Perez Hilton: Pink on the Inside

I expected a quote from Gaga, but I didn’t know you were on such good terms with Cher.
I’m one of the only people that Cher follows on Twitter — it’s so crazy to me. I just asked them for a quote and they all said yes. They all wanted to read it first, but it’s a quick read. Yeah, I still can’t believe I got those six different people to give me a quote for my book.

You dedicate the book, “For my future children. Hope to see you soon.” How serious are you about starting a family?
I am emotionally ready now, but I’m just not ready in terms of having enough time. Hopefully I’ll learn to expand and delegate a bit more in the future so that I can make the time to be a present parent. When I make the decision to have a child, I plan to be very involved and hands-on. I can’t be an absentee father.

Besides loving and accepting themselves, which other qualities will you instill in your children?
My children will be super-kids. They will each play multiple instruments, play multiple sports, and speak multiple languages. And I hope they cure cancer. But what’s really most important to me are the simple things, like always saying “please” and “thank you,” appreciating everything they have, and working as hard as I did. I’m not really a Hilton, so nothing in my life was ever handed to me. I come from a very poor family — I went to my all-boys school and NYU on full scholarships — so I’ve gotten to where I am with luck but mainly a lot of hard work. I put in 16 hours a day, and I have no life, which is why I don’t have kids yet. I just want my kids to be nice — and to stay away from drugs and alcohol. I’m going to be that crazy parent who randomly drug-tests his children. I’ll also monitor their Internet to make sure they’re not looking at porn.

Do you want to find a partner first, or are you willing to raise a child as a single parent?
I don’t think I need a partner, but I’m open to it. It’s one of the many things I’ve been discussing in therapy: timing. What if I want a kid in a year or two years? Should I wait until I have a partner to have one? I just need to do what feels right for me and not worry about variables that I can’t control. Having children is something I can control — I can adopt or have a donor and a carrier — but I can’t control having a partner. I wish I could, because life would be easier. But then I look at someone like Angelina Jolie, one of my inspirations in life, who went ahead and adopted Maddox and then found Brad Pitt later. So it would be great to have a kid first and then find someone who wanted us both.

Has your dating life improved since you’ve gotten into better shape?
I’ve lost 80 pounds, so I’m learning to be more comfortable in my new body, because I look and feel like a new person. Over the last 12 months, I’ve been trying to have more of a social life on weekends, trying to find balance. I’m on OKCupid and I’m dating more. I’m learning to be more assertive, because some people might be intimidated to come up to me, or they may have preconceived notions about me. I’m taking more risks, giving more people chances, because I know someone needs to take a chance on me too. I went through a funk earlier this year when I was dating someone for about three months. It was not working, so I was filled with all these doubts and insecurities. I kept asking myself, “Why can’t I just be Neil Patrick Harris? Everybody loves Neil Patrick Harris.” Finally, I snapped out of it and said, “Nothing you can do will ever make you Neil Patrick Harris!” I need to appreciate everything I have and remember that many people would be happy to be in my position. Nobody, not even Neil Patrick Harris, has it all. But I’m still very single, so I’m trying to get the message out there to the gays that I’m really not a douchebag.