Las Vegas Weekly

March 20, 2009 · 7:06 AM

Photo Gallery: Joan and Jackie Collins aren’t feuding — they’re spilling secrets

By Robin Leach

Sisters Jackie Collins and Joan Collins.

Photo: TVT

It’s been a double super-success story over the years for two high-profile sisters. Actress Joan Collins starred in movies, TV series and stage shows. Author Jackie Collins hit the jackpot with an amazing 25 best-selling books and more than 400 million copies sold.

For as long as I can remember, the English ladies were said to be envious of each other’s achievements. British tabloid headlines even rumored of a bitter rivalry between the two. Those make-believe stories escalated out of control when Joan wrote 16 books that also were big successes.

It didn’t help that they were rarely photographed together -- and hardly ever seen together in public. That just fueled scandalous stories of a feud, but all were totally untrue. In fact, in the late 1970s, Joan even starred in the movie version of Jackie’s bestseller The Stud.

Joan and Jackie would laugh in private about it because they were the best of friends, and it was easy to see that when I hosted them at a dinner in Koi at Planet Hollywood.

Here are our candid dinner table photos that prove the point! These may be the first photos of them together in more than a decade that they’ve given approval for publication. They’re still fabulous and glamorous English beauties, and it’s difficult to believe that both are in their 70s. Nobody believes that age, and they are still going strong, working and playing as if they were in their 40s!

It was a reunion night, so I put away my trusty notebook and tape recorder. I’ve known the Collins sisters for more than 25 years and interviewed them many times on Entertainment Tonight and Lifestyles of the Rich & Famous.

They drove in from Hollywood in Joan’s antique Rolls Royce for a 24-hour Vegas visit, which included Cher’s show at Caesars Palace. They didn’t stay to meet her backstage afterward, as Joan and Cher are neighbors in the same L.A. building!

Joan and Jackie joined me at Koi with their brother Bill -- on his first-ever visit to Sin City -- and Joan’s fifth husband, Percy Gibson -- and I can reveal that OK Magazine won the rights for their upcoming renewal of vows to mark their seventh anniversary. Watch for the exclusive photos by my Fleet Street photographer friend Eddie Sanderson and the report in the magazine.

Photo: Judy Bryer

Percy Gibson, Joan Collins, Robin Leach and Jackie Collins enjoy dinner together at Koi inside Planet Hollywood.

Jackie told me her newest novel Married Lovers is another sales hit, and she has another book coming out this fall, Poor Little Bitch Girl, that features one of her favorite characters, Bobby Santangelo. She’s also begun writing a scandalous play with all of Hollywood’s deep dark secrets that she hopes will tour some U.S. cities as a stage show in advance of a Broadway run. Then she has another Lucky Santangelo book, Goddess of Vengeance, to write.

Joan gave me the details of a new TV project back in England, but I promised not to write about it yet. Queen Elizabeth II awarded Joan the Order of the British Empire in 1996. In her remarkable career, she has starred in more than 60 movies and 55 TV series and specials, plus 15 theatrical productions!

It was one of those rare, memorable nights when longtime Brit friends gossiped, laughed and caught up with one another’s news over champagne and … no, not caviar! Joan ate Kobe beef and mashed potatoes, and Jackie and I ate sushi.

The group caused quite a stir in the casino when they went off to play blackjack and roulette. Joan and Jackie even turned up for breakfast in Planet Dailies with my local friends Max and Judy Bryer. Joan and Jackie promised to return to Vegas for another visit this year together ,and Jackie says she’ll definitely be here again for the World Series of Poker!

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