Paris Hilton traded her black strapless gown for an orange inmate jumpsuit as she went from the red carpet to a prison cell to start a 23-day jail term yesterday.

The hotel heiress surrendered to authorities in Los Angeles just hours after making a surprise appearance at the MTV Movie Awards. “I am trying to be strong right now,” she told reporters as she posed for pictures on the red carpet. “I’m ready to face my sentence. Even though this is a really hard time, I have my family, my friends and my fans to support me.”

Soon afterwards, the 26-year-old celebrity socialite drove with her lawyer, mother and sister Nicky to check in at the Men’s Central Jail in downtown Los Angeles in an attempt to avoid photographers.

The booking sheet released by the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department listed the first official reading of her weight, recording her as a 5ft 8in (1.72m) blonde with green eyes who weighs 8st 3lb (52kg). Her booking number was 9818783.

“Her demeanour was helpful. She was focused, she was cooperative,” said Steve Whitmore, the sheriff’s spokesman.

Hilton, whose great-grandfather Conrad started the Hilton hotel chain, was then moved to the women-only Century Regional Detention Facility in Lynwood. She will serve her term in a “special needs” unit containing 12 two-person cells reserved for public officials, celebrities and other high-profile inmates who need to be kept separate from the rest of the 2,200 prisoners.

Her cell has a table, a sink, a lavatory, a small window and two bunk beds, but she will spend most of her time alone. The TMZ.com celebrity website reported that, although prison officials had screened a woman who was designated as her cellmate, they had decided to keep her in solitary confinement for 23 hours a day.

Required to eat in her cell, she will be allowed out only to shower, use a telephone and watch television in a small adjacent area for one hour a day. Mobile phones and BlackBerrys are banned.

Hilton, a high-school dropout, became an internet icon when a homemade sex tape featuring her and a boyfriend was leaked online in 2003. She was arrested for drink-driving in Hollywood on September 7 last year and sentenced to 36 months’ probation and had her driving licence suspended. On January 15, she was caught driving on the suspended licence and sentenced to 23 days in prison for violating her probation.

“I have had a lot of time to think and have come to realise I made some mistakes,” she said in a statement. “This is an important point in my life and I need to take responsibility for my actions. In the future, I plan on taking more of an active role in the decisions I make. I want to thank my family, friends and fans for their continued support. Although I am scared, I am ready to begin my jail sentence.”

Paris in the Pen

— The women-only Century Regional Detention Facility in Lynwood is five miles south of downtown Los Angeles. The two-storey, concrete building, which opened 13 years ago, sits in an industrial area, beside railway lines and beneath a busy motorway.

— Inmates are issued a kit that includes a toothbrush, toothpaste, soap, a comb, deodorant, shampoo and shaving implements, along with a pencil, stationery, envelopes and stamps.

— Hilton will have to alter her beauty regime somewhat. According to the website TMZ.com, her hair extensions will be removed and she will have to rely on the prison shop for cosmetics. It sells eyeshadow, an eyebrow pencil and hair colouring.

— If she decides to broaden her mind, she will be allowed up to three books and magazines a week, as well as a maximum of five photographs.

— Madame Tussauds, New York, will display a wax model of Hilton dressed in a black-and-white striped jailbird outfit for the duration of her sentence.

Source: TMZ.com , agencies

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