Divine Brown is a long way from Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles on the street where she was caught performing a sex act on Hugh Grant in 1995. Her $50 (£45) ‘trick’ catapulted the then-sex worker to fame and, she claimed, made her a millionaire.
Now, 27 years on, she walks down her road in a tough Atlanta neighbourhood with a phone in one hand, a cigarette in the other and her shirt open to show off a snake tattoo on her chest. But the Mirror can reveal 53-year-old Divine's latest run-in with the law could land her in jail for 30 years if convicted.
Earlier this year, she was charged with battery, cruelty to children, possession of drugs and smuggling suspected cocaine into a jail. A close neighbour on the crime-ridden south Atlanta estate where she lives told us: "Divine is all about appearances.
"Never did the saying 'red shoes and no knickers' sum anyone up better. She likes to have people believe she drives a Porsche, wears Prada clothes and Gucci shoes. The reality is far from that.
"She has no car, and the shoes she steps out in are nasty old flip-flops. Divine has been in and out of trouble all her adult life. There is constant shouting coming from her home, mostly when she is drunk. It seems her choices may finally be catching up to her."
Police called to Divine's ground-floor, two-bedroom apartment at 12.30am on Valentine's Day found Divine, who was arrested under her real name of Estella Thompson, appearing drunk with "very slurred speech".
Officers then found her 13-year-old alleged victim, who said she had been hit. The teenager told officers Divine was under the influence of "alcohol or something because she has seen her pop pills before".
The police report said Divine had been "grabbing her by her arm, throwing her around the apartment, slamming her on the couch".
Attending Officer Chance Gilbert wrote: "Once she was able to break away, she attempted to run out of the door, and (Divine) grabbed her by the face and scratched her on the left side of her face."
The girl was taken to hospital, while Divine was taken to Fulton County Jail, where officers discovered she had suspected cocaine hidden inside her body.
The case is still open and a conviction for unlawful possession of drugs is punishable by up to 30 years' jail. First-degree cruelty to children in Georgia carries a maximum stretch of 20 years in prison.
Despite claims that her dalliance with the then 34-year-old Hugh Grant had brought her incredible wealth and the "most wonderful life", the public records show she has had at least 36 different addresses, often being evicted.
She has more than 18 legal judgements against her and has been taken to court for all manners of other offences, including perjury and theft of services.
Divine has likened herself to the prostitute played by Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman, but in reality there has been no fairytale ending after she and the foppish British actor, now 62, were arrested on June 27, 1995, for a sex act in a public place.
LA police officers were drawn to Grant's white BMW because the brake lights kept flashing "on and off" as the driver, they said, kept pushing his foot down on the pedal.
Divine later said: "I guess he was having a really good time." After their arrest, Divine made a fortune from deals she brokered with her newfound fame.
She said: "That was the trick that changed my life." She was reported to have made a $1.6million and with her then partner, and father of her children, Alvin C Brown, bought a four-bedroom home in Beverly Hills.
In 2007, she said: "Everything worked out for the better." By contrast, Grant, who was dating actress Liz Hurley at the time of his arrest, described his time with Divine as a moment of "insanity".
When the Mirror approached Divine about her latest arrest, she said: "Now is not a good time. I'll call you." She never did.
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