Baywatch has a strong legacy in pop culture, to the point that even many people who never tuned into the original series or the 2017 feature film associate the name with red bathing suits and running across beaches. Now, however, stars of the original series that ran from 1989-2001 are seizing the opportunity to tell their real behind-the-scenes stories with an upcoming Hulu docuseries, with former star and doc executive producer Nicole Eggert getting candid ahead of time about her journey as part of the Baywatch cast.
Nicole Eggert's Post-Baywatch Career And Life
Nicole Eggert joined Baywatch in 1992 and would be a series regular for the third and fourth seasons, and later appeared in the reunion TV movie that aired on Fox in 2003. Despite a relatively short stint (compared to David Hasselhoff, anyway) on the series that ran for eleven seasons and more than 200 episodes, her time on the show would follow her through the rest of her career. Ahead of the After Baywatch: Moment in the Sun docuseries that will release for Hulu subscribers in August, Eggert said at the summer TCA press tour (via USA Today):
I still see a lot of articles that show me at age 19 in my red swimsuit and then me at 52 years old in the market, and the articles are like, 'What happened to her?' Let's talk about what happened.
While Eggert had a longer run in Charles in Charge prior to Baywatch and went on to appear in a variety of projects after Baywatch including the always-popular genre of TV Christmas movies, she is likely best known for her role as lifeguard Summer Quinn. Now, she is ready for people to know the full story behind "what happened" for her as an actress. She went on to say:
Life is a roller coaster. This is a chance for people to reveal their own journey in their own words.
The actress shared that she has had a "love-hate relationship" with Baywatch that "has definitely evolved over the years," to the point that she now can "love it and appreciate it." According to Eggert:
But everyone has such a great story. And there's so much more than just their beauty and their time.
As the actress told USA Today, Nicole Eggert has actually wanted to make a project based on Baywatch going back five years, although not along the lines of the upcoming Fox reboot of the original. The finished product came together after she met with Matthew Felker. Felker, whose credit in the industry prior to the upcoming docuseries was writing the TV movie Public Intoxication, came on board After Baywatch as the director and co-executive producer. Of course, Eggert also needed more Baywatch alums to make the project, which turned out to be a four-part docuseries with exclusive interviews from more than thirty cast members as well as the original creators.
Among those involved are Carmen Electra, Billy Warlock, Alexandra Paul, Gregory Alan Williams, David Chokachi, Jeremy Jackson, Traci Bingham, Erika Eleniak, Michael Newman, Michael Berk, and Douglas Schwartz in addition to Eggert... and – who else? – David Hasselhoff. According to Eggert, the Baywatch legend was her first call when she was working to move forward with the new project. She shared:
I thought if he will do it, then we have something here. That was my driving force in the beginning. And when he said, 'Yeah, I'll do it.' It was like, 'Let's go!'
Fortunately, the wait to see Eggert. Hasselhoff, and the rest telling their stories of what happened with Baywatch isn't too terribly much longer. The After Baywatch: Moment in the Sun" docuseries will premiere on Hulu on Wednesday, August 28. Eggert perhaps summed up what to expect best when she described the project as "a chance for people to reveal their own journey in their own words."
The Director Previews The Docuseries' Exclusive Access
For director Matthew Felker, he had to dedicate a lot of time to recruiting cast members to participate in the docuseries and then conducting the interviews. According to Felker, those elements of the process took five years, and it took some extra effort for cast members Michael Bergin and Carmen Electra. He also previewed some of the footage he gained access to via VHS:
Nicole (Eggert) said there might be a childbirth on one of these videos and there was. But I was seeing (the 'Baywatch' cast) after a party, scenes people have never seen before − they'll see them now.
Nicole Eggert may be a mom of two who was willing to pass video along to Matthew Felker that included childbirth, but the director confirmed that none of that footage made it into the docuseries. He went on:
We forget what it was like. We don't have these types of stars anymore. They have been snuffed out by social media. We don't have TV shows like 'Baywatch' where the cast is so mega-famous. This is a huge part of what ('After Baywatch') is about.
If you're now in the mood for some Baywatch during the wait for the After Baywatch docuseries' premiere in August, you can find the first nine seasons of the original series streaming with an Amazon Prime Video subscription. Both of Nicole Eggert's seasons are streaming with a Peacock Premium subscription as well.
