#344 Running in Slow Motion with Baywatch’s Nicole Eggert

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Jeff Dwoskin 0:28

all right, Samantha, thank you so much for that amazing introduction. You get the show going each and every week, and this week was no exception. Welcome everybody to episode 344 of classic conversations. As always, I am your host. Jeff Dwoskin, great to have you back for what sure to be the beachiest episode of all time. My guest today is none other than Nicole Eggert. We're talking Baywatch after Baywatch. Who's the boss, and so much more. And that's coming up in just a few seconds. And in these few seconds, last week, Linda Pearl was here. We talked the office Matlock and happy days. That episode will have you rocking around the clock. But right now, we are running in slow motion on the beach, with Nicole Eggert going deep into Baywatch, her amazing documentary after Baywatch, talking Charles in Charge, who's the boss, and so much more. And that is coming up right now. All right, everyone, I'm so excited to introduce my next guest actress. Producer. Loved her, and Charles in Charge, who's the boss, Baywatch and so much more, so much more, including the new documentary after Baywatch moment in the sun. Please welcome to the show. Nicole Eggert, hello, hello, hello, hello. So fun. I was actually had watched the after Baywatch documentary, and then I was like, Oh, I think I'm gonna, I'm gonna email Nicole.

Nicole Eggert 2:04

Well, I'm glad you watched it. Did you like it? What did you think of it? Was it different than like, Was it different than what you expected? Or I

Jeff Dwoskin 2:11

enjoyed it? It was interesting, kind of going back and looking at it, because there were times like, everyone had different looks. Like, I think there's at least three Nicole Eggert timeframes in there and like for sure. So that was interesting, how they so I was never 100% sure. I mean, sometimes it was clear if you were talking about something that just happened, which was the archival footage and stuff like that, but it weaved together really, really nice. Kept waiting for something from Yasmine belief, but nothing,

Nicole Eggert 2:37

nothing. We tried. We tried really, really hard. She's just not interested in being in front of the camera. She's just really resistant to it, which is too bad, because I know people love her so much and want to see her and yeah, so it's we were hoping at some point, and then No, didn't happen.

Jeff Dwoskin 2:55

I think Chandler Bing was a big fan of Yasmin.

Nicole Eggert 2:59

Yes, right, right, right, right, yes. They talked about Baywatch all the time. Joey was my fan and Chandler was Yasmeen. Yeah, it was funny.

Jeff Dwoskin 3:08

Funniest to me friends reference to Baywatch was when they stopped living together, and then the new guy moves in with Chandler, and he's trying to explain to the new guy why Baywatch is awesome because he doesn't get it at all.

Nicole Eggert 3:23

Oh, I haven't seen that. I need to check that out. That's really funny. I love that.

Jeff Dwoskin 3:27

So was there nothing new from Pam Anderson in there also?

Nicole Eggert 3:30

So when we sold to ABC, they had this interview that they had done with her about Baywatch, and they had never used it, so had been sitting unseen for just a little it wasn't really that old. And so they said, We're going to use that, let's put that in. And it worked. I mean, we tried to get Pam so many times. We started way pre pandemic. I mean, we started in, I think, 2019 and she was said she wanted to do her own documentary. And she did, she shot hers, and we all saw it. And power to her, and she wanted to just do her own thing. So, you know, that's fine. Everyone has their own thing. Everyone has their own thing. I don't think you really missed her that much in it, because I think we definitely, I don't know, I think, and like you said, how we all had different interviews, like I wanted to redo mine a couple times. I think that because of it was so many different looks and all this. So they kind of just wove together easy. You didn't know what was, what was what, right?

Jeff Dwoskin 4:25

Yeah. If you had that made, was that a Pam Anderson? Was she part of that? I would have said, Absolutely,

Nicole Eggert 4:30

absolutely, right, yeah. So it all worked out, yeah, only in,

Jeff Dwoskin 4:33

like, looking at articles afterward, after the fact. And then I it said, oh, you know, she didn't participate. And I was like, what? Yeah, it was impressive. How many people you were a producer of this. So was this part? Was this partly, like, sorry, to jump backwards for a second. I just want to Okay, was this partly your idea as well? Like, pull this all together? Yeah,

Nicole Eggert 4:53

it was definitely. It was Matt and I talking one day on the phone, and I had been trying to put together a show with some of the women. And and it was, it kept turning into a like a reality show. And I just didn't, it just wasn't feeling right. We met with a lot of networks, and it was all reality stuff. And Matt said, One day, why don't why? Why isn't it a documentary? Because we were talking about documentaries. We're both big buffs. I said, Oh, well, what does that look like? Let's talk about that, and we just started brainstorming moving forward. And I said, Listen, if David Hasselhoff says he's gonna do it, let's go. All shots are fired, let's go. And I called him, and he said, Yeah, he said he would do it. So we just, we rolled from there.

Jeff Dwoskin 5:35

Well, if the Hof is in then, yeah, it was very enjoyable. I found it by accident. I think it was just Hulu was promoting it, you know, when they were doing it, and usually it's the opposite. I was like, Oh, I'm talking to Nicole Edgar. I'm gonna watch stuff. Yeah.

Nicole Eggert 5:49

This happened the opposite.

Jeff Dwoskin 5:51

I like that, which is nice, right? And so, yeah, yeah. It was interesting, because, like, my daughter walks in, she goes, Why are you watching this? I'm like, I'm like, Guys, this is you gotta, like, put it in the in the framework of all Jesus' dad watching a bunch of people in the second bathing suit, yeah, I'm like, you know, Sam, this was the number one show in the world, like in the world in terms of pop culture moments they watch sits, you know, at the top become even, I think, more iconic as time has gone by, you know. So in that, in that framework, I, loved it, and it was, it was interesting to me. I know the women had similar comments, but to hear the guys talk about the body issues and like trying to stay and being in those swimsuits themselves, because you don't usually hear it from the guy's point of view. It's always, it's usually the women, because they're the ones being objectified and all that kind of stuff. And it's like, it was interesting to hear from the guy's point of view, too. Almost,

Nicole Eggert 6:43

like, I don't know if you agree or not, it's almost like the guys cared more than the women, or they were more competitive about it. And yeah, they were, yeah, the guys are funny, but I guess, because very rarely do they have to, like, strip down and be in a Speedo. You know, that's usually the woman's job, right? So, like this has happened for them. So I think it, yeah, it's good fun to watch them struggle with it, too.

Jeff Dwoskin 7:08

Well. I think David asselhoff said it best in one of the one of his interviews, where he says, I'll shoot the scene. And then I go,

Nicole Eggert 7:15

stop breathing, yeah? Because he's been

Jeff Dwoskin 7:18

holding his his whole stomach. But it's, yeah, I can imagine it. I mean, your guy around all these beautiful women, all these beautiful people, it's like, yeah. I mean, I guess it goes. It goes both ways, anyway. So congratulations. Was there any, what, any stories that didn't make it into the documentary? There

Nicole Eggert 7:35

was a lot of stuff that didn't make it. I mean, we have so much footage, it's unbelievable. We could probably do a whole nother documentary. But I think that the key, I think all the important things got in, everything that truly like matters and is colorful and is new. I think a good story that didn't get in, that I was kind of hoping did, is Gina Lee Nolan talking about her sex tape. And I was like, you know, a lot of people had sex tapes back then, you know, she was affected too. It just wasn't as I don't think it was as publicized. So we don't, we don't know about it as much. So I kind of like that factor, but she was, you know, equally violated. Do we call it? I don't know. I don't know what we call that. When somebody gets a hold of your sex tape,

Jeff Dwoskin 8:18

I think violated is a good word. It's

Unknown Speaker 8:20

a good word, right? I

Jeff Dwoskin 8:21

think it's a good word. I it was interesting the impact Pamela and Tommy Lee's had on the show, and both kind of making it so hard for her, and then also, also escalating, yeah,

Nicole Eggert 8:32

I'm glad I was gone by then, because that's that would have been hard to watch, that would have been sad to watch. I think,

Jeff Dwoskin 8:37

I mean, the violation there, it's just, it's just horrible. I watched, uh, did I watch a documentary? I maybe I watched the one where Pam didn't like, where they had reenactments or foot or whatever, also on Hulu, yeah. But, I mean, it's, yeah, it's such a violation. So, yeah. So you're, you're good friends with Jeremy Jackson, yeah, his story, your story, it was, it was nice that you didn't some of the focus wasn't on the folks you would have expected to be. It was interesting to I didn't know much about Jeremy Jackson's journey.

Nicole Eggert 9:09

A lot of people say that, but, you know, he did get a lot of press and and has got a lot of backlash from his story. So it was, it was really great to see, to see him be willing to be open and honest about it all, and for people to receive it, because I think there was the stigmas, like, either you heard about his story or you didn't, and if you had heard about it, you just thought he, like, did drugs and did something bad and was in jail and not really, you know, understanding the whole spectrum of everything that the guy's been through,

Jeff Dwoskin 9:38

right? Yeah, he wasn't on my radar. I mean, in my defense, early 20s, there were other cast members on my radar. 100%

Nicole Eggert 9:49

Yeah, would have been a little worrisome if he was the one on your radar. That would be a whole different topic. But

Jeff Dwoskin 9:56

it was, it was interesting to see the impact of him as such a young child. Child and then growing up on that show. But it was interesting to hear about all of the issues that people had and and all that it was. It was a very interesting perspective the whole documentary, yeah,

Nicole Eggert 10:12

because I think a lot of times people, they say, oh, Baywatch, you know, beautiful, and something bad happened to them. Like, boohoo. You know, you hear a lot of that, and it's just like, Well, wait a minute, slow down. And I think now today, luckily, I think people are in a receiving mode, you know, they're listening, they're understanding. We're much more compassionate. And it just was good timing to to let everybody just, you know, tell their journey, because it hasn't been so easy for all, for everybody, it can be tough, even when you're, you know, so pretty, quote, unquote, it's just, yeah, so I'm glad that got across.

Jeff Dwoskin 10:47

I know Nicole I grew up. It's just, it's been a rough life when you're this adorable, it's rough, it's rough, it's rough. Young people just expect Everything's perfect. You were also very open about your a lot of things, Charles in Charge, Scott Baio, but also cancer diagnosis. I say you're looking good. Thanks. You're looking good. How are you feeling?

Nicole Eggert 11:11

I'm feeling okay. I just had, I just had my surgery, like six days ago. I was literally just now at the doctor getting my drains taken out too much information, probably, but so it's really fresh. It's quite the recovery. I didn't really realize that I was gonna that it was gonna be this hard to recover from. But here I am, and I've stopped the painkillers, which is nice, so now I can drive, yeah, and then I'm just waiting to heal a little bit, and then I'm gonna go back and do some more treatment, and then I will do surgery on the other side and and then hopefully be done with this at some point by next year. It's my goal. Keep

Jeff Dwoskin 11:50

fighting. Yeah, we're all in your corner. Can you share this story of how you self diagnose yourself? I just thought it was a good message, important story. If someone hears that, maybe it's

Nicole Eggert 12:00

really important, because I do my yearly mammograms every October. I am a woman, and this is very common with men as well, that I have dense breast tissue, so I was going undiagnosed. I was and listen, this is not a reason to not go get a mammogram. You have to get the mammograms because they do detect it, even with some dense breast tissue. Mine just the placement, the whole thing, it was undetected. And I felt like throbbing one day, and when I got in the shower, I did the exam, and I felt it, and my heart dropped, because it wasn't small, it was quite large. And I thought, how in the holy hell did I not know that that was there? And the truth is, you just, you don't, unless you're doing yourself exams and you're doing all of the things you can. Miss it. You know, I missed it for a little too long. Had I caught it sooner, this would have been a much easier journey. So I have this thing that says, I this is, I tell people to fill themself up. It's the best thing you can do for yourself. Fill your partner up. Fill yourself up. Men, women, you've got it. You've got to get to know your boobies. You've got to know what they feel like. I just didn't do that. I didn't do the self checks, and I really regret that part. Well, it's,

Jeff Dwoskin 13:10

it's a good message that if you can you know someone hears this, or any of the times that you've said it, it helps one person that, yeah, that's right, that's right. All right. It's always hard to pivot No,

Nicole Eggert 13:22

we just killed the moon.

Jeff Dwoskin 13:25

So, but thank you for sharing that. Yeah, so, well, let's, let's stick with Baywatch, just so we are, and then we can go back in time and work back up. Okay, Baywatch, so you were coming off, Charles in Charge. You're an icon. Everyone knows who are, and so did Baywatch just seemed like the right thing to do at the time.

Nicole Eggert 13:43

No, not really. So what happened is, I was doing Charles in Charge, which was also on a network that was canceled after one season and brought back in syndication, and Baywatch had was following the footsteps and came to the executive producer of Charles in Charge, Al Burton, and asked him to sort of help them along. And he went on as producer, and he wanted to do a spin off, and it would be like a young high school show at the beach, so sort of like 902 on OS by the beach. And so that's where, that's how I got involved. And he said, and I want Nicole to be on it. So we moved over there, thinking that there was going to be a spin off, and the show became the huge success that it is, and they said, We don't want to mess with it. We don't want anything to change. They shot the pilots, but they just aired them as episodes, which was super weird, but anybody who is you know, really was into the series, they would know what I'm talking about. Elizabeth Berkeley, was in it, and we shot it at a high school. It was very much about my school life. When I realized that wasn't really happening and they just wanted me in this, this machine that they had going, that's when I left the show. Because, no, it did not seem like a good idea for me at all.

Jeff Dwoskin 14:55

Even though it's huge, it's like billion people watching the. Show. I know the integrity of the job you wanted versus what it was. And you

Nicole Eggert 15:04

know what? I was so young and like, so all about, like, my vision, that I didn't care that it was the number one show in the world. I was like, get me out of here. And everybody, are you crazy? Are you crazy? And I said, maybe. But it just seemed to me that also everything sort of changed once that show became so popular, different casting directors were calling it was not the same. It just everything sort of changed. And I was like, Well, wait a minute, you know, the same the same jobs weren't there. The same auditions weren't there. Just, you know, we were, at that time, Baywatch bimbos. You know, that's what all the headlines read, Baywatch bimbos. And it was this number one show in the world that nobody would admit they watched and, you know, everybody hated it, but somehow it pulled those ratings. You know, I got scared of that part too, because I had really cared about my career, and I felt like that show, and I suddenly felt myself not really caring about my performance. Certain point I said, this is when I definitely know I have to go like I need, I need to get out. So I did leave the show. You know, no regrets.

Jeff Dwoskin 16:04

So originally, though, if they're talking about your school, then were you originally not even supposed to be a lifeguard? Right?

Nicole Eggert 16:10

I was supposed to be a girl that moved to Los Angeles, had never seen the ocean and never seen the beach, but wanted to be a lifeguard. She was on the swim team, and so it was. It was sort of this rookie lifeguard, like a junior lifeguard. And they did carry that through the show a bit before I made it as a lifeguard. But yeah, so it would be more about us trying out to be lifeguards while juggling school and drama and all of the relationship, all of that. So yeah, it was going to be more of a combination.

Jeff Dwoskin 16:40

Sounds like a good show.

Nicole Eggert 16:42

I know I really like the idea. I still like the idea, but that didn't happen.

Jeff Dwoskin 16:47

So the spin off, and then you came back for Hawaii, which was sort of like, it's interesting, because the different people that are iconic at different times weren't this, like, there's probably, I'm imagined before doing after Baywatch, there were people that you'd never actually worked with on Baywatch. Maybe you met them at the Hawaii because you never worked with Gina Lee, right? And then you met her in the Hawaii episode,

Nicole Eggert 17:10

right? Yes. So I've met a lot of people at parties and events and things like that. So I have, I have sort of met everybody, and did sort of know everybody. It just we hadn't worked together on the show on screen at all. No. So you're right. It's funny who they invite back and who they don't. I was in such a different place in my life. I had just, I didn't just I was a I was a new mom. I think my daughter was three or four, so I was kind of excited to go back to Baywatch. I was like, in shape. I worked out. I never worked out before. I was like, look at these crazy people waking up before work and working out. I never understood that at all, you know, I was just at such a different place. So I thought it'd be really fun to go revisit it. And it was fun. It was that was and to shoot it in Hawaii was always whenever we were in Santa Monica, and it was freezing and it was like, raining and it was dirty and it was gross. I was like, why aren't we in Hawaii? Why aren't we in Hawaii, you know. So it was really fun to just get to do it like the way I always envisioned it, and how I wished it would have happened. So

Jeff Dwoskin 18:08

besides Jeremy, who do you is there other folks that you keep in touch with?

Nicole Eggert 18:13

I do. Erica alaniak is one of my favorite people. I talk to Alexandra Paul all the time, who's amazing. Gina, I talked to Brandi Roderick a little bit, both brandies, Carmen, David chocochi, I talked to quite a bit, Angelica bridges, and I sort of stay in touch, especially social media, yeah. So sort of like, yeah, we just call reach out and yeah, it's like a great big dysfunctional family.

Jeff Dwoskin 18:39

So some of those folks, like, with the the Baywatch bimbo tag that you had mentioned. So some of those folks came from Playboy. They were famous from Playboy and stuff like that. So I could see where, like, maybe that went together. I'm not saying they are, I'm just perception. But you got the same kind of tag, the same stigma, because you had, you had some you would you were coming in with legit credits. I mean, you were like, who's the boss? You were like, Charles in Charge, yeah, TJ hooker. TJ hooker, yeah.

Nicole Eggert 19:05

I mean, I worked with George Cougar. I worked with Michael Chapman. I had a great resume. I did a lot of great work before we watch. There was a lot of great projects I worked on. So, yeah, it was a little bit hard. It was a little bit of a punch to the gut when I started reading those headlines. All

Jeff Dwoskin 19:23

right, well, let's talk about some of those other awesome things. So you got started, Miss Universe. Did you win the Miss Universe? Petite,

Nicole Eggert 19:31

I did. My mom put me in, like, a local Huntington Beach beauty pageant, and then you win. And, like, I don't know, like, goes up you and higher and higher and higher. And I hated these beauty pageant things. Hated it. I would go because all the venues had big, huge, wonderful pools, and so I'd always like, all right, if I can swim in the pool, I'll go do this beauty pageant. My mom loved it for some reason. Yeah, I ended up winning. And I won Little Miss Universe, and it was televised, and the host, like, brought me out. They were like. Featured me on the on the grown up Miss Universe, his phone just started ringing from there, and I booked, like, Johnson and Johnson's baby shampoo, copper tone, like I just tell I started doing Barbie commercials, like my whole world changed. And it was, it was amazing.

Jeff Dwoskin 20:15

Oh, so you alright, so you're Miss Universe petite. And then, okay, so now you're the Johnson and Johnson, so no tears. And then, yeah. And then, were you the copper tone baby?

Nicole Eggert 20:27

The copper tone kid, yeah, I was like, they wanted to reenact, I think the original is Jodie Foster and they wanted to reenact their logo. Yeah, it was so fun. And I, you know, I grew up a copper tone baby. I grew up in Huntington Beach, constantly putting on copper tone, still my favorite. And then Mattel and Barbies, I was like, you get to see all the toys before they come out. And you get to, like, put your hands on them and play with them before they're even out on the market. So many fun things. Yeah,

Jeff Dwoskin 20:52

awesome. So I was digging into IMDb, and so when hell was in session, yeah, the only piece of trivia, you know, I love to go into IMDb, and then you get the trivia, the only trivia on when hell was in session starring hell Holbrook, Ronnie Cox and many others, Nicole Eggerts debut. That's it. That's it. That's it. That's the only trivia for this 1979 TV movie when hell was in session is the fact that this was Nicole Eggert's debut, that's hysterical. So was that school? That's cool, yeah.

Nicole Eggert 21:26

And that's and that's not even true, but, you know, leave it to good old IMDb, like they get it wrong with me every single time. But

Jeff Dwoskin 21:34

that's cool. There's worse things to get wrong. What? So what would you consider, what was your literal then debut? I mean, besides commercials, besides commercials,

Nicole Eggert 21:41

commercials, I think it was an ABC movie of the week. Remember those? And it was with Cheryl Ladd and Robert uric called when she was bad. It was about child abuse, and that was my first like acting gig.

Jeff Dwoskin 21:52

I did look that up, and in the description, I found it funny that they referred to Robert yurik is Robbie, and your name was Bobby. And I'm like, and like, your mother daughter, and I'm like, Robbie and Bobby. I mean, isn't that even the same name? It's weird. It is weird. I won't Okay, okay. And then you've done voice work along the way, but early on, you were in the Dennis, the menace, yeah, Margaret, and you have done a lot of, a lot, a lot of cool things. And then, how did you end up on fantasy island? But not The Love Boat?

Nicole Eggert 22:24

I don't know. And I ended up on fantasy island twice. Both of them were, like, my favorite shows. I would have to say, though, that fantasy island was like, right above Love Boat and my favorites. So I don't think I cared at that point. I was like, That was everything to me, being Fantasy Island. One of my favorite things I've done in my life, in my career, is fantasy island. It just because, you know, I love everything beach and tropical, and then it was sort of magical. So it was all these things that I just it. And then you get there and you see the set, you know, just so excited for my whole fantasy to be unraveled, you know, and to like, see what is this really like, and those cars that they would drive with the little canopies above them, and the dirt roads were like rubber mats, and all the trees were like potted, you know. And I was like, this is the coolest, coolest thing, you know, like the movie, magic of it. That was my kind of, my moment in my life, where I fell in love with that side of it, where I knew was I was watching on TV, and then to to see all the behind the scenes was so fantastic, so cool.

Jeff Dwoskin 23:24

Did you get to hear him say to play into playing?

Nicole Eggert 23:28

Oh yeah, her baby villages was one of my favorite things about the whole deal. We were like two kids running around playing like, and we would like, leave the set and go play around the lot and, and I always remember he always had a gun, and it was for his protection, for self, you know, his self protection. And it just was just the weirdest but most fun experience ever, like he purvey villages was like my best friend for a week. It was, it was weird and cool.

Jeff Dwoskin 23:56

It does sound both weird and cool. Yeah, yeah. It is okay. So you mentioned, you mentioned TJ hooker. You were Chrissy hooker, yes, TJ hooker's daughter, yeah, William Shatner was your TV dad.

Nicole Eggert 24:09

Yeah, he was, he's really great. We ended up being recast because we got too old looking for what he wanted. You know, in his age, whatever, whatever happened happened, and we aged out of that. We aged out of that at like, 10.

Jeff Dwoskin 24:25

You're too old now. Yeah, you're

Nicole Eggert 24:27

too old. Get lost. Go kick rocks, kid, yeah. Oh,

Jeff Dwoskin 24:30

that is funny. Have you ever seen William Shatner at a con or anything since?

Nicole Eggert 24:34

Do you know? I really haven't, but I was on the phone or something with someone one time, or someone was with him somewhere, and left me a message or something, which was very cool. And he said, Hi, I would love to run into him. He was, he was like, true movie star to work with in those days. You know, he was like, he was the guy. He was, he was, he was a movie star, even though it was TV. Yeah,

Jeff Dwoskin 24:58

right, right, right. He was. Well, Captain Kirk, he was at our Comic Con, and we just went to see his panel. I mean, he just sits down and just, oh, he just starts on story after story after story. It was so great. All right, sorry to interrupt, but I have to take a quick break. I got a son burn. I was laying out in the sun trying to impress Nicole, and that did not work out well. So you take a quick break, but I do want to thank everyone for the support of the sponsors. When you support the sponsors, you're supporting us here at Classic conversations, and that's how we keep the lights on. And now back to my amazing conversation with Nicole Eggert. All right, let's continue through some more of your awesome stuff. There's what I call the nostalgia period where you appeared in lump in a reality show. I Dream of Jeannie 15 years later, the new Leave It to Beaver, blue list TV show, and then the real Gilligan's Island. You played Jim. Oh

Nicole Eggert 25:51

yeah. Oh good lord,

Jeff Dwoskin 25:55

scary. Sort of bring it back to life. Some of the classics in that, oh yeah, this being the more modern of those classics. But

Nicole Eggert 26:01

yeah, yeah, the Gilligan's Island was a trip, because also one of my favorite shows would love to be on Gilligan's Island. And so when that came about, they wouldn't really tell us much. It was in the beginning when reality was just sort of breaking out. What I mean, it was like a reality competition thing that was just they left us in the middle of like the jungle in Mexico near Cancun. And yes, the little village looked just like Gilligan's Island, which was cool during the day, and scary, AF at night, like so scary, I don't even know. And they left me in this like long gold ball gown. And then there was, like, physical things we had to do, like swimming and running and everything. So I was just sitting there, like, how am I gonna get rid of this dress? You know, like, so I was like, finding things to cut the dress, to make the dress shorter, so I could actually move my legs and not be, not drown underwater. They ended up finally giving us a bathing suit. But it was just, it was very weird and it was scary. And there are a lot of crazy critters in those jungles, both human and animal, and in those woods, in those jungles, and whatever you call that, it was scary. There's black panthers out there. There's some weird rabbit looking thing that they're like, stay clear of that. I don't even know what it was, snakes like, everywhere, so many snakes. And then you have like, drugs washing to shore, onto the shore, where all the turtles have just laid their eggs. And it's like, beauty meets the real world and and then you see military guys in the early hours, like, walking up, patrolling the beaches. It just was another so beautiful, so fun, so weird experiences. It just was, it was crazy. So I had to go back to that part of Mexico so that I could enjoy it, so I could go there, and it'd be a resort from beginning to end, because it really is a beautiful place. I was so scared. It was so scary.

Jeff Dwoskin 27:56

How was Barbara Eden to work with? And I Dream of Jeannie

Nicole Eggert 27:59

amazing. I didn't get to spend so much time with her, but again, a movie star I was, I loved, I dream of Genie too. I grew up on that show, one of my favorites. I love her to death. So that was a huge honor. And and yes, it was years later. So it's interesting when you go to these things as a kid and you're like, you don't know what to expect. You don't know who's who. You don't realize that people have aged and, you know, all, all of the stuff. I remember being on the Leave It to Beaver and looking at the pictures on the wall going, I don't know who, who's who, because they were all like grown men that were the original cast. You know, it was just funny trying to put it all together without asking, and, you know, being rude, but it's and then finally, by the end of the day, you have it all figured out. It's just Yeah, but Barbara Eden, amazing. Just one of my faves.

Jeff Dwoskin 28:44

I just discovered some Barbara Eden videos on YouTube where she's singing. Oh, I guess she was a singer. Like Google. Barbara Eden, son of a preacher man, when you get a chance,

Nicole Eggert 28:53

Oh, I definitely will. Well, you know, those, uh, recording contracts were going around, like, like, the sex tape contracts were going around the 80s. It was recording every day offer. I got record offers for record I was like, you've never heard me sing. This is something terrible. This is a terrible thing that should never be recorded. And they said it doesn't matter. It doesn't matter everybody does it. I was like, Well, it matters to me, because if anybody ever asked me to sing or that means I could never perform live, like it matters to me. So I never did it. Same with the sex tape. I never took one of those offers, either, but they were throwing them around, like, like candy, like it was nothing. So I'm not surprised. She has an album. Oh,

Jeff Dwoskin 29:28

they were trying to solicit sex tapes, like,

Nicole Eggert 29:31

oh for sure. Oh for sure. Yeah, we get offers. This is what's gonna look like. This is how much you'll make. This is where it will go. What are we talking about here? Oh, God, this a real phone call. Is this really happening? Yeah,

Jeff Dwoskin 29:43

oh man. Okay. And this is pretty Diddy.

Nicole Eggert 29:47

This is way pretty Diddy. Nobody's offering me that now. That's not happening now.

Jeff Dwoskin 29:54

All right, so you went through all those, bring back all the old shows. That was such a great time. I loved living through that. Period where they brought back all the movies, where they'd bring back all those folks. So it was fun. And then, who's the boss? Yeah, iconic show. Few, seven episodes or so, Alyssa Milano,

Nicole Eggert 30:11

yeah, I left there to go do Charles in Charge. Yeah. Alyssa Milano had moved here from New York to do the show. They really wanted her to have, you know, friends and, like, meet people. And then they thought, you know, it all kind of went well that have friends in real life, and introduced that she just moved to a new neighborhood on her show. And, yeah, and I was lucky enough to be cast as her friend, Marcy Ferguson. And was my first experience really doing a lot of that four camera stage shooting like that, which really doesn't exist anymore, and it was just so much fun. So it was a, really, the best people to learn from that cast. It's just like, I don't know if you could like you. You couldn't pay to have better teachers, you know, and to watch better actors do their thing and, you know, learn from So, yeah, I was very blessed to get that show.

Jeff Dwoskin 30:59

Are you still in touch with Alyssa Milana, yes, I

Nicole Eggert 31:02

just saw her in New York. She is doing Chicago. She's playing Roxy on Chicago. So she was out there rehearsing. So I went to go see her also perform Isaac mirahi Does like a cabaret. And she went and sing one of her songs, one of the songs from Chicago. And so I went out there to go see her and support her, and she I text with her the other day. I right before she started so and I haven't, I haven't texted with her yet. She was so nervous, and I was so excited for her, and it looks like she's having the time of her life. Which stage work is always so amazing. So, yeah, yeah, we are good friends still.

Jeff Dwoskin 31:38

That's awesome. Do you have any interactions with any bonding with Tony Danza? Yes,

Nicole Eggert 31:42

yes. He was amazing to work under, and he was so kind and so funny and brought such a good energy all the time to the set. And I hadn't, I have not seen him in many, many years, but anytime I did run into him after, he's just always so he's such a he's such a professional. He's just such, such a good guy. He's one of those good, good guys.

Jeff Dwoskin 32:03

I met him at a comic con. He was so nice. He was so nice, right? Oh, man, this is a nice, nice guy. Okay, so sorry. So you leave there, Charles in Charge, you mentioned it for a second, but like the first season, just like Baywatch, where there was the season existed, and then they pretty much revamped the entire show. And then in the revamp, I guess you mentioned it went into syndication, that's when you came in. Had you even been aware of it prior, or once they revamped it, they somehow you got on your radar.

Nicole Eggert 32:35

I mean, yeah, I kind of didn't. I'm not sure I was aware of the show or not. But Al Burton was somebody I auditioned for all the time. And he had always said to me, I want to, I'm going to put you in a show. We have to find the right one. We have to find the right one. So I would audition for him all the time. And so I was very familiar with him and his office. And then Charles in Charge, came up and he said, I think I found the show. I think we have the show. So I lucked out there too,

Jeff Dwoskin 32:59

Charles. Would you say, Charles, the charges where you rose to iconic status, that fair,

Nicole Eggert 33:05

but I would imagine, I think that's when people started, you know, I was like, I was finally, like, a regular on a show in people's living rooms. So I guess so. Do you like

Jeff Dwoskin 33:13

talking about it? Do I, you know? I mean, like, as I know, there was the whole, uh, sexual abuse that happened, there's that part, yeah, is this, can you, I don't know. I don't wanna say, like, Hey, did you always watch it? Did you enjoy being on the show knowing that that is there, like, a piece of it that you can look back?

Nicole Eggert 33:31

Yes, you know, it's funny. It's funny that you say that. Because, yes, there was a very dark situation happening, and it was a very horrible time, but also it was a really great time and a really fun time when you're actually like, working and on set doing what you're there supposed to be doing. You know, such a fun, such a fun experience to to be a regular on a show like that, to, you know, to be part of something like that, outside of the darkness that was on that set, everything else was great, you know, life was really good life, you know, I had a great home life. I had a great social life with other kids that were in the industry. And it was a really fun time, I think, in the world, in the 80s, you know, I just think what a fun time it was. Music was so fun, and so many fun shows. And so there were a lot of great things too,

Jeff Dwoskin 34:21

awesome. You know,

Nicole Eggert 34:22

it was part of, like, was hard for me to talk about that I for so long, never really wanted to do, because I didn't want to taint the show. I didn't want to taint people's like, like, exactly what just happened, you know? I don't, I don't want that to be because there was a really great aspect to it. So, but I feel like

Jeff Dwoskin 34:38

part of your message now, and it's in the after Baywatch documentary too. You touch on this as well. You discuss your time there. It's an inspiration in terms of speaking your truth, being open about these things, and between that and your health battles, and being open about it, and giving people like a path to like follow if any of this is happening to them. I think, is highly commendable.

Nicole Eggert 35:02

Thank you. Yeah, secrets are bad, secrets, especially trauma secrets, they will keep. They will they will make you sick. I think we're finally in an era, in a time where people will listen and there's so much help out there. No matter what you're going through. It's the best of times to be able to reach out and get help for anything you're struggling with, quite honestly.

Jeff Dwoskin 35:22

All right, so Charles and Charles, now we go into Baywatch. We've come full circle. Look at that. We're back to the beach with Baywatch. You talked about a spin off, potential spin off when they were bringing you on, married with children. Similar situation. There. Backdoor pilot,

Nicole Eggert 35:38

similar situation. Yeah, they were doing a pilot for spin off. I auditioned for that man. That was a lot of pressure. That was like, I went in, I was like, rushed. It was like, this last minute, or they were casting last. They were casting fast. I remember that I was somewhere else doing something, and this audition came through, and I rushed over there, and I had happened to have on, like a leopard bra. So I, like, opened up my shirt, you know, I was, like, trying to make myself like this character, and I just went in there and just went for it. And they, they hired me that evening. I remember them going, she's got it. She nailed it. And then after that, that time of, after of, like, when I booked the job, to when we started shooting, it was like, Oh my God, what did I even do in that audition? You know, what was it? So it was just a lot of it was a lot of pressure. The show didn't go anywhere. But another great set to be on. Alan Thicke I had known for years too, who was always fun to be around. And Christina Applegate, David Fauci, know, all these people like that I knew and had grown up with. So a pretty comfortable set to be on, and they're just so encouraging. All those people are just like good, solid people. So that helped a lot. Yeah, I

Jeff Dwoskin 36:46

just interviewed someone who was with the show for most of its run. I

Nicole Eggert 36:50

listened. I listened to that episode. Yeah? I listened. Yeah, I did. Oh,

Jeff Dwoskin 36:54

thank you. Yeah, podcast too. We'll talk about in a second. Okay, look at this. Did we just become best friends. But it was, it was just, it was just interesting, like, to have met those people, I don't know exactly when, but like, how famous they became later, you know? I mean, it's just like, like, incredible. Like, how this, all of them just,

Nicole Eggert 37:15

oh yeah, came

Jeff Dwoskin 37:16

these huge stars. Yeah, hang on. I'm still, still got goose bumps. So you listen to my podcast. Okay, so this one I thought was, I found this on your IMDB, which I thought was, this should be a higher up on the Gary Busey daughter in an hour limits, Episode,

Nicole Eggert 37:34

whoa, whoa. All I can say is, whoa. Weird. Weirdness. Weirdest thing, you know, our limits already, you're going into a weird, you know, a weird energy. And then we were playing like Christian Baptist, like healers, scam artists. So weird topic. And then he's, he's a lot, he's a lot. He's a character, yeah, I mean, yeah, I don't know. I don't know what to say it was. I got along well with him, luckily. Thank god

Jeff Dwoskin 38:05

he's a character. He's just, yeah,

Nicole Eggert 38:07

it's, it's a lot, it's a lot to work with. I just

Jeff Dwoskin 38:11

thought I was like, oh, that's yeah. And then how is it doing? Or being a part of, or being at the the comedy central roast of David Hassel off good times.

Nicole Eggert 38:21

Really good time. You know, David is a good he was, he took it really well. He was having a fun time. Pam, they roasted on. Pam, she was not taking it so well. And then I remember Seth McFarlane turns to me in the audience and says my name and starts talking. And I just was like, I'm gonna, like, wet myself here. Like, Oh, I was not prepared, but he ended up saying something complimentary, which I'm pretty sure there's only 1% of people have something said complimentary about them at one of these rows. And he went and he moved on. And I was like, Oh, my God, what just happened? Like I was holding my breath. He scared the shit out of me, and he ended up saying something complimentary, and I just, I was able to breathe again. And roasts are really funny, I mean, but to have it done on you, you have to really be prepared. I think you have to be in the right mindset, and you have to be prepared. Yeah,

Jeff Dwoskin 39:14

they're brutal on those shows, oh yeah. And sometimes not more brutal to the people, I think, then the Rob Lowe one, I think, I mean, they destroyed Ann Coulter. I mean, I just like,

Nicole Eggert 39:25

that's the people around. They get it hard, yeah, yeah, they get it

Jeff Dwoskin 39:29

oh, you know what? I The other thing from the after Baywatch, Scott Grimes and Debbie, Debbie Gibson singing the theme song, yeah, it's funny. Because, like, Scott Grimes. He was hilarious. Like, I love seeking a Seth McFarland, the Orville loved that show. You stuck to Scott. They get finally bring back the thing you should get on that show. That's the one of the best shows. Seth McFarland, a genius. Anyway, okay, anyway, like, but they'd let Scott sing on that show a lot. And then if you are at least a bunch of times, and then if you. Google it, you can find other things. That guy's got him. He has a really good voice. So I was like, I was excited when I saw that part of the documentary. And he's like, I'm like, That was him. I didn't even know that was him and Debbie Gibson. And I was like, I thought that was really cool. I love that. You like

Nicole Eggert 40:13

what I did there. Yes, he's funny because the the theme song, I've known Scott since we were really little, so I've always heard him sing, and he's just got one of those voices. The theme song was so important, and we were going to offer it to David Hasselhoff. And you know, all things come everything's a blessing. I swear to God, every time you hit a wall, things are blessings. And so I thought, who could sing that song like? Who could carry that note? And Scott just popped into my head, and I was like, Scott, he could sing that song. It's not an easy song to sing at all. So I called him and I said, Would you ever and he's like, I absolutely would. And then he said, Why don't we have Debbie on? And I thought even more genius, like, let's go. And it was everything I wanted it to be. I still, I get chills every time I listen to it. I love it. So it's probably one of my most proudest things I am The documentary is putting that together, because not everybody knows, right? So only if you know his work and you know who he is. You get that little easter egg of, like, what just happened there,

Jeff Dwoskin 41:10

right, right, right, right. It's a great theme song. I mean, yeah, I think they're coming out with, like, a serious kind of version of Baywatch. I feel like, right after your documentary ran. I started seeing these ads for like this,

Nicole Eggert 41:23

like high tide rescue or something, yeah, but you can

Jeff Dwoskin 41:27

see when they were that was interesting part of the documentary. Also when they were talking about the pitch, it was like, oh, yeah, this could have been, like a Chicago Fire, you know, like, like a real serious, very specific thing, but, you know, which was supposed

Nicole Eggert 41:38

to be, yeah, it was, it was supposed to be. That's what I thought it was. Yeah, and, you know, like, that's where I when I went into it, that's what I thought it was. So, you know, imagine my shock when Pamela Anderson, who I already knew as well, steps out in like, full glam and I was like, does she know she's going in the water? You know, they're, like, trying to put mascara on me. I was like, Guys, I'm jumping in the water and, you know, a few minutes like, I'm gonna look crazy. No makeup. I was totally on the wrong page. So I agree. What a fun concept.

Jeff Dwoskin 42:09

So fun talk to me about perfectly twisted with Nicole Eggert, your podcast. I thought we had, I saw there was a few folks, Mark price, Anson Williams, William Hung that we both have talked to. Those are fun folks to talk to. How did you get into the podcast world?

Nicole Eggert 42:26

People had been saying to me, Oh, I always get like, I would always get Have you written a book? Do you have a podcast? Have you written a book? Do you have a podcast? I was like, No, I haven't written a book. And no, I don't have a podcast. I was talking to my friend, who's my co host, Dave Palais. I did his and he said to me, you know, if you ever really, truly interested in doing one like, I can help you out and show you, like, how to get it started and all of that. And I was like, Well, do I do it with me? Because that could be fun. And, you know, we I started it, and I thought, well, let's just see. Let's just see how it goes. And I actually really enjoy it. I actually really have a good time. It's really opened me up and made me much more comfortable talking for a certain amount of time. I used to be very like, I don't know, you know, and then, like, exhausted by the end of an interview, like, so ridiculous. So it's really taken, like, a lot of that pressure off and made me be able to just be more comfortable in this sort of setting, and just the things like that we talk about and that we learn and the people I meet. It's really kind of fantastic.

Jeff Dwoskin 43:25

It's a fun way to be able to reconnect with people. Like, imagine if I just reached out and said, You gotta Hey, Jeff Dwoskin, just wants to talk to you. Nicole, okay, that doesn't work. Hey, Jeff, this guy's got podcasts. He'd like to have you on, like, oh, yeah, okay,

Nicole Eggert 43:42

yeah, let's do it. That seems, I know, normal,

Jeff Dwoskin 43:44

okay,

Nicole Eggert 43:47

right? But I think podcast is very much, you know, the future, and I think it's very much fun for people to be able to have their own platforms and take it where they want to take it, and not have anybody telling them what to do and how to do it. So, you know, I think it's, I think it's, I think it's just such a great concept. Yeah,

Jeff Dwoskin 44:03

I love it. It's so fun. Is there anything else that you've done that you just says, maybe being on Sugar Ray's debut album, like that? You that you're like, Okay, this is the thing I do that no one talks about. Is it the Dog Who Saved Easter?

Nicole Eggert 44:19

You know it. I mean, come on again, voice work. Back to voice work. You've

Jeff Dwoskin 44:23

done a lot of voice work. You are in Duck man, like,

Nicole Eggert 44:26

yeah, I love being in the studio. I really, and I'm, I am quite good at when it comes to, like, ADR work, when you have to, you know, for anybody who doesn't know when you record, when you're shooting a show, especially a show like Baywatch, a lot of times the sound is muffled or not good or really low quality. So we go back in and you have to match your, you know, your words to your mouth. I'm really good at it, so they always like me, and I'm always out of there really fast. So, but I love being in the studio. It's so fun. What? It's such a fun place to be. And I can't sing, so there's nothing else that gets me in there except voice. Work.

Jeff Dwoskin 45:00

You can't sing, but they still gave you a contract or wanted to. Yeah, they offered me one. They sure did rules. They could make anyone sound good, like with the tuning and stuff like that. Yeah,

Nicole Eggert 45:09

they would have tuned the heck out of it, like Milli Vanilli, but it's like, but for what I don't know.

Jeff Dwoskin 45:14

And then the final thing your Corey Haim era, I suppose you did three movies with Corey Haim, engaged for a short period of time, maybe, and then just working with the Coreys. I mean, that's like, I feel like that's pure 90s. Your

Nicole Eggert 45:29

90s, yeah, so 90s, yes. It was funny because he got offered the show double O kid, the movie double O kid, which was one we did together, and he, he asked for me to be the for me to be cast alongside of him. And what a weird script, what a weird show, what a weird movie, but fun a lot of these weird that sometimes, the weirder they are, the more fun it is, because you're like, What am I doing here? This? What's going on? I think I was on roller skates for most of the movie. But anyway, so we were shooting that together, and then blown away came up. I think it was, yeah, blown away came up. They knew we were working together, and they offered it to both of us. So we went out to Canada. We were shooting blown away. And then just one of the girls, which we did, knew that we were both out there working together, and offered us both the project. So we stayed in Canada and went over and did just one of the girls,

Jeff Dwoskin 46:19

also called anything for love? Oh, it

Nicole Eggert 46:22

is, oh, I didn't know, unaware, yeah, I

Jeff Dwoskin 46:24

just, I didn't either. I was like, Wait, I thought there was only three movies and there was four. And I read, oh, the one was they renamed it? It was both names. Did you guys? I mean, you're pretty intimate, at least, and blown away. I mean, is it does that? Like, is it easy to fall in love with people that you're working with? Like, in that sense, when you're

Nicole Eggert 46:40

well, listen, I knew Cory, you're doing it's a bit of both, to be honest. And I knew Corey from when he first moved to Los Angeles, when he did Lucas. I met Corey right away, and we were all friends. Scott Corey, Alyssa, Christina Applegate, all of us. We were all in the same crew. We all hung out together. We all became fast friends. So I'd known him for a long time. We had sort of dated as 1314, year olds, and so, you know, this was us later in life, and, yeah, we started messing around, you know, being together again on set. It happens on sets. It really does. It's like, it's not a habit. I like to, I don't like to make it a habit. It's, I don't, I haven't had many set romances. Let's put it that way. But he and I, yes, we just start getting involved, and he proposed, and then we got back to LA and, you know, reality sets in and, like, wait a minute, wait a dang minute. Here. We gotta figure this out. So, um, yeah, but, I mean, I loved him dearly. Yes,

Jeff Dwoskin 47:39

quite a loss. I mean, but if you were gonna pick a Corey, that's the one. Oh, yeah

Nicole Eggert 47:43

for sure. Yeah,

Jeff Dwoskin 47:45

Nicole, thank you so much for hanging out with me. This was so much fun to hear all your stories. I appreciate you very much.

Nicole Eggert 47:52

Thanks for having me. I enjoyed it myself.

Jeff Dwoskin 47:55

Awesome. All right, goes to all my podcasts.

Nicole Eggert 47:57

Okay, well, I'll go put it on. I will.

Jeff Dwoskin 48:02

You're awesome. Thank you. All right, how amazing is Nicole Eggert, so amazing. Definitely check out our podcast. Check out the documentary after Baywatch. Go binge Baywatch. Go watch anything. Y'all so much. Nicole Eggert, content awaits you. Dive in. Get it. Baywatch. Dive anyway. Okay. Anyway. Episode has come to an end. Thanks again to Nicole Eggert for hanging out with me. Thanks to all of you for coming back week after week. It means the world to me, and I'll see you next time.

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