Torrie couldn't have been more open and friendly while discussing her transformation from a shy teenager in small-town Idaho to one of the WWE's most recognizable divas. Her trek is one that included bouts with anorexia and bulimia, a first-place finish in the 1998 Miss Galaxy fitness competition and two appearances on the cover of Playboy.

Torrie continues to recuperate from a back injury that has kept her out of the ring for the past few months. But it's not like she's been idle. Her clothing store, Jaded, opened to rave reviews two months ago in The Woodlands, Texas. She's also expected to launch her own clothing line in the next few weeks. You can read about all of it at www.officiallyjaded.com. Hope you enjoy the interview:

KOTR: How did you get into the wrestling business?
TORRIE: I moved from Idaho to Los Angeles to pursue acting and fitness. I used to compete in fitness competitions. Anyway, my boyfriend at the time was a huge wrestling fan. He took me to my first wrestling show, which was a WCW show. We happened to know someone that knew all the wrestlers, so they got us backstage. Kevin Nash was back there, and he'd seen me in a fitness magazine. He approached me and said, 'Hey, you look like you belong in wrestling. Would you be interested in doing a three-month storyline with us?' I was like, 'Sure, I'll try it out.' I fell in love with it.

KOTR: What did you like about it?
TORRIE: I grew up in a town of 2,500 people – McCall, Idaho. The fact that I got to fly to all these different cities every week was really exciting. I had probably only been on a plane twice before that experience. And, of course, walking out into those arenas full of people was crazy. It was almost like being a rock star. Even if you're not wrestling – even if you're just standing there – the feeling of the crowd and the energy is just indescribable.

KOTR: You mentioned fitness competitions and the attention you pay to your body. When did that become important to you?
TORRIE: In high school I had an eating disorder. I was anorexic for about two-and-a-half years. I just decided that I didn't want to do that for the rest of my life. All I did was think about food and how I was going to starve myself and stay skinny.

KOTR: What made you become anorexic in the first place?
TORRIE: I went to a modeling agency in Idaho and they told me I needed to lose a few pounds. Then they were going to take me to New York to meet with some other agencies, and they said I needed to lose some more weight before I went up there. To me, if you tell me to lose 10 pounds, I think, 'Twenty would be better.' That's what happened. In that industry you get positive feedback for being so thin. It all just snow-balled. "I'm extremely sensitive. I'd read way too far into everything. It was ridiculous. Someone would tell me I was looking healthy and I'd take that to mean that I looked fat.

KOTR: What was the turning point? When did you realize that what you were doing was unhealthy?
TORRIE: I started to become bulimic. It was the most disgusting thing in the world. That's what opened my eyes. I was like, 'What am I doing to myself?' I was tired all of the time. I was always thinking about food. That really bothered me. I wanted to think about other things than how many calories everything had or how I could trick myself into thinking I wasn't hungry.

KOTR: So what happened when you started working out?
TORRIE: I started seeing results that I liked. Getting into fitness helped me in so many ways. It helped me get out of an eating disorder and into a healthier lifestyle. Then I just progressed from there. I decided I wanted to compete in fitness competitions. At my first fitness competition I was discovered by three photographers and started shooting for fitness magazines. Pretty soon I was doing shoots with the girls I had posted up on my wall. I was about 21 at the time.

KOTR: Excited as you were to get into the wrestling business, did you ever think you'd actually get to mix it up in the ring?
TORRIE: Never. I was initially hired as a manager, so all I did was walk a wrestler to the ring and cheer him on. Sometimes I'd help him cheat to win. It was very easy and a good way to start. The wrestling industry was completely different than I expected. I never would've dreamed that I'd become a part of wrestling. I used to tease my boyfriend for watching it. Then I became a wrestler. Watching some of those girls beat each other up and throw each other around was not my idea of fun.

KOTR: But it ended up happening anyway.
TORRIE: Yeah, slowly they started asking me to learn how to take a back bump and other small things to protect myself in case I ever had to get in the ring. When you don't know what you're doing and you get thrown in front of 10,000 people, it's very terrifying. That was enough for me to take a little more interest in learning the craft. It's not something that came natural to me. I'm not a naturally aggressive person. I'm still learning. I feel like just now, in the last year or two, I've finally started to get it. It's definitely hard on your body. I'm a girly-girl. It took a lot of getting used to, landing on your back and building up certain muscles. But I wouldn't trade it for the world now. Once I started getting in the ring and feeling what the energy is like when the crowd is going 'oh' and 'aahh' and buying what you're doing … you just want to do it more and more.

KOTR: Do you think people realize the toll wrestling takes on your body?
TORRIE: Sometimes I wonder. Some people say, 'Oh, it's just a show. But everything we do is very physical and very athletic. You have to be an athlete. I just had four big shots in my back for a nerve block. I've got two herniated discs and a bulging disc. And that's just me. I'm just a girl that doesn't wrestle half the amount that the guys wrestle. Some people's bodies take it better than others. I guess I'm just a little more fragile than most people.

KOTR: Who trained you? And is there anyone particular that you like to wrestle?
TORRIE: Fit Finlay is a wrestler on SmackDown. He's been in the industry a long time and he's taken a particular interest in helping the girls. Ricky Steamboat has been really helpful and Arn Anderson has, too. Anyone will help a girl if they ask for advice. I always have my best matches with Victoria. She's a very close friend of mine. We've known each other from way back when we used to compete against each other in fitness competitions. She's such a good wrestler and a good teacher. Most importantly, she's not afraid to make me look good. A lot of people don't like to do that, because in return it makes them look a little less. But she's so confident in her abilities that she's not afraid to look bad.

KOTR: Everyone talks about the hectic lifestyles that wrestlers lead. Tell me about your schedule.
TORRIE: The schedule can be pretty hectic. It's a year-round sport. We're on the road four days a week, every week. If you're there you want to work. This isn't a long-lasting career, so you've got to get it while it's hot and do it while you can. Everyone that's on the road pretty much wants to be on the road. We can't wait to get back out there. There are days that you miss family outings, but that happens with any job.

KOTR: Do you travel with anyone?
TORRIE: I ride with a couple of my girlfriends. We fly in, share a car, find a gym, work out, check into our hotel and then go to the show. That's what it is on the road. Sometimes we'll have a fun night on the road and experience the night life in Knoxville, Tennessee or wherever we are. It's so exciting, though. I've probably visited just about every single city in the United States, and I've been in a lot of different countries.

KOTR: Including Iraq, is that correct?
TORRIE: Yes it is. I've been there three times. It was an amazing experience. They were so thankful that we came and visited them. That was one of the most precious gifts that I ever could've received. Seriously, how many people can say that they went and visited troops in downtown Baghdad? I think it was really fun for them. They're off in a far off country. They don't get to see American people all the time. It's exciting when people come in and put a show on for you. Even the ones that weren't wrestling fans were genuinely excited to see us. We were there because we appreciate what they're doing. We'd go to the small places in the middle of nowhere that usually don't have visitors.

KOTR: You make a lot of public appearances and do a lot of autograph signings. What's the strangest gift or request you've received from a fan?
TORRIE: I've been given a lot of panties. Hopefully they've never been worn. People have asked me to sign their babies. I think every celebrity has funny, odd stories. I've got quite a few. I enjoy all the people I meet on the road – even the odd balls. They're giving me some great stories to tell my grandchildren someday.

KOTR: Speaking of the future, what do the coming years hold for Torrie Wilson?
TORRIE: I'd like to stick with wrestling as long as I can. I don't know how much longer my body can hold out. I opened my own clothing store in The Woodlands (a suburb of Houston). It's been open for about two months now and we have men's and women's clothing. I'm also launching my own clothing line. It's coming out soon and it will be on my website, www.officiallyjaded.com. We've got really fun shirts for Valentine's Day. Really cute, thermal shirts with hearts … lots of fun, girly stuff. I'm really, really excited about it. I'm having my first fashion show at the end of the month in Houston. So far the feedback has been unbelievable.

KOTR: Aside from your own clothing line, what else do you have in your store?
TORRIE: We have other labels, stuff like Ed Hardy, Rock & Republic and True Religion … all the fun stuff people wear these days. We've been open about two months now and it's been amazing. The first week we were open I went in the back and cried because I just couldn't believe that so many people were coming in and how many people were so excited about what I had to offer them. Things are going really, really well right now.