Rehab, naked wrestling and arrests: what happened to the 1990s Baywatch stars?

First airing in 1989, US drama Baywatch followed lifeguards on a Southern California beach as they saved accident-prone members of the public from drowning, earthquakes, shark attacks and even the odd serial killer. The debut series flopped and the show was cancelled but leading man David Hasselhoff was convinced they were onto something. Investing his own money and becoming executive producer, “The Hoff” revived the show in 1991 and was fully vindicated.

In its second incarnation, Baywatch became the planet’s most-watched TV show, seen by a staggering estimated weekly audience of 1.1 billion across 140 countries – including Saturday teatime viewers on ITV. The show would run – in slow-motion, across a sandy beach – for 11 series until the credits rolled for the final time in 2001. Its Nineties stars were household names across the world. But what became of Mitch, CJ and the rest of red swimming-costume clad hunks and beauties?

Pamela Anderson

Then

The Canadian-born bombshell wasn’t part of the original cast, joining as lifeguard Casey Jean “CJ” Parker in season three, but swiftly became the show’s tentpole star. Anderson said she was attracted to the role because she shared her character’s “New Age thinking”, with interests in crystals, meditation and dream analysis. Male viewers were rather more interested in her pneumatic 34-D figure.

Now

Sex symbol status secured, Anderson hung up her red swimsuit after five series. She posed for a record 13 Playboy covers and landed her own TV vehicle as bodyguard Vallery Irons in action-comedy V.I.P. She starred in flop sci-fi film Barb Wire, which was nominated for six Golden Raspberries and named among “the 20 biggest stinkers of the 20th century”.

Her torrid love-life has long been tabloid fodder. Post-Tommy Lee, she was engaged to Swedish model Marcus Schenkenberg, had a year-long marriage to rapper Kid Rock and wed pro poker player Rick Salomon, then divorced him, citing fraud – before re-marrying and re-divorcing him. Her marriage to Hollywood producer Jon Peters was annulled within days. Her sixth and most recent marriage was to her bodyguard Dan Hayhurst but Anderson announced their split last month.

Now 54, she’s a vocal supporter of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, visiting him at the Ecuadorian embassy, and has published six books, including Lust For Love: Rekindling Intimacy & Passion in Your Relationship, co-written with Orthodox Rabbi Shmuley Boteach.

David Hasselhoff

Then

The lifeguard lieutenant and longest-serving Baywatcher. Furry-chested father figure Mitch Buchannon was played by “The Hoff” in 220 episodes, plus 45 episodes of post-watershed spin-off Baywatch Nights. “Heart, humour and action! Baywatch forever!” as he’s fond of saying. Unlike most of his castmates, Hasselhoff was already a household name, thanks to starring roles in soap The Young & the Restless and talking car caper Knight Rider.

Now

Recovering alcoholic Hasselhoff went viral in 2007 when one of his daughters posted a video of him drunkenly eating a hamburger from the floor as a wake-up call. Now 69, he’s played himself in such cinematic masterworks as The Keith Lemon Movie and Sharknado 3: Oh Hell No! He’s a reality TV regular, judging on America’s Got Talent for four seasons and Britain’s Got Talent for one.

After a contentious divorce from second wife Pamela Bach, he married Welsh former factory worker Hayley Roberts, 27 years his junior. He also sent himself up in Dave sitcom Hoff the Record and launched a short-lived social networking site called Hoffspace.

Yasmine Bleeth

Then

New Yorker Bleeth, who began her acting career aged just 10 months in a “No More Tears” baby shampoo advert, played lifeguard Caroline Holden – the headstrong younger sister of Stephanie (Alexandra Paul) – for four series. Bleeth became a lad mag fixture, as well as a firm favourite of Friends’ Chandler Bing. Could he BE any more infatuated? Bleeth even dated actor Matthew Perry for a while.

Now

She launched her own swimwear line called Yaz Wear, played Inspector Caitlin Cross on cop drama Nash Bridges and starred in Aaron Spelling-produced soap Titans. In 2000, Bleeth was arrested for cocaine possession and driving while impaired. She later wrote a magazine article headlined “Back from My Drugs Hell”, admitting her coke habit was so severe that she sometimes went five days without sleep.

Bleeth entered rehab for addiction, where she met her future husband, strip club owner Paul Cerrito. “They say you shouldn’t get into any relationship in the first year of sobriety, especially with someone in the programme,” she said. “But Paul and I fell in love immediately.” The couple are still together and Bleeth, 53, has withdrawn from the spotlight.

Jeremy Jackson

Then

Played Mitch’s mischievous surfer son, Hobie, a role which nearly went to Leonardo DiCaprio. Over the course of nine series, viewers watched him grow up from 12 to 21. The character appeared in 159 of the show’s 242 episodes, second only to Hasselhoff.

Now

Jackson followed in his screen father’s footsteps by becoming a musician, even supporting Hasselhoff on his 1993 European tour. Acting success proved harder to come by but Jackson has been a reality TV regular, appearing on VH1's Confessions of a Teen Idol and Celebrity Rehab with Dr Drew, where he discussed his addictions to steroids and crystal meth. “I had the fame, I had the money and I threw it away,” he said.

In 2015, he entered Celebrity Big Brother but was thrown out after four days for getting drunk and pulling open housemate Chloe Goodman’s dressing gown against her will. Jackson was subsequently cautioned by Hertfordshire Police for common assault. That wasn’t his only brush with the law. Two years later, he was sentenced to 270 days in prison and five years’ probation after allegedly stabbing a woman during an attempted car theft. The 41-year-old now works as a recovery coach and personal trainer.

Carmen Electra

Then

Played Leilani “Lani” McKenzie, the half-Hawaiian lifeguard with dreams of becoming a dancer. Carmen Electra, you might be unsurprised to learn, isn’t her real name. She was born Tara Patrick.

Now

Post-Baywatch, Electra posed for Playboy, hosted MTV dating show Singled Out, and appeared in a string of film “comedies” including Scary Movie, Date Movie, Starsky & Hutch and Meet the Spartans. After a five-month marriage to basketball star Dennis Rodman, she tried reality television with her second husband, guitarist Dave Navarro, on Till Death Do Us Part: Carmen & Dave. She later divorced Navarro, dated Simon Cowell, danced with the Pussycat Dolls and appeared as a celebrity bachelorette on reality dating show The Choice.

Now 49, Carmen has released her own fragrance, loungewear collection, skincare range, a book titled How to be Sexy and launched the equally subtly named Naked Women's Wrestling League.

David Charvet

Then

The Lyon-born heart-throb played half-French lifeguard Matt Brody for four seasons, during which he had flings with Summer (Nicole Eggert) and CJ (Pamela Anderson).

Now

After wringing out his red budgie smugglers, Charvet went on to star in glossy soap Melrose Place. He gave up acting in 1999 to focus on his music career in his native France, where he released three bilingual pop-rock albums which sold more than 2.5m copies across the continent.

In 2017, he appeared on The Celebrity Apprentice with his then-wife, TV presenter Brooke Burke, but faced a backlash from viewers after refusing to ride behind her on a motorcycle for a photoshoot, claiming he’d look “wimpy”. Now 49, Charvet has lately been linked with Canadian fitness model Oksana Rykova and Swedish influencer Elena Belle.

Donna D’Errico

Then

The former Playboy “Playmate of the Month” played similarly named lifeguard Donna Marco for two seasons.

Now

After stints on Baywatch and Baywatch Nights, D'Errico hosted TV series Battlebots, the American version of Robot Wars. She acted in Austin Powers sequel Goldmember, Candyman: Day of the Dead and a few indie movies before changing lanes to open a California health centre called Zen Spa. D’Errico also announced in 2011 that she was mounting an expedition to find Noah’s Ark up Mount Ararat in Turkey. After injuring herself in a fall, she returned to the US and filed for bankruptcy.

She was married to M?tley Crüe bassist Nikki Sixx – bandmate of Tommy Lee – for 11 years before they divorced in 2007, claiming irreconcilable differences. In 2017, D’Errico hit headlines with before-and-after photos after undergoing four cosmetic surgery procedures to “get her Baywatch body back”. She’s now 53 but looks approximately half her age.

Nicole Eggert

Then

The former beauty queen starred as girl-next-door Roberta “Summer” Quinn for three seasons until the character left the world of lifeguarding to attend college.

Now

After leaving Baywatch, Eggert took part in reality shows such as Celebrity Fit Club and Splash!, finishing second in the celebrity diving contest. She later filed for bankruptcy, selling her Los Angeles home to pay off debts. She quit acting to work on her own ice cream van business but came out of Hollywood retirement in 2015 to appear on E!’s surgical reality show Botched, getting a breast reduction from size DD to B.

Alexandra Paul

Then

For five seasons, played statuesque lifeguard lieutenant Stephanie Holden, a married woman who became leading man Mitch’s love interest. The character was killed off in 1997 when lightning struck a ship and she was crushed by its falling mast.

Now

After retiring her red swimsuit, Paul starred in 15 made-for-TV movies on the Lifetime network, as well as guest starring in Melrose Place and Mad Men. She later married a triathlon coach and became a competitive endurance athlete. Now 59, Paul devotes most of her time to political activism.

She’s been arrested more than a dozen times for protesting against the Iraq War, nuclear weapons, factory farming and the motor industry. She’s taken part in rescues of pigs from slaughterhouses and spent five days in prison after refusing to pay a $50 fine for civil disobedience.