She did the dirty with a 78-year-old. She hawks million-dollar mansions with zero chops. But does
this mom regret flashing her bangin' bazookas on TV? Here's the untold truth of Kendra Wilkinson.
Back in 2004, Kendra Wilkinson reluctantly booked a one-night gig
wearing only body paint, for Playboy founder Hugh Hefner's 78th birthday bash.
And as she recalled in her book "Sliding Into Home," Hef had already told her on the phone,
"I look forward to seeing you at my birthday. Also,
I'd like you to consider being my girlfriend."
"I was just so nervous. Like, I've never met a celebrity in my entire life."
Just before the party, Hef caught a glimpse of some photos of Kendra,
and he liked what he saw. Then, as the event wound down,
he asked her to stay the night. She declined, since her boyfriend was waiting to pick her
up outside. But after a little more persuasion, she muttered the only answer she could think of:
"'Um, okay.' That night, my life changed."
While life as one of Hef's three live-in girlfriends was certainly a new experience
for Kendra, things took an even stranger turn when he approached her about starring on a
reality show about it. As Kendra remembered on "For Real: The Story of Reality TV," Hef said,
"Hef goes, 'We might be filming a reality TV show, girls.' I'm like, 'What? No!'"
Of course, she eventually agreed. And "The Girls
Next Door" was a runaway hit with viewers — largely thanks to Kendra.
"People assume that we are all s—-s."
But the extra attention didn't go unnoticed by Kendra's co-stars — girlfriends #1 and #2 — Holly
Madison and Bridget Marquandt. Apparently, Kendra was a natural at reality TV and quickly became
the standout — which infuriated the others. As executive producer Kevin Burns told the outlet,
"I tried really hard to give each of the three girls equal time,
but it drove them crazy that Kendra was the gift that kept on giving."
Hef made headlines when he sold his opulent Playboy Mansion in the summer of 2016
for a whopping $100 million. And with that,
fans of "The Girls Next Door" may have assumed that Kendra and the girls had
been living an ultra-luxurious lifestyle. But it appears that the reality was far different.
"It was so easy to get isolated from the outside world there."
As Holly Madison described it, life in the Mansion was no vacation. She told People,
"It was a constant struggle. […] There was so much competition among the other women.
I learned not to confide in certain people. There was a lot of fear."
And as Kendra noted in her book, there was also the fun-police 9 p.m. curfew that Hef
imposed on all his girlfriends. Then, of course, there was the mandatory physical
stuff on demand. When it was Kendra's turn to share Hef's bed, she wrote,
"I had to be very drunk or smoke lots of
weed to survive those nights — there was no way around it."
Kendra was still officially linked to Hef when she met NFL star Hank Baskett at a
2008 Playboy golf event. The following year, they got married, with the newlyweds' next
chapter playing out on their reality show, "Kendra." As viewers witnessed,
the couple weathered allegations that Baskett had an affair while Kendra was eight months pregnant.
Then there was the leaking of a tape featuring Kendra and a man who wasn't her husband.
Baskett's cheating scandal pushed the marriage to the brink, with Kendra telling Steve Harvey,
"I had divorce in my mind, and you know, and there became a point where I actually
liked the feeling."
As they tried to work things out, she says it was tough to reconcile
the love she still had for her husband with her growing desire to be single.
"So I didn't know what I wanted. And, so, Hank gave me, like, the freedom to explore it,
you know, mentally, not physically."
Ultimately, Baskett took responsibility for his actions, admitting to Entertainment Tonight,
"I messed up. I put myself in a bad situation.
And everything through me brought pain upon this family."
In 2011, Kendra made the jump from basic cable to network primetime when she joined "Dancing
with the Stars." Partnered with pro Louis van Amstel, she proved to be a standout of her season.
As ABC News noted, Kendra won over both judges and viewers with her steamy samba and rhumba routines.
"The message that I have with this dance is just to follow your heart and do what's right for you."
But, unfortunately, winning the Mirror Ball trophy wasn't in the cards. Still, Kendra exited the show
on a high note, explaining that she enjoyed the challenge and telling "Good Morning America,"
"I did something that I never thought I could ever do.
The bar was set so high before I even stepped foot on the dance floor."
Kendra's no one-trick pony. And in 2015, she ventured onto the celebrity
edition of Food Network's "Worst Cooks in America." As she revealed to the network,
cooking had never really been her jam, given that most members of her family
thought it was a, quote, "waste of time." As she shared of her goal in doing the show,
"I really hope to gain confidence from this
competition. […] I do want to learn a new skill in my life."
"This is a disaster."
But when it comes to her real life, worst-ever fail in the kitchen, Kendra confessed,
"Every Thanksgiving. I just suck at Thanksgiving. […] When I make anything [for] Thanksgiving,
it just falls apart. I don't put any love into it, and it tastes that way."
But as it turned out, Kendra did surprisingly well on the show.
In fact, she made it all the way to the final, where she faced off against "Jersey Shore" star
"JWoww" — who was ultimately declared the best of the worst.
In the Spring of 2017, Kendra teamed up with O.G. "Queer Eye for the Straight Guy" star
Jai Rodriguez for their Vegas show, "Sex Tips for Straight Women from a Gay Man." Given that
Kendra had pretty much no prior experience as a live performer, it's an understatement to say
the show was a bit of a gamble. But as the Las Vegas Sun reported, Kendra was a natural onstage.
And the show was such a success that the original three-month run was extended to eight.
"I honestly didn't know what I was saying yes to."
Kendra told the outlet,
"It's the first big change in my career and I'm loving every minute of it. This is my first rodeo,
my first time onstage performing in front of a live audience, and there couldn't be
a better situation than kicking it off in Las Vegas. It's an amazing feeling."
People who find success in one reality show are then typically invited onto a seemingly
endless string of other reality shows. And that was certainly the case when Kendra signed on for
"I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here!" The premise is lifted from "Survivor,"
collecting a bunch of famous faces and plunking them on a deserted island
outfitted with cameras everywhere in order to capture them endlessly complaining about each
other. And Kendra did not disappoint. In fact, as the Mirror declared,
"Kendra Wilkinson is set to go down in the annals
of jungle history as one of the best 'I'm a Celebrity' contestants EVER."
"I'm a decent human being. I mean, I'm not saying 'good,' 'great' or 'perfect.' I'm decent."
Her star power may have risen in part due to a clash with British politician Edwina Currie.
According to the outlet at the time,
"The 29-year-old has provided viewers with some of the most
entertaining moments of the series so far."
Throughout Kendra's rise to reality show fame, her relationship with her mother, Patti Wilkinson,
was infamously fraught. During an episode of "Kendra On Top" in 2015, Kendra claimed,
"She is the most sadistic abuser."
Meanwhile, it seemed Patti felt the same way about her daughter. She posted to Facebook,
"Well, the time has come where I can’t stay quiet anymore. I think a book is in
order to tell the TRUTH! It will be factual and tell the entire story from MY eyes. Get
ready for hearing some things that may take a certain someone down off of her pedestal."
"I hope that $10,000 gets her what she
wants in her life. Cuz it cost her everything that I thought she wanted."
Following the Facebook post, "Kendra On Top" featured Patti meeting with famed
book publisher Judith Regan about a deal — with a $10,000 advance. Of course,
Kendra wasn't thrilled with the idea of being dragged by her own mom in a salacious tell-all.
Admitting that she would pay her mom off if she could, Kendra told Access Hollywood,
"It's just been a rough couple of years and I just hope she doesn't write the book."
Kendra's turbulent marriage finally came to an end when she and Hank Baskett
filed for divorce in 2018. Just a year before pulling the trigger,
Kendra detailed their many marital problems, telling In Touch,
"We have already threatened divorce probably five times. […] At the end of the day,
the downside of being married is the temptation all around. You know, the sexual temptations."
About a month after initiating divorce proceedings,
those temptations were front of mind when Kendra took to Twitter to ask her fans:
"What’s your opinion... do i start dating/sex
now or give myself more time? My heart is broken but i have needs."
Later that year, Kendra appeared to put any dating plans on hold. But she wrote in a since-deleted
Instagram post that she had been spending time with someone new; herself. She posted,
"I've been dating myself lately. Getting to know myself and even falling in love.
Love and happiness is real without waiting on someone or something to do it for you."
There were two major factors in finalizing Kendra and Hank's divorce:
their kids, Lil Hank and Alijah. And it seemed that splitting parenting
duties with her ex wasn't something that came easily to Kendra. She told People,
"It was a rough start for me to get used to co-parenting.
I didn't know how to not have my kids. And then the guilt would set in. I'm in a
neighborhood where everyone has their kids 24/7 and when I don't have my kids I want to cry."
"They know that we are there. So they know they're loved."
But she also admitted that she was ready to open herself up to another relationship. She said,
"I hope to find love again and fill my home with someone else's energy.
It will be nice to have that again."
In late 2021, Kendra returned to the small screen with a new reality show, "Kendra Sells
Hollywood." And no, she had never dabbled in real estate before. As she told Discovery Plus,
"I'm just a mom of two trying to start a new career. This is not just a job to
me — this is my life. It's exciting because this is my chance to prove everyone wrong,
but it's also terrifying because it could be a total failure.
I'm way out of my comfort zone, but I'm ready to get my hustle on!"
"Here I am! About to start my real estate journey. Day 1."
But Kendra was under no illusions that it would be easy. As she shared with Fox News,
"I'm learning, growing, building from scratch. […] I'm putting all of my energy
and mind and heart and soul into this business. Clients are wondering if I'm really doing this
or just bulls—ing. If I'm just doing it for TV, but I'm not. I'm doing this for real."
"I don't see the point in dating, so I kind of just roll with life."
In 2021, Kendra claimed that she was ready to get hitched again. The only problem was,
she didn't have a boyfriend, and hated the idea of diving back into the dating pool.
As she told the "Hollywood Raw" podcast,
"F— the dating, like, screw all that. I don't want to get to know 10,000 people."
While she admitted she wasn't opposed to meeting someone and spending time with them,
she was pretty specific when it came to what she would categorize
as an official date. As she described it,
"I just see a natural evolution if someone's just cool. I don't really,
like, see things that way. I just live."
Sounds like Kendra is living her best life these
days — and we can't wait to see what she does next.
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