Victoria Gotti: Why I Wanted to Tell My Life Story in 'Victoria Gotti: My Father's Daughter'
By: Victoria Gotti
I really wanted to do this Lifetime project to dispel some of the misconceptions about myself, my father and my family. As someone who has worked on both sides of the camera, I know it can be harrowing to say the least. You might know the professional procedures and protocols, but you also know there are SO many lies and stories made up for shock value.
Mostly I felt for the sake of my sons - who are now grown men - it was time they actually saw and absorbed what my life was, and how it still is. As for my relationship with my father, it was complex, and oh so complicated. He was a man I loved, adored and idolized. Yet there was so little I really knew about him.
My mother — a wonderfully strong woman — practically raised us by herself because dad was away in prison on and off throughout my childhood. Both kept us super sheltered and did their absolute best to keep me and my siblings away from any of the mob drama.
It wasn't until I was well into my teens that I learned what most of the world already knew about my own father. This really upset me. I was determined to get to know him better—peeling away one layer at a time if need be. But when I got older, the unselfish side of me really wanted my children to know the truth—warts and all—about who they are and where they came from. They grew up so much easier (at least in the early years of their lives) than I did. Yet no amount of storytelling or questions from three inquisitive young men really filled the void; the answers they were really seeking were so hard to explain.
When I wrote my book, "This Family of Mine," they definitely got the gist of my life and their lineage. But it wasn't enough. There were still questions, suspicions and misunderstanding about a life they lived, and are still living, as opposed to the one they were reading about in the daily newspapers.
I felt it was time to tell my story. MY way! Not taken from the headlines or the gossip tabloid magazines. It was time for my kids to learn who their grandfather was and who their mother really is.