regret the things that happened?’ Would I go back and change them?’ and the short answer is ‘no’.
“Those things wouldn’t have led me to where I am now. Having said that, I feel terribly sorry for the pain that I caused people. I’ve learned from it, I’ve grown from it and it’s made me a stronger person.”
House has held onto two values that remain important to her; loyalty and privacy. Values she realized mattered to her, especially after she appeared in Playboy. House became the second female from Newfoundland and Labrador to be featured in the magazine, the first being Shannon Tweed of St. Johns in November 1981 and later, in September 2014, Stephanie Branton from Conception Bay South. “20 years ago, I had people trying to be my friend just because I was in Playboy,” House continues. “Then I had people dismiss me and stereotype me because I was in Playboy. You have to filter those types of people out,” she maintains. “I prefer people to find out about me after they’ve gotten to know me. That way they’ve already got their mind made up about me and are not prejudiced one way or the other.”
While she remembers and regrets the pain she caused others many years ago she remains forever grateful for those who offered unwavering support to her. “I want everybody to know that the people who were so kind and good to me, I appreciate it and I have forgotten none of the kindness that I received during that terrible time,” she offers. “I think of the kind gestures and acts that gave me strength, and that’s why I’m here now. I don’t think I would have gotten it from anywhere else. That is why a big part of my heart will always be in Newfoundland.”
One wonders what the 20-year-old Danielle House, who went through so much in such a short time back then, would say to the Danielle House of today. To that, she answers, “I would say, ‘you turned out OK. Things worked out the way they were supposed to.’ ”
25 years ago, House’s life meant appearing at many types of events all across the province and country but now she insists those days are long behind her. There will never be, for example, a ‘Danielle House — Live at Mile One Centre — One Night Only!‟ event ever happening. “I don’t think anyone would come to see that,” she surmises. “I’ve been long forgotten.” Of course, many people here would argue that sentiment.
Danielle House has been a person of great interest and curiosity for 25 years now and will remain so for many more. Jim Furlong for one describes the continuing mystery and interest in Danielle House as “a story without an ending.”
A story without an ending…until now.
