Walters: Paris Hilton is fascinating

Paris Hilton has been named one of the “most fascinating people of 2004” by Barbara Walters. Walters will host a special on Wednesday, presenting the 10 most intriguing people of the year.

Others besides the hotel heiress include filmmaker Michael Moore, Jeopardy! champ Ken Jennings and Boston Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling.

In an interview for the show, Walters asks Hilton about the now infamous sex video with her then-boyfriend Richard Salomon. The tape surfaced just before the premiere of Hilton’s Fox reality show, The Simple Life.

“I was in love with him and people, I think, do that sometimes,” Hilton says. “I never thought that it would get out and that I’d be hurt like that.

“It was (very painful). I thought it was the end. I thought, I was so embarrassed for all my teenage fans and my younger fans. I thought it was over.”

Nevertheless, The Simple Life became a hit, and spawned a second series as well.

Also in the interview, Hilton reveals that she doesn’t just sit around saying “That’s hot” all day: she even reads books. And the most recent one? Fittingly, Maneater, a novel about an uninhibited L.A. woman’s search for a man.

Barbara Walters Presents: The 10 Most Fascinating People of 2004 airs 9 p.m. ET Wednesday on ABC.