Christy Carlson Romano says fellow child star Lindsay Lohan “has always been shady” as she addressed the actress once brutally insulting her at the Chateau Marmont in Los Angeles.
“I remember one time I was at the Chateau Marmont and I had seen her out in New York one time, it was like an awkward exchange of meeting one another,” the former Disney Channel star exclusively told Page Six at the second annual “Virtual Reali-Tea” 2026 Awards Tuesday.
“And then I was at the Cheateau and then she was kind of like glancing my way and she goes, ‘I guess they’re letting anyone in here,'” Carlson recalled on the carpet of the event, which was held at the Edison Ballroom and hosted by Danny Murphy and Evan Real.
“I got so much shade, but you know what, savage — points for being savage,” she joked.
The “Even Stevens” alum, 42, said that she and Lohan, 40, were “very much in the same era” of Disney stardom, and society pressured them as well as other young actresses to be competitive with one another.
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“I think everyone has grown into these very different lifestyles too, like, where Lindsay is, where Hilary [Duff] is, like, where I am, it’s all so weird,” Romano reflected, also pointing out that they’re all moms now.
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Romano’s new memoir, “Once Upon a Trainwreck: The Rise and Fall of a Child Star,” hit shelves Tuesday, and also addresses a separate shady moment with the star.
Romano explains that she attempted to bond with a then 17-year-old Lohan over her “Cadet Kelly” co-star Hilary Duff, not liking Lohan at the time.
“I walk over and ramble some lame, drunken bulls—t that sounds like I am some superfan,” she recalls. “Lindsay stares at me blankly for a second and smiles, but I can tell she’s annoyed by me. I have no clue what else to say. I’m so humiliated that I just walk back to my table and refill my drink. “
Romano writes that she was impressed at Lohan’s powerful energy, which she described as radiating darkness and danger.
“She’s unapologetic, and it seems so freeing,” she writes.
Romano is definitely candid about her child star experiences in her book, including also revealing that she first tried cocaine at Paris Hilton’s Halloween party and that she struggled with bulimia “just to feel something.”
Eventually, she said she had to leave Los Angeles after developing an unhealthy lifestyle of sleeping all day while partying all night.
“I can’t take the shallowness of Hollywood and clubs anymore,” she writes. “It’s going to kill me.”
The actress attended the award show, which was sponsored by Tri-State Cadillac, CoverGirl, Philo and Kahlúa, alongside stars from reality TV’s hottest shows.
Romano also recently spoke to Page Six Radio and revealed she was almost joined Bravo’s “Housewives” franchise.
“I was in the cast that was being pitched for the Real Housewives of Austin,” she said. “It was like, Loreal Sarkisian who’s the coach’s wife at UT and the girl who is the founder of Poppi, Allison Ellsworth, and I think it was a bunch of really great girls … Becca Tobin from “Glee.”
But she said the show was not picked up in favor of a show about Texas wives, who were also swingers. Bravo announced their news series “Secrets, Lies, Texas Wives,” set in Texas Hill Country, in May.
“We were really cooking for a minute and then it kind of just derailed,” Romano said.
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