Perhaps the judge knew what he was doing after all. The jailed heiress Paris Hilton has decided that she is going to stop acting dumb because it is "no longer cute".

The remark was made in a telephone call at the weekend with Barbara Walters, the American broadcaster, in which Hilton described her brief spell behind bars last week - after which she was released and then sent back to jail by a judge.

“I was not eating or sleeping. I was severely depressed and felt as if I was in a cage,” the 26-year-old said. “It was a horrible experience.”

Asked how she is now she has been sent back, Hilton replied: “I used to act dumb. That act is no longer cute.

We'll always have Paris

She's dismissed as an airhead heiress and the queen of trashy modern celebrity. But is there an enduring icon behind the glitzy blonde facade? Giles Hattersley meets Paris Hilton

BACKGROUND

• Paris Hilton: a jailbird no more

• Paris Hilton is behind bars

• Paris shares cell with jailbird who won’t sing

• Paris does porridge

• All the thrills and spills of Hilton’s celebrity trial

Multimedia

• Audio: listen to Paris' attempted pop career

Related Links

• Paris Hilton 'learning and growing' in jail

• 'Mom!' yells Hilton on way to jail

• The Socialite in Solitary

“Now, I would like to make a difference. God has given me this new chance.”

The comments appeared to be further confirmation that Hilton and her advisers are trying to make up for the public relations disaster of her behaviour last week, when was dragged back to jail crying and screaming after a Superior Court judge decided that she should not have been released after serving three days of a 45-day sentence for a breach of probation.

Since then, Hilton has appeared to be a model citizen. In a statement released yesterday through her lawyers she announced that was not planning to appeal against her return to prison and would serve out her sentence even though it was "by far the hardest thing I have ever done".

"I must also say that I was shocked to see all of the attention devoted to the amount of time I would spend in jail for what I had done by the media, public and city officials,” she added.

“I would hope going forward that the public and the media will focus on more important things like the men and women serving our country in Iraq and other places around the world.”

Yesterday, Hilton was visited at the maximum-security detention centre by her sister, Nicky, and Stavros Niarchos, an ex-boyfriend. "She’s being strong,” Nicky Hilton said as she walked out of the jail.

Hilton’s path to prison began on September 7, when she failed an alcohol test after police saw her weaving down a street in her Mercedes-Benz on what she said was a late-night run to a hamburger stand. She pleaded no contest to reckless driving and was sentenced to 36 months’ probation, alcohol education and $1,500 in fines.

In the months that followed, she was stopped twice by officers who discovered her driving on a suspended licence - which saw her ordered before Judge Michael T Sauer and sentenced to jail.

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