The Lady Ivana

Czech your doubts at the door—Ivana's taking off in the 90s

Vanities

Will Ivana trump the Donald in the 1990s? GEORGE WAYNE found that her multiple careers (novelist, businesswoman, mother) are going so well that she's now dispensing advice to others.

George Wayne:Is it difficult being a single mother nurturing three children?

Ivana: Not really, because my kids are really fabulous. They are not spoilt—they could have been, but they are not. They are my best friends.

G.W.You don't spoil your kids?

I. Absolutely not. I teach them my values: not to cheat, steal, or lie, and not take drugs and alcohol.

G.W.When will Ivana take a third husband?

I. I don't know. I just got a divorce, and I've been through hell. I don't need a man now for starting a family. I'm secure, and I'm making my own in life. I for sure don't need a man for prestige or career.

G.W.Where did you meet your boyfriend, Riccardo Mazzucchelli?

I. We met two years ago in London.

G.W.Is he a better lover than Donald?

I. Oh, you know, that's very personal.

G.W.I heard he likes to cook you pasta.

I. Riccardo is a fabulous chef. I'm pretty good in the chicken paprika and goulash and all those European dishes which you don't lose weight, I guarantee you. Riccardo is excellent on pasta.

G.W.Is Ivana a feminist?

I. No. I have been more always following the man. I was brought up like that, but in a good sense, to look to the man for decision-making and leadership. I am not a feminist, but I feel that I am equa definitely.

G.W.I suppose you haven't worn polyester ever since you emigrated from Czechoslovakia?

I. Well, I wear my polyester wet suit for scuba diving, but don't say I haven't worn polyester since I left Czechoslovakia—sure I do.

G.W.You have a new book, and you've been appearing on the Home Shopping Network. Tell me about that.

I. The book is a sequel to my first book and is called Free to Love {Pocket Books]. I have just given my publishers my third book, which is a how-to-do book called On My Own. I've gotten over a million letters from women asking me for advice. It gave me the idea to go and answer them. [On TV] I'm selling my signature line of cosmetics—and something called mini-lift.

G.W.Why do you think people won't admit they've had plastic surgery? I. I have no idea. It is not wrong or right. If you have a nose which you've hated all your life, and you want to change it, great. If it doesn't matter to you, that's all right, too. G.W.Is Ivana a woman of the 90s?

I. I think that you should be the judge of that. I'm contemporary. I'm the woman who wants it all. G.W.When all was said and done Donald did finally admit that you are a "special woman.''

I. Well, we are very good friends.

G.W.Does Ivana wear fur?

I. Not much, because it is being resented now. If it is a little chinchilla or a leopard or a jaguar which is endangered, that I can understand. But when you have the mink, which is grown like chicken or turkey, they are not endangered, and it wants to be worn, then I think that's great.

G.W.Finish this sentence: Ivana be.. .

I. . . .a happy person.

G.W. I love you, Ivana.