Patti LaBelle Talks About her new TV 'Coaching' Role, Hot Sauces and Purses

In the December 17 issue of Newsweek (on newsstands Monday, December 10), R&B singer Patti LaBelle reveals to Newsweek she was once offered Paula Abdul's job on American Idol but she turned it down because she didn't want to be mean. "I said no because I didn't want to be someone giving bad news by saying you didn't make it." LaBelle says cutting singers was the hardest part of her job on her new reality show "Clash of the Choirs." She does, however, offer them words of encouragement. "I did tell them, because Patti LaBelle said no, it doesn't mean it's the end. Jennifer Hudson was told no, and she has an Oscar."

Working in Philadelphia for "Clash of the Choirs," LaBelle tells Associate Editor Ramin Setoodeh that she is happy being in the cold Northeast. "I love snow. I love rain. I love dark days. I don't like sun. I don't like water or sand," she says adding that she likes wearing her coats. "I don't want PETA to get mad at me, but I love chinchilla. It's so soft. I love cashmere. They get mad at a little girl like me. But you know I work for it. When they start buying me coats is when I start listening to them."

LaBelle also talks about her love for hot sauces and tells Setoodeh she has even lost purses to hot sauce spills. "Do you know the Louis Vuitton beige bag with the white lining? I got to the city [Philadelphia] and hot sauce spilled in the bottom. Ghetto Patti and her Ghetto Louis Vuitton white bag with hot sauce." LaBelle has her own line of hot sauces, relishes, jalapeno dip and is planning on branching out. "I'm coming out with Patti pots, Patti pans, Patti sheets. I'm going to be the black Martha Stewart."

(Read the interview at http://www.Newsweek.com)
http://www.newsweek.com/id/74476