‘The Real Bling Ring: Hollywood Heist’: Where Is Tess Taylor Today?

The new Netflix documentary The Real Bling Ring: Hollywood Heist premiered on Sept. 21, 2022, and is a deep dive into the teenage crime spree that rocked Hollywood in the aughts. A group of teens and young adults, later nicknamed the Bling Ring, targeted A-list celebrities of the time like Paris Hilton and Lindsay Lohan. Tess Taylor was never charged with any crimes, but she was best friends with Alexis Neiers, one of the main players of the group. However, she doesn’t participate in the recent documentary. So, where is Tess Taylor today?

The Bling Ring’s Tess Taylor lived with Alexis Neiers during some of her teen years

Tess and Alexis Neiers met when they were toddlers and developed a close friendship over the years. As a teenager, Tess told Alexis about the problems erupting in her home life and asked Alexis if she could live with her. Alexis’ mom, Andrea Arlington-Dunne, and Alexis’ sister, Gabbie, agreed and allowed Tess to move into their home. In The Real Bling Ring: Hollywood Heist, Andrea says that Tess and the Neiers family became so close that Tess even called Andrea “mom.”

Alexis explains in the documentary that she and Tess began overusing drugs and alcohol, which led to Andrea telling them they had to find work. Andrea says the teens came up with the idea of doing risque modeling work on their own, while Alexis says that Neiers pushed them into it.

Tess wanted to follow in her foster mom’s footsteps. Andrea posed for Playboy in her previous years, and Tess became one of Playboy’s Cyber Girls in 2001.

Tess Taylor was featured on the E! reality television show ‘Pretty Wild’

During the time the Bling Ring robberies took place, Tess lived with Alexis. Although, she never took part in any of the robberies. Nick Prugo, another member of the Bling Ring, gave some items he stole from celebrities to Alexis, Tess, and Gabbie. Alexis claims in the documentary that she believed Nick was a “celebrity stylist.” Both Nick and Tess maintain that Alexis absolutely knew the items were stolen. They state that they only claimed Nick was a stylist to Alexis and Gabbie’s mom, Andrea.

When the Neiers family snagged their own reality TV show called Pretty Wild, Tess was featured along with Alexis and Gabbie. The series only lasted one season. However, filming occurred the same time as burglaries and caught the infamous phone call between Alexis and Nancy Jo Sales. Sales wrote the profile piece in Vanity Fair about the Bling Ring, and Alexis went into hysterics when she read it. The scene shows Tess trying to support her friend.

Where is Tess Taylor today?

Tess lives a much different life in 2022. Shortly after the downfall of Tess’ friends in the Bling Ring, police arrested Tess and charged with felony possession of a controlled substance in January of 2012. The following month, Tess entered a rehabilitation center. Once she completed the program, she moved to Wisconsin. She’s remained sober ever since.

Tess now lives with her partner and their two daughters. The couple welcomed their first daughter named River in 2017, followed by a second daughter in 2020 named Meadow. For those interested in seeing what Tess’ life is like today, you can find her on Instagram under the username @TessAmberrr.