One-time movie pin-up Kelly LeBrock retreated to Santa Barbara, California after her 10-year marriage to Steven Seagal fell apart in the mid-1990s and has lived like a hermit ever since.

The forgotten model-turned-actress, who starred in cult 1980s films Weird Science and The Woman in Red, has been out of the spotlight for almost two decades but now she's ready for her close-up again as she prepares to promote an upcoming autobiography.

Now 53, she tells Britain's Daily Mail, "When I split with Steven, the divorce was very ugly, and details of the case were on the evening news. I didn't want my kids seeing it, so I simply got rid of the Tv. I moved my kids out of L.A. so they could grow up with real people - the kids of gas pump attendants, plumbers and real family people."

LeBrock, who had three kids with the action star, fled Hollywood and set up home in Santa Barbara.

She adds, "I became a hermit. I had absolutely no self-esteem. I hated myself... I feared everything and didn't want to leave the house."

But she quickly learned to make the most of her new life away from the cameras and started becoming self-sufficient.

She explains, "I grow all my veggies and make my own cheese and yogurt. It's bloody exhausting! To work the land full time keeps me so fit that I haven't worked out in seven years."