Hilton, we have a problem

She was launched into stardom with all the glitz and glamour of one of her family's hotels, but right now Paris Hilton's image is looking anything but five-star. A shocking run of bad press, bad luck and just bad thinking on her part has left Paris at an all-time low. Find out why

Still upset after the break-up of her engagement to Greek shipping heir Paris Latsis, Hilton has poured herself into her work, only to see it and her reputation shot apart in an explosion of sleaze, spin and gossip.

The scandals so far?

  • The all-too public attack by anti-fur campaigners with a flour bomb as she paraded in a pelt for London Fashion week
  • Being slapped with a restraining order after harassing LA events planner Brian Quintana with 'racial slurs and threatening phone calls'
  • All-too public feuds with the likes of Mischa Barton, Mary-Kate Olsen and former best friend Nicole Richie
  • Revelations that Paris may have been high on 'mind-altering substances' when she crashed her 450,000 dollar Mercedes into a truck
  • Being criticised by a furious Elton John for not donating to the Aids Foundation fund at his post-Oscar party
  • New claims by aging Hollywood actor Tom Sizemore than he had sex with Paris in his gym

'Friends she once trusted are turning their back on her'
'Paris has never been so low,' says a source close to the star. 'It used to be that everything she touched turned to gold - but now it's the exact opposite of that. She feels shell-shocked to the point where she's wondering how she's ever going to claw her way out of all this mess.

'Even during the whole sex tape thing, it was never this bad. She feels everyone is out to get her. Friends she once trusted are turning their back on her and she doesn't know which way to turn next.'

Even now friends say she is struggling to maintain her resolve against her critics, unable to understand why the tide has turned against her. 'I'm a good person,' she said recently. 'I don't do anything mean to anyone. I'm just having fun and I'm good to my friends and that's it.'

Paris's situation has not been helped by her discomfort at having her parents help her out in her hour of need. 'Paris is proud of the fact that she has made it alone,' adds another friend to the troubled Hilton. 'She has had an amazing start in life but mostly she has got where she is by being a shrewd businesswoman and by being media savvy.'

Finding solace in the simple life?

All may not be lost for our Paris though. It seems the 25-year-old has found a shoulder to cry on in the unlikely form of her old nemesis, Nicole Richie. The pair have been brought back together for a fourth season of their hit reality show The Simple Life.

'A while ago everything was on the slide for Nicole and now the tables are turned,' adds an insider on the show. `Nicole was getting all the abuse about her weight, she had lost her fiance (Adam Goldstein, aka DJ AM) and was struggling with her career.

'Now it's Nicole who's looking great, she has her man and her career back, but not once has she rubbed that in with Paris' says the source. 'I think Paris respected that and realises Nicole of all people is the one who can really understand what she's going through.'

The question on everyone's lips now is does Paris Hilton have the ability and talent to reinvent herself and regain favour? Without a doubt, the dizzy blonde heiress image is wearing thin, and she is going to have to pull some pretty impressive stunts out of her Chloe Paddington Padlock bag to survive this stint, and restore her public image.