Linda Evans Reflects on Her 'Dynasty' Days

Sept. 14, 2009— -- Linda Evans traded in her sequins and shoulder pads for 70 acres of wilderness in Washington state, and the former "Dynasty" star says she has never been happier.

Evans, 66, played iconic trophy wife Krystle Carrington in the hit series that had more than 250 million viewers worldwide. She said acting in the show was "every woman's dream."

"It gave people an insight into what life could be like if they had everything they wanted," Evans said of ABC's prime time soap opera that aired from 1981 to 1989. "And yet showed that even if you are rich doesn't mean that you are happy, because there was a lot of drama."

But Evans decided to escape Hollywood for the woods of Rainier, Wash.

"The pressure [was] too big," Evans said. "I moved up here and within the first year I gained 25 pounds. It was so much fun not to put on makeup and just to be a regular person."

Although she escaped to the wilderness, her "Dynasty" days are never far away. Her closet still holds dozens of Nolan Miller gowns -- the dresses that were just as popular as the drama-filled show.

"There were days my shoulder pads were so big and Joan's were so big we couldn't walk through a door," Evans said, referring to her on-screen nemesis, Joan Collins.

After the show, Collins and Evans toured together while starring in the play "Legends," but the two ended up fighting.

"We had some trying times during the play," Evans said. "I don't know exactly what happened. I know that circumstances played out to where there was a lot of tension. There was more drama backstage than there was on stage."

Evan's own love life has, at times, resembled a soap opera with two failed marriages and a passionate love affair with new-age musician Yanni.