A year has passed since the controversial documentary ONLY BY THE NIGHT aired on Channel [v] and thrust Kate Walsh into international spotlight and a downwards spiral of bad publicity. The young VJ's career took a tough hit when only by the night aired the affair between Kate and Caleb Followill the lead singer of Grammy award winning band Kings of Leon. Kate stayed silent though the past year in an attempt to settle the media storm that but tonight for the first time she's here to tell her side of the story.
She's here to set the story straight.
No question goes unasked.
Kate Walsh: For the Record.
I guess I should start by asking why you agreed to this interview.
Um well... I thought that it was time people saw my side of the story. A lot of people think that what they saw on that film was the whole story. But it wasn't. It was segments put together of an even bigger event and made to look like it did. For the past half a year, or so I've just been rolling with it thinking that it would calm down become yesterday news, but people won't let it go and I think the fact that I was silent about it, was taken advantage by from the media and they could create and elaborate complete fiction that people now believe are the facts.
So you're going to set it straight?
Hopefully.
If you were so upset about how the film turned out why did you let it go to air?
I'm so glad you asked that question. First of all I didn't see the film before it was aired and if I had I wouldn't have let it go to air. The reason I didn't see the film before it aired was because I didn't feel like any of what was taped in Oklahoma could be turned into what it did. I'm getting ahead of myself maybe I should explain. Rob, my camera man, and I went to Oklahoma to film and interview Kings of Leon for a show that was going to be exclusive to channel [v]
You use to work for channel [v] is that correct?
Yes. I was there youngest employee at only 17. Um so yeah we went over there and the plan was to film 60 days of their life before the release of their fourth album. It was going really well the interviews were good and we were getting good footage of their home life. I was getting along with them really well we were all friends and then things that happened like private conversations and things were taped without our knowledge, I mean I still don't know how Rob could have gotten the things that he did on camera. But he did and at the end of everyday he'd send the footage back to channel[v]. I don't think that he thought the footage was relative to what the original film was to be and that they would scrap all the extra footage. I don't think he thought that they'd use any of it.
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George called me on Monday night. "Hey kid, how's it going?"
"George I told you I'm not working until I've finished my final exams." George is my boss he's a producer at channel [v] but he's not the head honcho, he's close though. I've always liked George he's the reason I got the job there. See I started working there as a traineeship for camera operating but one day the host of What you want couldn't get to the show because there was traffic everywhere so I volunteered to do the show. And that's how I hosted my first show. The story doesn't finish there I volunteered to do the show before I knew that we had a musical guest on that day he would perform and also be interviewed! It was so weird I got on the set and something clicked and I just knew what to say and the interview went to well everyone was laughing at my jokes anyway since that day I've been a VJ on channel [v] and George has been my number one supporter.
"I wasn't going to ask you to work, I have very exciting news, but maybe I'll take it to someone who's more interested."
"OK fine what is it?"
"Well Kings of Leon are realising a new album,"
"Awesome I love that band."
"You didn't let me finish, anyway their manager got in touch with us and we organised a documentary on the band in the days leading up to the launch of the album! We're sending over a interviewer and camera man to live with them for 60 days! The reason I'm telling you this is because we just finished a meeting on who would be the interviewer and I did it! You're going!"
"Are you shitting me? Seriously is this some joke? Because I refuse to believe that everyone is ok to be sending a 17 year old, not even an adult to another country to live with rock stars for any amount of time."
"We discussed all this in the meeting we're setting up a meeting with your parents we also need you to sign a contract saying no drug and what not, when you go over there and you turn 18 in a few weeks so you will be an adult."
"Why me? It's so much drama why didn't they just choose Dan or Renee?"
"You know why they chose you don't make me say it."
"No I honestly don't know why they chose me?"
"Because you're the best, you get the highest rating people love you for some bizarre reason they find you funny. You're the best interviewer."
"So when do I leave? Is it after my schools finished?"
"You would leave for Tennessee the week after school finished."
"Oh my God I'm going to meet Kings of Leon!"
"We still have to talk your parents into it first"
Three weeks later I was on a plane to Los Angeles then from LA to Oklahoma where the Followills live and are recording their fourth album. Kings of Leon are an old school rock group they're three brothers and one cousin and a hell a lot of sexy. I am way out of my league I only started this job last year and since then I've only been interviewing up and coming Australian bands. Ok so I have done a few big names like Pink and Coldplay but they were easy because that was just fun and the whole show wasn't depended on me. This is different if I screw up I'm dead the whole documentary is screwed. What if they don't like me what if they don't think I'm funny. I have a really bad feeling in my stomach I wriggle out of my seat and scurry to the air craft toilets and heave. I want to cry I hate throwing up. Worst I hate planes everyone is sleeping but the lady behind me is to fat to put my chair back and I have a kid in front of me whose chair is to far back and I'm sandwiched in between them. I clean myself and walk back to my seat. Rob is sitting next to me.
"Just try going to sleep," he says, "We'll be there in no time." Actually rob we still have ten hours until we're there then another three hour flight. Not to mention I'm not sure I even want to get there. Oh god I think I'm going to be sick again.
We get to the LAX and I was only sick three times but I still didn't get any sleep and I can't shake the anxious feeling. After we got our boarding passes we went to look through duty free and grab some food.
"Here," rob says passing me a box.
"What's this?" I asked looking at the box of some kind of pills.
"There Valium, it will help you relax."
"Thanks," I say putting them in my hand bag. "I'll have them when I get some food."
I wake up in an unfamiliar room. I'm wearing the same clothes I was wearing on the plane only they smell bad and a tiny bit soggy. For a minute I thought I had wet my bed but it was only my damp clothes on the sheets. What did I do yesterday; I don't remember anything I only remember getting on the plane for Oklahoma. Oh my God I know where I am. I need to go outside and see what happened but I'm so scared. Suck it up Kate go out there and be yourself they'll love you. I doubted what my mind said but I still had to go out there. I opened the door I was on the landing of the second story there were four other doors along the landing but all of the doors were shut. I walked down stairs into a lounge room then into a kitchen no one was around I couldn't hear any conversations or movement. I had a brief second of blind panic thinking they had left me here or this wasn't even there house. The oven timer flashed and I saw it was only five thirty in the morning of course no one was awake yet. What a relief and it was definitely there house there was a photo of the four with two other people I didn't recognise the photo didn't look that old maybe a year or two. I didn't know how long I had slept but I wasn't tired and I knew I would have trouble falling back to sleep so I decided that I might as well go for a morning jog. I went back to the room I had woken up in and changed into running pants and a tank top and head out. I found a piece of paper and wrote the address of the house down just in case I got lost and needed to ask somebody and head out for my run
