Where in the World is Carmen Electra?
She was one of the ’90s most popular sex symbols and outlandish personalities. From her magazine covers to her dating life, everything about Carmen Electra was out in the open – and boy, did she give us a show. For years, it seemed like she was absolutely everywhere – so what is she up to now?
Getty Images
Luckily for us, Carmen is still doing her thing, and she recently took the stage at the Television Critics Association to discuss her role in the new documentary After Baywatch: Moment in the Sun, which will debut on Hulu on Aug. 28. It’s the latest in a career’s worth of highlights… and it all started with her work alongside a musical icon.
An Electric Start
Carmen’s time in the spotlight began in 1993 after moving to Minneapolis to start a music career at the tender age of 21, only to quickly find herself working with Prince, who produced her self-titled debut album. Worl as a glamour model in 1996 led to her first appearance in Playboy – and suddenly, her career exploded (in a good way!)
Now a known commodity, Electra quickly relocated to Los Angeles, where she landed her breakthrough role playing Lani McKenzie on the program that happened to be the world’s most popular (and sexiest) TV show, Baywatch.
Getty Images
“[That] season, I was on as David Chokachi‘s love interest, and I remember, I was so green because I was coming from MTV and, you know, performing with Prince,” Electra recalled during her TCA panel appearance. “I remember we had a make-out scene, and I didn’t realize, like, you don’t have to kiss, and I went in. Do you remember that? I just tongued him down. Oh, my God… I’m going full-out.”
That same year, she was drafted to replace fellow Playboy alum-turned Hollywood megastar Jenny McCarthy as cohost of the popular MTV dating show Singled Out.
“Going from like Prince and then going to MTV, and then getting cast on Baywatch, it was like the icing on the cake,” Electra shared at TCA 2024. “Those two combinations, woo. It was a lot. And it happened so fast, you know?”
Tons of TV and movie roles followed, but all paled in comparison to the “real” show – Electra’s romantic life.
Crazy Love
STEVE GRAYSON /Allsport
In November 1998, Carmen wed outlandish NBA superstar Dennis Rodman at Little Chapel of the Flowers in Las Vegas. They filed for annulment after just nine days, but continued their publicly-tumultuous relationship, agreeing to officially divorce several months later before both were arrested following a domestic dispute in a Miami hotel later that year. Electra later told Glamour that she married Rodman in 1998 in direct response to the numbing emotional pain of having recently lost both her mother and sister:
In 2003, Electra married another high-profile celebrity in Dave Navarro, lead guitarist for the rock band Jane’s Addiction. Never afraid to share their personal lives with the world, the couple documented their relationship in an MTV reality television show called ‘Til Death Do Us Part: Carmen and Dave. The couple announced their separation in 2006, and Electra filed for divorce later that year.
Still Electrifying
While the media is no longer quite as obsessed with Carmen’s life on or off-camera, her star continues to shine. Now coming full circle by appearing in Hulu’s highly-anticipated Baywatch docu-series, she’s still the same superstar that we know and love. In addition, she still models and had a brief appearance on That ’90s Show.
“I’m going to always be a wild child,” she proclaimed. “Never going to change that.”
Remind
Swimsuit Parade
July 2021
Enjoy a trip to the beach with our swimsuit parade down the decades by your favorite Hollywood stars
Buy This Issue