INTERVIEW Farrah Abraham talks Sophia, misconceptions, her new restaurant and that Christian parenting book

Many of us have followed Farrah Abraham’s story with great interest for the past four years. From plastic surgeries to business pursuits to (of course) the infamous sex tape, there has been plenty to keep up with since she first appeared on 16 & Pregnant. Still, she continues to surprise — like today when I spoke with Farrah for the first time and found her to be quite the engaging conversationalist!

During our lengthy phone discussion, Farrah updated me on life, love and her new business ventures. Here are some of the highlights…

Keeping up with Derek’s family: I’m always in communication with Derek’s dad. He has always been supportive and helpful with Sophia. Even when we were in Nebraska [last week], he came up and we hung out… He is really just one of those people who make my life today and makes Sophia’s life and I see the before and the after of Derek, so it’s like I’m just missing the middle piece.

Her relationship with her own parents: I saw my dad last night when he came to get me from the airport… He doesn’t live with me anymore. My parents are divorced and they are moving on with their own lives, dating other people and so on. When I was back at home, I stayed with my mom. I just feel like our relationships are where they need to be. I did a lot of work in therapy with them. Now it is what it is and I don’t think there is really any more work to be done there.

What she learned from Couples Therapy: Dr. Jenn Berman was adamant about helping me grow as a person and knowing that, when you’re trying so hard, there’s no reason to try further… For those who don’t really know my family, I know and I understand why they think that I may be the issue and whatnot. But, I feel it’s my parents and my part to collaborate… If somebody doesn’t really know how to be a family, I can’t really fix that.

Applying Dr. Jenn’s advice to dating: I go in there with the best in mind and I really give them a lot of chances. It got to the point where it was pretty embarrassing when I was on Couples Therapy and I got ditched and somebody was acting crazy and wasn’t in contact with me and was just acting like a drama queen… [Now] I have a private matchmaker who screens these people, but like there’s nothing really secure yet. There’s nothing where I’m like, “This is 100% what I want and I trust them.”

Opening a restaurant in Austin: It’s my own concept. It’s about having fresh and frozen cuisines and foods at this restaurant. It’s very family friendly… It’s set to be open by October. I was hoping it was sooner, but this is ground-up, from scratch construction… I hope to open up a lot more of these and hopefully franchise this and move onto other endeavors and restaurants.

Other business ventures: I’m just continuing working on more books, like going into paranormal… I’m truly growing myself as an author. I want to be very good at my imagination and then fiction writing just something I’m pretty proud of now, looking back at Celebrity Sex Tape… Also the Farrah Abraham pleasure products with Topco and that’s going to be huge. I can’t even tell you, but this is so weird for me to be so proud of a sex toy. I have to say I’m pretty impressed with the quality and how great it looks. I’ve bought a lot of sex toys in my day and checked it out and they never looked so professional and so quality.

Concerns for people using the toys: It’s going to sound weird, but the only thing for me to be uncomfortable about is when men are going to get these sex toys and are going to be like, “Oh, I’m making my own sex tape with Farrah.”

Misconceptions about her: I don’t know how people get these confused: I am a very good mom and I take care of my daughter. I feel if somebody were to compare me or judge me as a mom on a day-to-day, they probably would rate me as a 10 out of 10. [Another misconception is] me being mean to my parents… I really feel that I’m not mean to my parents. I give them the benefit of the doubt. I definitely just forgive and let go of things and just move on, so I am a great daughter as well.

What Sophia is up to: Sophia is very progressive in her math and her reading and she likes pony rides and going to the farmer’s markets. She still loves to sleep with me, so I still take advantage of that because she’s super cute even though she has her own room. She’s off her pacifier — thank God that’s done! She goes to school full-time and is starting kindergarten this fall, which I’m super excited about because I remember my first day of kindergarten… I don’t really think that she’s so excited about that because she’s like, ‘I don’t want to switch schools!’ Sophia made so many friends and there are a lot of genuine, good people to influence her life and her teachers are very good.

How faith and her Christian parenting book: I have to say faith is a big part of my life. I’m not perfect, I think that’s just life. There’s really no perfect Christian. I go to church as often as possible and I have great Christian friends — and those aren’t the ones who say they’re Christian and then act like other… My parents didn’t really help me get any closer to God, it was my own choice and I just see a lot of good things happening and I only want good things for everybody else. So if I could say that through a type of Christian parenting book, I think that’s something that wouldn’t hurt them, it would help them and their children. It would give them a kind of support and guide to use throughout their journey in life together and I would just be happy to share that.

To put to rest one of the top Google questions, what is Farrah’s ethnicity: I am Syrian, Italian, Sicilian and Danish… Syrian and Italian on my dad’s side and on my mom’s it’s Sicilian and Danish.

Look for more from our interview with Farrah — including her thoughts on Catelynn Lowell’s pregnancy and her erotic novel — in the near future!