Socialite Paris Hilton said today that being jailed was a "traumatic experience" which saw her curled up in the foetal position crying hysterically.
But the 26-year-old told CNN's Larry King that she believed God made "everything happen for a reason" and that her time behind bars had changed her.
The hotel heiress said she wanted to cut down on her "superficial" life of partying and use her fame to create a halfway house for her fellow inmates and to support children's, breast cancer and multiple sclerosis charities.
Hilton was released from her Californian prison cell on Tuesday after serving 23 days of a 45-day sentence for a probation violation.
A subdued Hilton, who was dressed in white lace and spoke softly during the interview, said: "It was a very traumatic experience, but I feel like God does make everything happen for a reason. And it gave me a time-out in life just to really find out what was important and what I want to do and find out who I am.
"I have a new outlook on life.
"The beginning was really hard, really hard for me, it's a bit of a blur it was so traumatic. "But after being there for a while I had to accept I could either make the best of it or the worst of it, so I lived by the motto, 'Don't serve the time, let the time serve you'."
Hilton told King that being strip-searched was "the most humiliating experience of my life" and said her time inside was a "new beginning" for her.
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Paris Hilton speaks to CNN's Larry King: Now she plans to use her 'superficial' fame to help others
"It was a journey to figure out myself and who I am and what I want to do. There's so much more to me than what people think," she said. And she vowed partying would no longer be the "mainstay" of her life.
Hilton said all the sheriffs were "very professional" and treated her "like any other inmate, no better, no worse".
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Paris appeared subdued and said her time in jail was a 'horrible experience'
She described her 8ft by 12ft cell, in which she spent 23 hours a day in an orange jumpsuit, as a small room with metal bunk beds, a toilet next to the bed connected to the sink, and a small desk.
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A glamorous looking Paris described her release day as 'one of the happiest days of my life'
She said she "sat in bed reading all these letters" from fans and had no idea she had so much support.
Hilton vowed she would never drink and drive again.
"I will never make that mistake again. I take full responsibility," she said. Asked if she thought she had got a raw deal, Hilton said: "Yes, I do."
But she added: "Even though I hated it, I'm glad it happened in a way. It changed my life forever. I feel stronger than ever."
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Paris waves to well-wishers as she leaves CNN's studio in Los Angeles
She also defended Sheriff Lee Baca's decision to release her with an electronic ankle tag. She said she was suffering from claustrophobia at the time and when she was returned to court in handcuffs the following day it was "one of the most terrifying days" of her life.
Asked if she had "danced" through her time in jail, she said: "What do you mean by that? I was locked in a cell for three-and-a-half weeks. It was a horrible experience. I did my time."
In her first broadcast interview since being released, she said she just wanted to let people know what she went through and that she had never expected that she would be sentenced to jail.
Hilton said when she was released it was "one of the happiest days of my life". "It's hard to even describe," she said.
"It was so exciting. It was just pandemonium, and then as soon as I saw my mum I just ran to her to go give her a hug."
Hilton, who has said she had found God, paused when asked what her favourite bible passage was before she said: "Mmm... I don't have a favourite part."
The hotel heiress was released from jail after a bizarre, three-week stay in which she was briefly released to her Hollywood Hills home, then sent screaming and crying back to a county prison.
The Simple Life star walked out of the all-women's jail in Lynwood to a horde of cameras and reporters just after midnight local time. She was taken to her grandparents' Holmby Hills mansion where she prepared for the interview.
The celebrity socialite's path to jail began on September 7, when she failed a sobriety test after police saw her weaving down a street in her Mercedes-Benz.
Paris gave her first post-jail interview to celebrity magazine People
Hilton, who said she was hungry and on the way to get a hamburger when she was let out, pleaded no contest to alcohol-related reckless driving and was sentenced to probation for three years.
In the months that followed she was stopped twice by officers who discovered her driving on a suspended licence. The second stop saw her sent to court and then jail.
In an exclusive interview with US showbiz magazine People, due out on Friday, Hilton says she was "in the foetal position, basically in hysterics" during her first few days behind bars. "Thank God I'm free!" she tells the magazine.
"I was basically in the foetal position, basically in hysterics. HAH
"All of the inmates were very supportive. There were girls next to me. We could talk through the vents and they were just really sweet."
Asked about her release, she says: "Just being able to hug my mum felt so great, and I really needed it 'cause I haven't had a hug in a long time."
Changed Paris tells US chat show host of prison 'trauma' | the Daily Mail
, what the fuck.
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