Inside the life of Stormy Daniels: Made famous for her tryst with Donald Trump

We travelled a long way to meet Stormy Daniels, so I had plenty of time to think about what to expect.

One thing was apparent. 

An adult entertainer who had decided to take on the President of the United States in a very public way meant she had to be one tough cookie. 

Delve into her childhood and it’s clear she has been tough for a very long time. 

Stephanie Clifford, as she was then, always understood poverty. 

And she claims her divorced parents had too many distractions to give her their undivided attention. 

She was a little girl who found out the hard way that she was considered “trash”. And then repeatedly raped at nine years of age.

I could understand why at 17 she discarded Stephanie to become Stormy, and how Cinnamons, the local strip bar, would become a happy place. 

It’s where her colleagues, much older strippers, would give her the support and protection that seemed to be so lacking in her young life.

Stormy is a survivor whom I figure doesn’t trust too many people. And that would probably include me.

We arrived in the beautiful state of Wyoming and drove some hours to a secluded ranch.

Stormy is a competitive equestrian. Her coach is Australian she tells me.

Horses are her friends. Jade, her first horse saved her, she says, from the inevitable neighbourhood life cycle - the one that saw girls become teenage mums. 

She knew she wouldn’t be able to ride Jade if she was pregnant. So Jade kept her out of trouble.

But Stormy’s other world is porn. And it speaks another language. Those on the outside, Stormy later tells me, are called “civilians”.  

So here I was. In my jeans and boots, blonde television bob and nice white jacket. A civilian. 

All fine except, I later learn, to Stormy’s disappointment I was a woman. 

Stormy had hoped I’d be a man. 

I wasn’t offended. Of course she’d prefer I was male. 

Men are her people. 

She is extremely confident and comfortable with men. She can read them like a book and no doubt play them like a fiddle.

When we meet, Stormy is polite. 

A striking 39-year-old who tells me, among many other unimportant things while we make small talk, that she prefers to do her own make up, and then compliments me on my own homespun job.

We get along.

Lights and cameras … and I thought I might encounter a bit of the showgirl persona, but instead I sense some nerves. 

Maybe she was wondering whether I came with a bias. Did I disapprove? Would I judge? 

Nope. I came here fascinated.

Stormy talks with great ease about Donald Trump, the man whom she claims called her “honeybunch”.

She is candid and funny and wicked.

If there’s a barrier it’s Stormy - who is she, and what makes her tick. 

She’s feisty, but is she fragile. How impenetrable are those walls she’s built up around her. 

It’s not easy but yes, she admits, she sometimes gets hurt and confused. Much has changed.

Her shows are now filled with women, gay couples and minority groups, many of whom swamp her with their own stories of abuse and struggles.

Gone are the white 45 to 65 year old upper class conservative men who used to fill the strip clubs, before her showdown with Trump.

There are now expectations by others. For some she has become a bit of a folk hero and she’s uncomfortable with that. 

And she has lost friends who’ve completely wiped her. They no longer speak to her.

She didn’t do this seeking attention she says, but she’s getting it, and without doubt Stormy Daniels knows that this is her moment. 

For how long, who knows.

She’s not to be messed with, she says… and there’s more to come.

Maybe. 

But just in case, I dare not look away.

To watch ‘Stormy’ in full, and for more of 60 Minutes, head to the official website: https://www.9now.com.au/60-minutes/2018/extras