In the mid-2000s, Kendra Wilkinson rose to fame at just 20 years old after starring as
one of Hugh Hefner's live-in girlfriends on E's The Girls Next Door. Being on the show
would change Wilkinson's life forever — perhaps in ways she didn't expect.
At a 2008 Playboy golf tournament, Kendra met her future husband,
Hank Baskett. In June 2009, the two wed at the Playboy Mansion. However,
the couple ended their marriage in 2018 after grappling with major personal problems in
a very public way. But what was the straw that broke the camel's back, so to speak?
The Girls Next Door ran on E! from August 2005 to August 2010. Though Kendra Wilkinson left at
the end of the fifth season, it didn't take her long to find her new beau, Hank Baskett, who was
playing wide receiver for the Philadelphia Eagles at the time. A month after meeting one another,
the couple got engaged. Then, on June 27, 2009, Kendra and Hank officially tied the knot.
In 2011, Kendra Wilkinson published a memoir entitled, Being Kendra: Cribs,
Cocktails and Getting My Sexy Back, in which she discussed her transition from living the lavish
Playboy life to settling down with Baskett. In an interview with InTouch Weekly that was published
shortly before Kendra's memoir was released, she revealed that she and Hank were experiencing
marital problems and that she was struggling with depression. Wilkson recalled in the interview:
"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."
At one point, just a few years into their marriage, Kendra and Hank began sleeping
in separate bedrooms. This led the young couple to talk about the possibility of
splitting up. Unfortunately, this was the beginning of the end for their marriage.
"Let's all survive this madness. Our marriage is potentially over."
Throughout the first few years that Kendra Wilkinson and Hank Baskett were married,
it was no secret that the couple experienced their fair share of troubles. However, in 2014,
their world was rocked when news broke that Hank reportedly paid for a sexual
encounter with transgender model Ava Sabrina London. Kendra confronted her husband about
the cheating scandal on Kendra On Top, her reality show that ran for six seasons on WE tv.
"Did you cheat on me with a transexual?"
A year later, in 2015, Hank opened up to People to share
his side of the story regarding London. Baskett told the outlet:
"I didn't engage in anything. It was like a bank robbery. You never know
when you'll freeze. I don't know if it was a couple of seconds or 15 seconds,
because all I was saying was get out, get out, get out."
While Kendra Wilkinson and Hank Baskett starred on Kendra on Top from 2012 to 2017,
they took their reality TV career to the next level by signing up for Marriage Boot Camp:
Reality Stars on WE tv. The show captured the pain both were feeling at the time,
and also depicted how the media attention was further hurting
their relationship. On one episode, Hank said this in a confessional with Kendra:
"This is just waking up with the day in and day out. The scrutiny from everyone."
"I ain't gonna lie, I'm scared to death."
After many ups and downs during their nine-year marriage, Kendra Wilkinson
made a vulnerable social media post right before filing for divorce from
Baskett in April 2018. In a now-deleted Instagram post, she told followers,
"I did everything I could, it wasn't good enough. I will always love him
and my heart will always remain open to him. I believed him forever. I really did. Guess it's
just not meant to be. I'm so scared but I have to get strong for my kids. I will."
Years after their divorce was finalized, Kendra opened up to Us Weekly in 2021 about co-parenting
with Hank, saying "time helps all." Indeed, Kendra has gone through a stunning transformation,
shifting her professional focus to real estate and starring in her own Discovery Plus show,
Kendra Sells Hollywood, which documents the reality star juggling business and motherhood.
Hank, who ended his NFL career in 2011, now has a video game partnership with
the console company HBCustoms. And, judging by his Instagram, he remains a devoted dad.