Hollywood star Paula Abdul

In mid-July 2007, Abdul announced that she had begun dating J.T.Torregiani, a restaurant owner 12 years her junior. She told Access Hollywood: "He is a good guy. Things are looking upwards. It's looking good right now. I wasn't even looking for someone and that's what usually happens." Abdul and Torregiani broke up in June 2008, citing their hectic work schedules.

Paula Julie Abdul was born June 19, 1962 in San Fernando, California, to Jewish parents. Abdul's father, Harry Abdul, was born into the Syrian Jewish community in Aleppo, Syria, was raised in Brazil, and subsequently immigrated to the United States. Her mother, the concert pianist Lorraine M., grew up in one of the two Jewish families in Minnedosa, Manitoba in Canada, and has Ashkenazi Jewish ancestors from Russia and Ukraine, and Abdul derives Canadian citizenship through her. She has a sister named Wendy, who is seven years her senior. In 1980, she graduated from Van Nuys High School.

An avid dancer, Paula Abdul was inspired towards a show business career by Gene Kelly in the classic film Singin' in the Rain.

Abdul began taking dance lessons at an early age in ballet, Jazz, and Tap. She attended Van Nuys High School, where she was a cheerleader and an honor student. At 15, she received a scholarship to a dance camp near Palm Springs, and in 1980 appeared in a low-budget Independent musical film, Junior High School.

Paula Abdul studied broadcasting at the California State University at Northridge. During her freshman year, she was selected from a pool of 700 candidates for the cheerleading squad of the Los Angeles Lakers NBA basketball team—the famed Laker Girls. Within a year, she became head choreographer.

Abdul was married to Emilio Estevez from 1992 to 1994. She married clothing designer Brad Beckerman in 1996 at the New England Carousel Museum in Bristol, Connecticut. They divorced in 1998, citing irreconcilable differences.

On Valentine's Day 2006, Abdul appeared on Dr. Phil as part of a prime time special on love and relationships. She was set up on two dates, and Phil McGraw gave her advice.


Paula Abdul is an American singer, choreographer, songwriter, dancer, and television personality. She began her career as a cheerleader for the Los Angeles Lakers at the age of 18 before rising to prominence in the 1980s as a highly sought-after choreographer at the height of the music video era. Abdul later scored a string of pop music hits in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Her six number one singles on the Billboard Hot 100 tie her with Diana Ross for sixth among the female solo performers who have topped the chart. She won a Grammy for "Best Music Video – Short Form" for "Opposites Attract" and twice won the "Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Choreography".

After her initial period of success, Abdul suffered a series of setbacks in her professional and personal life. She saw renewed fame and success as an original judge on American Idol in the 2000s, which she left after the eighth season. She went on to star on CBS' short-lived television series Live to Dance, which lasted one season in 2011, and was subsequently a judge on the first season of the American version of The X Factor along with her former American Idol co-judge Simon Cowell, the creator and producer of the show. She was also a guest judge on the All-Stars edition of Dancing with the Stars in 2012 and the tenth season of So You Think You Can Dance in 2013, and more recently has become a permanent judge for the Australian version of the show for its 2014 revival.


On December 20, 2004, Abdul was driving her Mercedes on a Los Angeles-area freeway when she changed lanes and hit another vehicle. The driver and passenger snapped a photograph with a cell phone camera and wrote down the license plate number of the car, which was traced to Abdul. On March 24, 2005, Abdul was fined $900 and given 24 months of informal probation after pleading no contest to misdemeanor hit-and-run driving in Los Angeles. In addition to the fines, she was ordered to pay $775 for damage to the other car.

On April 4, 2006, Abdul filed a report at a Hollywood police station claiming she had been a victim of battery at a private party at about 1 a.m. April 2, according to L.A.P.D. spokesman police Lt. Paul Vernon. "According to Abdul, the man at the party argued with her, grabbed her by the arm and threw her against a wall," Vernon said. "She said she had sustained a concussion and spinal injuries."

In April 2005, Abdul revealed that she suffers from a neurological disorder called Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy that causes chronic pain.

Paula Abdul is a dog lover who raised awareness about National Guide Dog Month in May 2009, and she teamed up with Dick Van Patten to help people with blindness to have more independence through the help of guide dogs. She does not wear real fur.