‘Baywatch’ Stars Had Only Two Swimsuits? Nicole Eggert Gives Us the Real Behind the Scenes
Sun-kissed and all smiles, blond beauty Nicole Eggert was the object of plenty of crushes in the ’80s and ’90s as Jamie Powell on Charles in Charge and Summer Quinn on Baywatch. She barely finished her four-season run on Charles (1987-90) when she traded in her scrunchies for a red swimsuit on Baywatch (1992-94).
Eggert was just 19 years old when she started playing Summer Quinn on the hit lifeguard series. She admits she has somewhat of a love-hate relationship with the series. It’s actually one of the reasons she stepped behind the camera as a producer on the docuseries After Baywatch: Moment in the Sun (debuting on Hulu Aug. 28).
The project has been almost five years in the making and dives into the personal stories of how the series impacted the stars’ lives (more than 35 original series cast and creators participated). It’s the behind the scenes of making the series and its importance in the pop-culture lexicon.
Eggert’s story post-Baywatch hasn’t been always easy. Years later the star faced criticism from tabloids, who have weight- and age-shamed her — comparing her 19-year-old self against present day, a 52-year-old mother battling breast cancer. While tabloids asked: “What happened to her?” and shared unflattering pics, she was being a mom and taking care of her family. She shares her story and then some in After Baywatch.
© Fox Network/ Courtesy Everett Collection
“Let’s talk about what happened,” Eggert says to a roomful of critics at the Television Critics Association’s Summer Press Tour. As an executive producer on the special she’s excited to celebrate the good and the bad. “Everybody has a great story and are great humans that I worked with, and there’s so much more to them than just their beauty and their time on Baywatch.”
The unapologetic star took a break after talking to reporters to update us on her health, how many bathing suits she actually owns and more.
Baywatch scripts she liked and hated:
“I was 19 when I started, and I was a beach girl anyways, so I really love being at the beach, and I really love being in the water. I’m very much a water person. [That wasn’t the case for many of the actors.] So, I love water and I loved underwater sets, so I would always be very excited about doing an underwater set. What I didn’t love was my character was a high diver, and I’m so horribly scared of heights. I wouldn’t even go up the ladder. I was like, ‘Look, you can get me in an exiting frame and I’ll just walk up the ladder. I’m not going up there.’ And they’re like, ‘We just need you up there for a shot.’ I was like, ‘No, no, no.’ I’m not even standing up there for the shot.”
The Baywatch wardrobe was relatively nothing:
“When I was on the show, there was just one suit in different sizes. That was before there was any kind of custom-tailored to anything. … [As for her wardrobe] it would be a hanger of two suits, one [to wear] and then a dry one from when you come back. You have two hangers in your dressing room, and it’s just two suits and a robe.”
What she kept from Baywatch:
Everybody kept bathing suits. I kept the big jackets. And a script that’s signed by everybody. And that’s it. Everybody else has rescue cans and bathing suits, all these neat things. And I’m like, no, I didn’t take any of it.
What makes her happy these days:
My girls. My daughters. I am fighting a disease, so I’m feeling really good. I’m feeling really strong and good, and that’s making me happy, too. And that this is finished [the documentary] and it’s in great hands that are going to do great things with it. Life is good. I am starting to think of what is next. This has been kind of all-consuming and my health has been all-consuming, so I’ll probably take a little break, get this behind me and then figure out what’s next.
Post our interview: On July 26, 2024, Eggert updated fans on her Facebook page sharing that her treatment worked. Her doctors shared that she had a “full complete response” to her chemo, and there is no detectable cancer in the area, so she was given the go ahead to schedule her mastectomy surgery. “It worked!” she enthused through tears. Happy news, indeed!