10 Former Baywatch Stars: Then And Now
James Craig Quick Links
Watching a television show about lifeguards trying to save people in the daily grind doesn't seem like the best show concept to ever hit the small screen. In fact, NBC cancelled the show one year into its existence. But that didn’t stop Hasselhoff and company. Back in the 1980s and 1990s, Baywatch also managed to launch numerous pretty faces, capitalizing on sex and beauty. The show, for good reason, has been minimized to slow motion images of medically-enhanced women jogging on the beach in their bikinis with their one piece bathing suits. And rightfully, critics have a lot to laugh about when it comes to the quality of entertainment that Baywatch provided. But make no mistake about it, Baywatch was a successful show that made a lot of money. Baywatch was also a launchpad for numerous beauties as they went on to have solid careers due in part because of their exposure on Baywatch.
Was it the quality of the show? Was it the beautiful women? Was it the Germans who love David Hasselhoff? Who really knows why the show was as successful as it was (pretty much came down to gorgeous women who had appeared in Playboy) but years later we look back on the successful series and we wonder what has happened to those actors and actresses today. They spent the afternoons glistening in the sun with their beautiful sculpted bodies running along the beach; now a quarter century later, how have they fared over time?
One wonders how the Baywatch beauties have aged. Some have made it through without time sapping away their beauty while others has been cruelly whittled down and look very different today. Some have bodies that still kill but faces that just don’t match up anymore. We’re going to be picky here because we can.
10. Carmen Electra
Carmen Electra has maintained a good looking figure, however, the work done on her face is noticeable. Combine that with her love of tanning beds and that could be a recipe for disaster in the beauty department. Right now, she looks pretty good. But just wait a few more years until you see the end result. In the past, Electra found her way to the “wedding dress” wearing (and sudden North Korean convert) Dennis Rodman. She also was married to Jane’s Addiction and former Red Hot Chili Peppers guitar player Dave Navarro. But the reality of Electra was that she was brought on when Pamela Anderson booked and became the Playboy replacement to draw in some gawkers. Electra successfully has made appearances here and there in spoof films but her best days are well behind her. End of story.
9. Gena Lee Nolin
Gena Lee Nolin played the “bad girl” character Neely Capshaw from 1995-1999. Some may be asking, “Isn’t Gena Lee Nolin insanely beautiful and hot?” Well, yes and no. Nolin was a solid 10 back in the Baywatch days. There is no doubting this woman’s figure and beauty which were both off the charts. However, as time marched on, Nolin’s face has increasingly been pulled back more and more. She is so intent on preventing wrinkles on her face, that she has turned her skin into stretched plastic. It is not pretty. Although her figure can still make any man weep, the face pulling has got to stop. Nolin used her Baywatch stardom to pose for Playboy and land a few more shows.
8. Brande Roderick
A Baywatch Hawaii alum, Roderick only lasted a year on the two-year show. Her run was short and uneventful. Roderick is an absolute beauty who, of course, appeared in Playboy just prior to slapping on the one-piece bathing suit. Roderick played Leigh Dyer but our guess is no one really cares. The fact of the matter is, everyone was pretty much staring at her incredible body. Now, this 10 has a body that kills to this very day! Her fitness is absolutely perfect. However, her face has aged far more than her figure. One would think Roderick was reaching 50 as her face, too, looks pulled and aged. The youth has been sucked away from her face as sun and time have not been kind. But we definitely will never take anything away from her body, which for any age is kick-ass. We may be picky here with Roderick, but her face is aging much quicker than her banging body.
7. Donna D’Errico
Donna D’Errico played Donna Marco from 1996-1998. Naturally, D’Errico posed for Playboy just prior to getting her gig on Baywatch. D’Errico is another perfect 10 that appeared on Baywatch so our expectations were high for her and how she aged. Things were going well until in 2011 when D’Errico unexplainably traveled to Turkey in search of the frozen remains of Noah’s Ark (true story). She announced the trip at the same time she said she was preparing a cooking show (also true and a head scratcher). When D’Errico came back, it looked like Turkey had chewed her up and spit back out a much different looking person. Gone was the beauty we remembered and something else came back in her place. She apparently had suffered a “major fall” near the end of her journey (probably because she was in freakin’ Turkey looking for frozen remains of Noah’s Ark!).
6. David Hasselhoff
“The Hoff” is not getting away scot-free here. Sure, he is getting up there in age but we’re not just going to pick on the ladies. Hasselhoff for the most part has done his fair share to cosmetically keep his appearance intact. He also has stayed in relatively good shape. But the young Hasselhoff was a force to be reckoned with while the older version was lying half-naked on the floor embarrassingly taping himself drunk. He looks more like Seth Rogen now than the broad chiseled stud who ran the group of Playmates, oops, I mean lifeguards, on the beach over two decades ago. Hoff is still beloved in Germany and his Baywatch money will last him multiple lifetimes, but the fact of the matter is, drunk, sun-drenched, angry and stupid don’t make for a good YouTube video.
5. Lisa Stahl
Lisa Stahl was a regular cast member on Baywatch, playing Destiny Desimone. She also was lucky enough to be included on the epic failure, Baywatch Nights (because things weren’t hot enough during the days). Stahl was sexy and back in the 1980s and 1990s had appearances on numerous television shows including Married With Children, NYBD Blue and Murphy Brown. Then came Baywatch and all of its wonder. Her post-Baywatch career has been stagnate at best. Stahl is a photographer these days and does some high-end snap shot work for celebrities. She isn’t a spring chicken anymore, coming in at 50. She also hasn’t maintained her beautiful blonde appearance from long ago. Call this a preference, but we think Stahl could have done more to maintain her appearance being that she was a former model/actress.
4. Erika Eleniak
Erika Eleniak was another blonde beauty who was smoking hot during her time on Baywatch. She was a young superstar with amazing looks that could kill. Dressed in a bikini for the show, Eleniak was lethal. That’s why it was so surprising to see Eleniak, years later, appearing on a show entitled Celebrity Fit Club because she had gained quite a bit of weight. Eleniak was one of the Baywatch originals. She appeared on the show from 1989-1992 as Shauni McClain. Eleniak is another Baywatch beauty to have appeared in Playboy (It’s almost like Hasselhoff and the producers were doing casting from the magazines in their bathrooms) and she remained relevant in acting and modeling through the early 2000s. But work dried up by 2010 and Eleniak went from a pretty face to a face that ate quite a bit. The lack of work helped contribute to her subsequent weight gain.
3. Nicole Eggert
Nicole Eggert was a young beauty looking as though she was headed toward A-list infamy when she ran smack dab into Corey Haim and his web of chaos. The two young stars were seemingly perfect mates and even appeared in two movies together. But Haim’s substance abuse had Eggert in the world of drugs and hospital trips trying to keep Haim alive. Then came two children followed by a lot of ice cream. Eggert also appeared on Celebrity Fit Club but the fact that she now owns and operates an ice cream truck business (true story) is not helping the weight loss. Eggert played Summer Quinn from 1992-1994. Eggert has found consistent roles appearing in Lifetime movies as well as a few “B” flicks. Although she has nothing on the horizon in movies, her ice cream truck is looking mighty tasty.
2. Alexandra Paul
Alexandra Paul wasn’t one of the many Playmates running around the set of Baywatch. But Lt. Stephanie Holden was the glue that held the show together. She wasn’t a bouncy busty blonde. She was a fit, attractive brunette who worked on the show from 1992-1997. She even appeared in Baywatch Nights and, yes, reprised her role for the movie we didn’t know existed, Baywatch: Forbidden Paradise. Although Paul boasts a ton of roles in television and films, they are generally smaller or one episode appearances at this point. More of a professional actor than a beach bunny, Paul’s age and time have caught up with her facial appearance. She looks her age and then some as sun and time have got the best of her. She also is a fitness junky which is good and bad at the same time. Her fitness has caused her to become almost muscular in strange ways while looking aged. The triathlete is also a vegan and political activist for those who care.
1. Yasmine Bleeth
Yasmine Bleeth played Caroline Holden on the show from 1993-1997 and also made appearances on Baywatch Nights and Baywatch: Hawaiian Wedding. Bleeth was a sex pot on the show Baywatch, a beautiful woman every man lusted after. She had incredible personality and great looks to go along with it. Then, after success was behind her, Bleeth was caught red handed with cocaine, syringes, parked in the median of a highway. Bleeth in 2001 looked very different from the star that dawned the small screen less than a decade prior. She had gained a lot of weight and looked like time had been sucked out of her face. Her cocaine habit was the culprit of her downfall and she went to rehab for a second time in her life. We are happy she has bounced back from the drugs, but her appearance and career seem lost forever.
