Kendra Wilkinson went from being one of Hugh Hefner's live-in girlfriends at the Playboy
Mansion, to a wife and mother faster than you can shake your cottontail.
But here's why this girl next door finally called it quits with her husband, former football
pro Hank Baskett.
"And I'm gonna give it all I got.
Like I'm putting my heart, my soul, my blood, my tears, everything into this."
Moving too fast
After announcing she'd split with Hefner in 2008, Wilkinson revealed the following month
that she was engaged to Baskett.
With Hef's blessing, things with Baskett moved full steam ahead, with the couple confirming
in June 2009 that they were expecting a baby.
They got married at the Playboy mansion just a couple of weeks later.
And according to E! News, almost six months after the wedding, Wilkinson gave birth to
their son, Hank IV.
It's no wonder this whirlwind romance began unraveling at the seams almost as soon as
it started.
Temptation was everywhere
While Hank was the one who allegedly had an illicit encounter with another woman while
Kendra was 8 months pregnant with their daughter, it would be Kendra who would find monogamy
a challenge when she landed a gig in the Las Vegas production of Sex Tips for Straight
Women From a Gay Man, according to In Touch.
She told the outlet,
"At the end of the day, the downside of being married is the temptation all around…I am
not going to lie...My fantasies are very strong, let's just leave it like that."
Although her Vegas gig ended in January 2018, being back under the same roof still didn't
help this ill-fated couple.
Single, married woman
When the couple appeared on Steve Harvey in 2017, Wilkinson admitted she had considered
divorce during Hank's cheating scandal, and that she also wanted the quote "freedom to
explore mentally, but not physically" with other people.
"It's definitely taboo to people, people don't understand it, y'know."
Baskett agreed to let her roam, as long as Kendra didn't "cross the line."
He said,
"She was hanging out with people, people would text her, but I would rather that, than her
sneak around and hide things."
During that time, Wilkinson even reconnected with a man from her past, according to E!
News, but she claimed she never acted on it.
A "black hole"
After the birth of her son, Wilkinson revealed a difficult battle with postpartum depression,
telling In Touch,
"I felt like I was in a black hole.
I had so much anger inside.
I'd lock myself in my closet to cry and scream."
"The feelings that I had after giving birth to my son, were the same feelings that I had
back when I was doing drugs when I was 15."
The reality star even attempted to take her own life, twice.
Then, after the birth of their daughter, Wilkinson opened up to E! News, revealing,
"I had postpartum after little Hank, and then I was dealing with chaos after Alijah with
postpartum."
She added,
"I had pretty bad experiences right after having each kid."
But Wilkinson wasn't the only one who was suffering.
Hank's post-career depression
Baskett spent the majority of his pro football career bouncing around to various teams, including
the Philadelphia Eagles and the Indianapolis Colts.
Perhaps he didn't retire as a Hall of Fame-er, but this could explain why he found it difficult
to adjust to life after football.
He told People magazine in 2010,
"The stress and depression was eating away at me.
I fell into what happens to a lot of professional athletes who change careers.
It hit me, and it hit hard."
He turned to marijuana and alcohol and was prescribed antidepressants, revealing that
he would get the shakes and cry in the shower due to his severe anxiety.
Wilkinson, who was pregnant with their daughter at the time, admitted she wasn't able to support
him, adding,
"Anytime he said, 'Kendra, I'm not feeling too good,' I would say, 'Shut up, I'm pregnant!'
I never gave him the opportunity to come to me with his feelings."
"If you look at it from the outside, it looks like a big pile of you know what."
Calling it quits
Days after taking a photo in what appeared to be a divorce lawyer's office, Wilkinson
posted a pic to Instagram, along with the caption,
"Today is the last day of my marriage to this beautiful man.
I will forever love Hank…We are both amazing parents and our kids will be happy [and] never
know the difference other than seeing mama smile."
Before signing off, she admitted she wanted to see Hank happy again, too, adding,
"Thank you Hank for a beautiful 8 years of marriage and 2 beautiful kids.
I feel so thankful and blessed."
"I would do anything for him.
You know, he's the most amazing person I've ever met, and, you know, he deserves the best
in life.
And that's all that really matters, you know?"
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