In excerpts of CNN's Larry King Live posted on TMZ, Paris Hilton also said that she was shocked at receiving a prison sentence and overwhelmed on her release.Hilton said that in walking the red carpet hours before her date with the sheriff, "I was playing a trick on everyone".
"Outside my house, outside the Lynwood facility, there was paparazzi - I heard - from all around the world. So I thought if I went to the MTV Awards and snuck out during the show, I could get there unnoticed. And that's what we did. No one even saw me going in."
King asked her about her return to prison, after earlier being released on home detention. "So when you go back in, you're back in that cell again. How do you deal with the first night?"
"I was obviously very upset," responded the heiress. "And I was talking to myself, saying: 'Paris be strong, you can do this'."
King then asked her whether she thought the sentencing judge was "unkind".
"You know, my lawyers said that for this kind of infraction - it wasn't for DUI [driving under the influence], it was for a suspended licence ... I was just going to get community service. So when he sentenced me to that much time it was shocking. That doesn't happen, ever."
Hilton said that she had agreed to the interview because: "I just want to let people know what I went through.
"I've been through a lot and it was a pretty traumatic experience, something I have grown from."
The socialite said that the time since her release has been "pretty overwhelming".
"I've been confined for three and a half weeks in a little cell so it's overwhelming just to be out and be free again."
The day of her release was "one of the happiest days of my life", she said.
"It's hard to even describe. It was exciting even just being outside and looking up at the sky and the stars. And then it was just pandemonium.
"And as soon as I saw my mum I just ran to her and gave her a hug. So that was pretty exciting to me."
