Carmen Electra's 'Baywatch' Nightmares Revealed: From Being 'Constantly Pushed' to do Own Stunts to Struggling For Breath in Water
Carmen made a fortune playing busty lifeguard Lani McKenzie on Baywatch.
Sept. 24 2024, Published 1:31 p.m. ET
She wore a permanent megawatt grin in Baywatch.
But RadarOnline.com can reveal Carmen Electra's smile was hiding agonies including being forced to do her own stunts and struggling for breath during marathon water action sequences on the show.
Electra was hiding struggles with water stunts behind her glam facade.
The 52-year-old said on the 35th anniversary of the hit lifeguard show: "Our producer and directors wanted us to do as much of our own stunts as we possibly could. They were constantly pushing for that because I think that was something people complained about in the past.
"So, when our new cast came about, we were a part of the rookie school class that has to learn everything from the beginning.
"So we were running and running and running. And we had to do all the jumping over water, diving into it, the swims, everything it took to be able to see if you could be a lifeguard.
"And my character was supposed to be that lifeguard, so I remember when we would have scenes running, sometimes I had these guys, obviously these strong guys, that are passing me up."
Electra, born Tara Leigh Patrick, kicked off her career with glamour modelling in 1996 – including appearances in Playboy magazine – before she landed her breakthrough role as Lani McKenzie on Baywatch.
She also told how she fell behind in the action scenes the show's director would have to find ways to make it appear like her character was keeping up.
The actress went from modelling for Playboy to her Baywatch role.
Electra added: "They would stop a little bit, move me up, start again. Or say, 'Hey guys, run a little bit slower.'
"And I was running as fast as I possibly could. And the heat! The sun would be so hot it burns your feet, but you got to deal with it."
Electra also said she "struggled" with many of her Baywatch action scenes.
She was hit with the fight to get through the sequences despite being a solid swimmer.
Two-time divorcee Electra, whose exes include Dennis Rodman and Dave Navarro, said she even bragged about her abilities in the water during her audition for David Hasselhoff's TV sensation.
She added: "The thing is, I'm okay in a pool. I mean, I was a gymnast and trained in classical ballet most of my life, and I grew up swimming in friends' pools and in the river and stuff, in the Ohio River, little swim parks."
Strapping on the famous Baywatch red bikini made Electra a household name.
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But the actress admitted about the hard reality of filming the Baywatch action scenes: "When we were rehearsing and we were really getting in the water, sometimes it was really hard.
"I would end up getting through things, but that always felt like such a great accomplishment.
"If I could dive off the speeding boat with the rescue cam, tandem dive with two other people right on time, to me that was a great accomplishment.
"Doing surfing scenes and tandem surfing, which was really scary.
"There were a lot of scenes I'd struggle with.
"I never could understand how you push the water out and still hold your breath. It was always a strange thing for me that I never really got."
Electra boasted she was a great swimmer in her Baywatch audition – then ended up fighting for breath during marathon water scenes.
Electra has previously told how she was once advised to lose weight while starring as Lani.
She said: "I never had a weigh-in, but I was told sometimes that I was too heavy, and I've looked back now, and I don't think I was.
"(Producers would) come up to you and just say, 'You need to lose some pounds.'"
RadarOnline.com has revealed how a new Baywatch documentary exposed the secrets of the iconic show – including bosses trawling through Playboy magazines to find new busty lifeguards.
Electra was also ordered by show bosses to lose weight while playing Lani.
The Disney+ mini-series After Baywatch: Moment in the Sun also laid bare the cast's drug taking and how the show's iconic skimpy swimsuits were so small some stars refused to wear them.
What some fans call the 'Curse of Baywatch' has also hit some of the cast’s partners.
They include former model Loni Willison, the ex-wife of the show's former star Jeremy Jackson, 43, who was spotted earlier this year puffing on a cigarette as she hauled around a shopping cart full of blankets after falling into homelessness and crystal meth addiction.
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