Carmen Electra's rise to fame wasn't easy. It was peppered with near-misses, chaos, and
tragedy. Nonetheless, the star who clearly plays by her own rules managed to fight her
way out of rock bottom to achieve Hollywood stardom. This is the untold truth of Carmen
Electra.
If it seems like Carmen Electra popped out of nowhere, it's because she sort of did.
One day she was 18-year-old Tara Leigh Patrick from Ohio, and the next day, she was Carmen
Electra, five-time Playboy cover star and Baywatch icon. Strangely enough, it was Prince
who plucked her out of obscurity.
The "Purple Rain" singer discovered Electra in 1991 when she auditioned for a girl group
on his label, Paisley Park. Electra didn't get the gig, but she made enough of an impact
on Prince that he later located her at the Glendale, California Holiday Inn and offered
her a solo contract. The following day, he booked her a flight to Minneapolis, Minnesota,
where she was picked up in a purple limousine, and they got to work on her self-titled 1993
album.
Prince hand-crafted almost every aspect of Electra's fledgling career, from her songs
to her image. He hated the demos she recorded for Capitol Records, saying he could've used
them as a, "coaster or a Frisbee." He even took her on tour to Europe following her album's
release. Despite this, Electra's music only graced the Billboard charts once in 2013.
Prince didn't just help Carmen Electra launch her career. Collaboration sparked a romance,
one Electra was too young to handle with care. Electra was just 18 years old when she got
wrapped up with Prince and - possibly - messed things up by dating someone else behind the
star's back. According to a New York Times profile, it doesn't look like Electra knows
exactly when their relationship ended. All she does know is that it was definitely over
by the time he invited her to listen to "Eye Hate U," the track Prince penned about her
infidelity.
Prince reportedly told Electra she had two options: live by "his rules" in Minneapolis
or charter her own path in L.A. She chose the latter, thinking that if she couldn't
make it without him, then she didn't "deserve" the success.
"I just heard recently that he said he was proud of me and that meant so much."
Before Carmen Electra actually made it, she was briefly homeless in Los Angeles and had
little more "than a pair of Versace shoes to her name." She didn't have a car or a credit
card. At one point, she managed to save $5,000 before it was stolen by her then-boyfriend,
who lost it all gambling. It was a stark contrast to the life she led touring with Prince.
Prince ended up swooping in to offer Electra some help. He cast her in a weekly dance show
called Erotic City at his Glam Slam LA club. The pair re-formed a friendship, and Electra
was able to find some stability. Soon after, she started infiltrating red carpets with
eye-catching outfits, which often drew the mockery of fashion critics, but this was a
good thing. Her DIY PR strategy actually gained her enough notoriety that she was cast as
the co-host of MTV's Singled Out.
As Carmen Electra's television career was taking off in the late '90s, Tara Leigh Patrick's
home life was falling apart. The star was in her mid-20s, having just landed a role
on an MTV show when her mother, Patricia, fell ill with brain cancer. Electra told the
Mirror in 2004,
"My mom was my best friend and losing her was the hardest thing I have ever encountered
in life. She was everything to me."
In an episode of Hollywood Medium With Tyler Henry, Electra revealed that she still had
a lot of guilt surrounding her mother's death, mostly because she was preoccupied with her
growing career. It was Electra's older brother who stepped up to take care of their ailing
mom, who eventually died in 1998, two years after her diagnosis.
Though Carmen Electra had the support of her then-boyfriend, NBA star Dennis Rodman, 1998
was undoubtedly the hardest year of the Baywatch star's life. Not only did she lose her mother
to cancer, but she also lost her sister, who died of a heart attack in her sleep the same
month. Electra told the Mirror in 2004,
"I felt like I was going around in a cloud, like it wasn't real. I wasn't equipped to
deal with this type of emotion."
In an episode of Oprah Winfrey's Where Are They Now?, the former Playboy model admitted
that the deaths of her mother and sister set her off on a bad path - the same one that
led to her decidedly impromptu marriage to Dennis Rodman in Las Vegas. Electra told Oprah,
"I started drinking [...] I just went into self destruction."
Electra eventually sought the help of a therapist, and the tragedy did have a small silver lining.
Electra told the Mirror,
"Losing my mom and my sister brought me so much closer to my dad, and this was a whole
new experience for me."
For a short time in the late 1990s, Carmen Electra and Dennis Rodman were the ultimate
power couple. The pair's whirlwind romance was like a marathon of debauchery and all-night
parties, most of which seemed to take place across the Chicago Bulls' stomping grounds
in Illinois and Las Vegas. It only makes sense that the pair tied the knot in Sin City after
an all-night bender.
In 1998, the former Playboy model and NBA star had only been dating nine months when
they decided to get hitched in Vegas at 7 a.m. - two hours before the chapel even opened.
There was no music beyond the classic "Here Comes the Bride," no flowers, no photos, and
their exchange of vows wasn't even recorded. In fact, Rodman's agent, Dwight Manley, wasn't
even sure it was legal because, as he claimed via People,
"Rodman's partying the night before might have affected his judgement."
Rodman, who seemed miffed by his agent's concerns, claimed he was "proud to be married" to the
Baywatch star. Of course, the brightest flames burn out the fastest, and the pair filed for
annulment nine days later. Six months after their elopement, like so many quickly evaporated
celebrity unions, the marriage was officially kaput. Electra revealed to People,
"You think it's romantic, but then you realize, 'God, we did it in Vegas?' It's like getting
a cheeseburger at a fast-food restaurant."
Carmen Electra and Dennis Rodman's marriage would have been one of the greatest, short-lived
reality TV specials in history. You can bet that MTV wasn't going to miss out on those
ratings a second time when the star wed Jane's Addiction guitarist Dave Navarro.
In the golden age of reality TV, the couple had its own reality series, Carmen & Dave:
An MTV Love Story, and the spin-off, Til Death Do Us Part: Carmen + Dave. They were the grittier,
raunchier, slightly more unhinged version of Jessica Simpson and Nick Lachey - the kind
of couple that wouldn't argue over whether Chicken of the Sea was actually tuna.
"I know it's tuna but it says chicken."
Instead, Electra and Navarro were the type of intense couple that would shove the whole
tuna can in each other's faces before passionately making out. It finally seemed like the Baywatch
star had met her ultimate match, until it didn't. According to MTV News, the pair separated
in 2006 after three years of marriage, but the reason is hotly up for debate. According
to Radar, Navarro reportedly had an affair with an unnamed woman who, years later, also
reportedly had an affair with actor Gerard Butler.
None of the connected marriages - Navarro and Electra's, or the unnamed woman's - survived,
but the rumors did. According to People, Navarro and Electra were, quote, "heartbroken" over
their split but ultimately realized they were better off as best friends. It was reportedly
amicable, which doesn't really hint at some major betrayal, so who knows?
When Carmen Electra loves, she loves hard. Shortly after her split from Dave Navarro,
she fell into the arms of Korn guitarist Rob Patterson. The two dated for less than a year
before getting engaged in Las Vegas in 2008. The ring was a unique black diamond, but what
was even more unique was the fact that their engagement lasted four years until it was
clear she was never walking down the aisle.
The former Playboy model split from her rocker beau in 2012. Patterson moved out of her Beverly
Hills, California home, and Electra started going on "dinner dates" with Simon Cowell.
However, according to Radar, she was the one who broke it off because of Patterson's "on-off-on
partying." Though the model spent some of her 20s chugging champagne with the Chicago
Bulls, she was reportedly over it.
Most of us don't remember this, but there was a point where Carmen Electra and Simon
Cowell were a thing. Maybe she just liked watching him roll his eyes and curtly degrade
her every time she tried to sing along to the radio in the car.
Perhaps, it really means something to gain the approval of the American Idol and X-Factor
judge who made rejection his personal brand. Who knows? In an interview with Loaded, Electra
revealed that Cowell was very charming, and had, quote, "a great sense of humor." According
to E!, Cowell and Electra both "downplayed" their 2013 romance, but they dated for almost
six months.
"We never dated. We didn't date. He wasn't my man."
Things only ended when the sometimes Pussycat Doll allegedly caught him with American socialite
Lauren Silverman. Per the report, Cowell claimed that he was only friends with Silverman. Electra,
however, thought otherwise and left Cowell soon after.
"And what is this I hear about you and Simon Cowell getting friendly?"
"I know there's a lot of rumors about that. We're really good friends, and that's it."
Cowell didn't just allegedly betray Electra. The Sun reports that Silverman was married
to one of Cowell's good friends at the time. Apparently, it was fate because, as of 2021,
the pair are still together and have a child, Eric.
A lot has changed since 2007, when Dave Navarro and Carmen Electra finalized their divorce.
But for those of us still hoping that Electra and Navarro rekindle their epic romance, we
might just be in luck. According to Life & Style, Electra and Navarro reunited in 2017. Their
paths had crossed in New York City, while the former Playboy model was shooting an episode
of Worst Cooks In America: Celebrity Edition.
They were coincidentally staying at the same hotel and managed to link up. She claimed
it was, quote, "really, really good" to see her former flame. Electra also told Life & Style,
"We adore each other. Getting back together? Who knows. You never know what can happen
in the future. He's a great guy. Maybe we'll surprise everybody and get married again!
I'll definitely say that we have a love for each other that is beyond what I can even
explain."
In 2019, she even posted a throwback of one of their wedding photos on Instagram and raved
about the "eternal love" she has for her ex. You heard it: true love does exist!
Carmen Electra's whirlwind marriage to Dennis Rodman may have seemed like a drunken decision
- especially because it happened in Las Vegas - but the truth is that it may have actually
been much deeper than it looked. As it stands, Rodman still isn't over the Baywatch beauty,
and it's been more than two decades since their divorce.
According to Page Six, the former basketball star opened up during a private fan event
in 2018, where he revealed that he was considering proposing to his ex-wife of 20 years. Rodman
told Page Six,
"If the opportunity were to pop up today, and if I saw Carmen, I would probably ask
her to marry me again. I have been debating about that the last couple years. I would
ask her to marry me again."
Somehow, Electra has managed to keep a close bond with both of her ex-husbands. As Rodman
noted, the pair, quote, "have a real relationship." What's unclear is if the actor feels the same
way. In 2020, the Baywatch star went viral for her appearance in Netflix's docuseries,
The Last Dance, where she chatted about their relationship. In a follow-up with the Los
Angeles Times, she said,
"I have no regrets at all. I saw all these different sides of Dennis."
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