Willits finds 'The One'

Back - Index - Submissions - - What is RSS? Date: Jun 21, 2000 Source: The South Johnson County Sun (Kansas City Star) Submitted By: Anne B Northwest grad marries Backstreet Boy Jun 21 2000 12:00AM By Kate Hettinger Sun Staff Writer A Shawnee Mission Northwest graduate became an unofficial Backstreet Boy Saturday. Kristin Willits, 29, married Backstreet Boy Kevin Richardson, 29, in a private ceremoney, said her father, local chiropractor John Willits. The Backstreet Boys have been called the biggest pop music group in the world. Their first album, "Backstreet Boys," has sold more than 28 million copies worldwide. Their follow-up, "Millennium," sold 1.1 million copies in the first week. The Boys have been nominated for a "Best New Artists" Grammy, and Richardson was named one of People magazine's 50 Most Beautiful People in 1999. The news of the marriage will likely make Willits a household name, but her own accomplishments prove she has every right to her own fame. Willits just finished filming "Metal Gold," a movie starring Jennifer Aniston and Mark Wahlberg, John Willits said. Her interest in the entertainment business started long before that. Willits graduated from Northwest in 1988. While in high school, she was a member of the drill team, cheerleading squad and gymnastics team. "She was fun and funny," said gymnastics coach Janice Miller. "Kristin was real vivacious in high school." Kim Watts, who was co-captian of the team with Willits, said they spent a lot of time together. "We were in every activity under the sun in high school," she said. "She was always a captain, a leader, a main choreographer. Watts recalled Willits being fascinated with Madonna. "She totally idolized Madonna," Watts said. "She dressed like her, looked like her." But Willits is not remembered as the "Material Girl" Madonna sang about. "She was real bubbly and friendly to everybody," Watts said. "She didn't care who you were. She was very popular, yet never stuck up." While in high school, Willits worked at Worlds of Fun as a dancer and singer in the variety shows, John Willits said. Willits attended the University of Kansas for one semester before caling her father and telling him she wanted to go to Oklahoma City University to study dance. "That started her career," John Willits said. Willits worked at Busch Gardens in Williamsburg, Va., during the summers she was in college. After that she worked on a Royal Odyssey cruise ship for a year. Willits eventually moved to Orlando to work at Walt Disney World in the Beauty and the Best attraction. That was where she met Richardson. "We've known him the whole time," her brother Brad Willits said. They began a relationship, dating on and off for about seven or eight years, John Willits said. During this time, Willits auditioned for and was accepted to spend a year as a Radio City Music Hall Rockette in New York. She toured with the Will Rogers Rollies company across the United States and was on Broadway in "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum," with Nathan Lane, Whoopi Goldberg and David Alan Grier. After her time on stage, Willits made the transition to television acting on the Comedy Central show "Viva Variety." Willits was also one of three dancers in Cher's "Believe" tour. The movie she just finished filiming is tentatively set to be released in October. Kim Watts was not surprised Willits has added Rockette, professional dancer and actress to her resume after her humble beginnings in neighborhood yards. "She just has raw talent," Watts said. "I'm not surprised she's made it this far on her own." Throughout this time, Richardson was also a rising star. John Willits said he found out after the Kansas City Backstreet Boys concert this past fall the Richardson wanted to marry Kristin. "He turned to me and said, 'May I speak to you privately?" John Willits recalled. "'I'd like to ask your daughter's hand in marriage.' I said that would be fine. That was the first time in my history, in my family, I found out first what was happening. I thanked him for that." John Willits said his daughter and Richardson were in Kansas City for Christmas. Kristin has been back since, though the last visit was at least two months ago, John Willits said. "She's been real tied up with this movie and hasn't been back lately," he said. "She comes in and is gone again. And she travels a lot." John Willits said he was very proud of his daughter because she's proven hard work pays off. "She's done it all on her own," John Willits said. "She's accomplished it by herself one step at a time." Comment on this item. Recent Comments Submitted by: top seo guys Dxd9lB Thank you ever so for you blog post.Really thank you! Really Cool. Comment on this item. Next Item: Coming to terms/Tragedy touches Backstreet Boy Prev Item: Backstreet's Kevin Richardson Gets Hitched