Lea DeLaria -- Big Boo of ‘OITNB’ -- announces engagement in cheeky post
Lea DeLaria of “Orange Is the New Black” is engaged to girlfriend Chelsea Fairless and has been since the SAG Awards.
The actress, who plays Big Boo on the Netflix series about the escapades of the inmates at a women’s prison, announced the news in a cheeky Facebook post [warning: link contains profanity] on Friday after making it public at the American Songbook series at Lincoln Center in New York on Thursday.
“Despite their concerns about the patriarchal confines of marriage, actor / singer Lea DeLaria & editrix Chelsea Fairless of Brooklyn, New York are pleased to announce their engagement,” the 56-year-old wrote. “No date has been set for the impending nuptials but it’s safe to say that it will be the event of the season, or a total ... show.”
The “One Life to Live” alum also included a doctored photograph taken of singer Liza Minnelli, David Gest, Michael Jackson and Elizabeth Taylor taken at the lavish Minnelli-Gest nuptials in 2002. In the new version, DeLaria and Fairless’ faces take the places of the now-divorced couple’s faces.
She and Fairless, a fashon editor at VFiles, also posted the snap on Instagram in a video that plays the tune “Greatest Love of All.”
“It’s such a classic campy picture. We were chomping at the bit -- when can we post this!? It’s very indicative of who we are and what our wedding would be like,” she told the Los Angeles Times on Friday.
The stand-up comic met Fairless through her “OITNB” costar Emma Myles, who plays the laundry room’s Leanne on the series.
“Chelsea and I literally met through ‘Orange Is the New Black.’ Emma and Chelsea went to high school together,” DeLaria said. “‘Orange’ has changed my life in so many ways. I was as confirmed a bachelor as much as George Clooney, let me tell you!”
The Netflix series took home the SAG Award for ensemble in a comedy series (and an acting honor for costar Uzo Aduba) on Jan. 25, and DeLaria said the win prompted her to pop the question.
“Honestly, we’d been talking about it a little bit. It was on my mind. I was staying with Jesse Tyler Ferguson [of ‘Modern Family’] and I asked his advice. That night at the awards, everyone at the awards knows how emotional I was -- you’ve seen that picture! -- I proposed literally at the SAG Awards and she said yes. And we announced at the Netflix after-party.”
DeLaria, who lives with her fiancée in Brooklyn, said she turned to Fairless and said something along the lines of, “‘Honey, I’m so full of love right now. We know this is right, will you marry me?’”
She didn’t even have a ring, but she said that was part of the plan.
“I know better than to buy jewelry for Chelsea,” she quipped. “She works in fashion and I said, ‘This is how much you can spend, go get yourself a ring!’”
While she would have liked to get married this summer, DeLaria said they’re aiming to wed in New York in the summer of 2016 so the whole “OITNB” cast can be there. Pal Ferguson will serve as her best man, and her longtime friend Sandra Bernhard will officiate.
As for any “OITNB” scoop, all DeLaria would share about Seaon 3, which wrapped filming before Thanksgiving, was: “I’m in it and it comes out sometime this year!”
Follow me on Twitter @NardineSaad.
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