'Baywatch' Alum Nicole Eggert Shaves Head, Opens Up About Cancer Battle

Nicole Eggert was probably best known to audiences in the '90s as lifeguard Summer Quinn in the hit TV series Baywatch. Eggert has remained a busy working actor in the years since then, but in recent months, the Charles in Charge star is focused on a very different arena: breast cancer.

Back in January, Eggert revealed that she was diagnosed with stage II cribriform carcinoma breast cancer in December 2023. She didn't mince words when speaking with People magazine about how it's been so far. "This journey's been rough for me. This hasn't been a breezy sail through life,” she confessed. "I always read inspirational quotes and corny stuff, but it gets me through."

Many cancer patients who undergo chemotherapy and radiation lose their hair, and Eggert decided to get rid of hers on her own terms. She shared the touching moment in an Instagram video set to the Beastie Boys' "Fight For Your Right," even having her daughter Keegan finish the job and rub her newly bald head. "Maybe healing involves not so much changing ourselves but allowing ourselves to be who we are," she wrote in the caption, quoting therapist Madeline Eames.

She received an outpouring of support in the comments from some other stars in the industry. Fellow Baywatch alum Erika Eleniak called her a "bada--" and "stunningly gorgeous with or without hair."

"You have the most grace. It's inspiring and I appreciate you," Alyssa Milano added. Beverly Hills 90210 star Jennie Garth wrote she was "sending [her] a big hug."

While Eggert has been undergoing some intense chemotherapy and sharing it all on social media, that doesn't mean she's been calm and confident the entire time. She dreaded waiting for treatment knowing the passage of time only made it worse.

"I have panics where I'm like, just get this out of me," she told People. "You sit there and it's in you and you're like, every second that passes and it's inside of me. It's growing, and you're just like, you just want it out."

Now with a new look, Eggert can hopefully begin a new chapter of her life once her treatment is over.