Dannielynn Birkhead explores the late Anna Anna Nicole Smith’s past on 20/20

Dannielynn Birkhead was just five months old when her mother, the late Anna Nicole Smith, died of an accidental drug overdose. And now, 14 years later, the teenager is exploring her mother’s past with her father, Larry Birkhead, by her side for a new “20/20” special.

On Friday, before the 14th anniversary of her death, Dannielynn will visit “the most influential places in Anna Nicole’s life for the first time with her father,” including a trip to her orphanage in Mexia, Texas. According to a press release, they will “meet her high school friend and see the places she visited before they became famous.”

The trip also takes them to Los Angeles, where the two ‘different sentimental places’ will visit and Dannielynn’ will see for the first time some of Anna Nicole’s memorabilia from her life and career, hidden in a closet that follows her. death. ‘

A preview clip from the special version shows Larry digging into the closet and pulling out a number of items from Anna’s past, including a wedding dress, old clothes she wore on dates with him, and a photo album.

“Dannielynn has no idea she’s going to see these things. It’s all a surprise,” Larry says in the footage. “She had a big heart like her mother had, and I think she can appreciate these things.”

“These are things I’ve had for you for a long time,” he says as she responds in shock.

“Anna should be remembered as this larger than life figure who was really a caring, caring person, a beautiful lady who loved her fans and loved her family,” he adds in the footage.

A trailer for the special also shows one of Anna’s childhood friends telling Dannielynn that she looks “just like her” mother.

“Dannielynn is a teenager now and she does not really know many things about her mother,” Larry says in the footage. ‘As a father who has a child whose mother has passed away, I thought, why should I not go back to Anna’s beginnings. To be honest, I did not know much about Anna, her early years. ‘

“To this day, Howard has been supportive,” Birkhead said. ‘Almost [as if] the same loyalty he had to Anna now passed on to me and Dannielynn. ‘

“If you’re talking about Anna Nicole and you’re talking about where she’s coming from … you’re talking about court battles,” he told ABC News. “In between, there were a lot of happy moments for her. There were a lot of highs before there were a lot of lows.”

According to ABC, the special will also report on ‘the rift between who Anna Nicole was in the spotlight and who she was in private as Vickie Lynn Smith, her rise to fame, life in the spotlight, her tragic death in Florida and the unanswered questions about her death. ‘

Anna Nicole died in 2007 at the age of 39 after an accidental overdose of drugs. After a court battle over custody of Dannielynn, Larry did a good job of keeping his daughter’s life private – he occasionally interviewed and performed annually in the Kentucky Derby.

The “20/20” special broadcast will be broadcast on ABC on Friday night.