Hilton 'feels free' after YouTube documentary

This is Paris', which debuted for free Monday on Hilton's YouTube channel, reveals the ultra glam, baby-talking young woman whose standard line was "that's hot," was a manufactured caricature not just for fame but self-protection, too.

Hilton says as a teen she got into the nightlife scene and would sneak out and go to clubs while her family lived at the Waldorf Astoria hotel in New York. When she was 17, Hilton was finally sent to what she describes as "the worst of the worst": Provo Canyon School in Utah.

She stayed at Provo for 11 months and says while there, she was abused mentally and physically, claiming staff would beat her, force her to take unknown pills, watch her shower and send her to solitary confinement without clothes as punishment.

She says the treatment was so "traumatizing" that she suffered nightmares and insomnia for years.

Hilton says when she agreed to be the subject of 'This is Paris', it was never her intention to speak about past abuses, but she opened up as she became more comfortable with director Alexandra Dean.

Hilton said while she was at Provo, she decided she wanted complete control in her life and image. That meant she would never tell anyone about what happened to her there. She also wanted to be very, very wealthy.

Hilton says since speaking out about what happened at Provo, she feels free. She's now sleeping through the night and no longer has nightmares. She also says she's happy and in a healthy relationship with businessman Carter Reum.

Her life has slowed down in the past six months due to the pandemic, and she's no longer traveling for work. Hilton says she likes it this way and plans to continue to be more choosy about leaving home. "I'm moving on to the next phase of my life," she said.

She's also hopeful that speaking out against programs like Provo will deter parents from sending their kids to similar situations.

"I would never recommend that to any family ever, because I think it just causes more drama and more issues than anyone would ever have." She's now a part of the Breaking Code Silence movement, a network dedicated to raising awareness about the "troubled teen industry."