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It’s been 18 years since David Hasselhoff and the rest of the Baywatch crew ceased showing up in syndication all over the planet, but as anyone who watched Baywatch, will tell you, viewers still have a very vivd recollection of the iconic red swimsuit that all of the female lifeguards wore on the show.
After the first season of Baywatch on NBC the show was actually cancelled and the show’s production company GTG Entertainment went out of business.
That’s when The Hoff stepped in, given the title of executive producer, and the series blew up in syndication, especially internationally.
242 episodes, a spin-off (Baywatch Nights), and three films later (Baywatch the Movie: Forbidden Paradise, Baywatch: White Thunder at Glacier Bay, and Baywatch: Hawaiian Wedding) and Hasselhoff was a household name.
Despite the show going through dozens of actors as lifeguards in those 242 episodes, there was always once constant, however, the guys in their red shorts, and the ladies in their red one-piece swimsuits.
This past weekend the New York Times decided to revisit those iconic red swimsuits by interviewing some of the famous people who wore them.
The woman best known for rocking the red Baywatch swimsuit, Pamela Anderson, said, “Some people bring me bathing suits to sign autographs on and they are these big bathing suits and I say, ‘Listen, my bathing suit was tiny. It just stretched and pulled onto your body.'”
Anderson also said that even at age 52 now, she can still fit into the iconic swimsuit, and likes to wear it on dates.
Ms. Anderson is proud to still fit in her original suit and admits to slipping into it every now and then, if the mood strikes, surprising whomever she’s dating. “I jump in the shower with a bathing suit and then jump on them wherever they are in the house, soaking wet,” she said.
Sounds like a party.
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Fun fact: The show was only officially titled Baywatch for its first two seasons. From season three through season 11, the show’s title was Baywatch: Hawaii.
Throughout the show’s 11-year run Hasselhoff, AKA Mitch Buchannon, worked with a plethora of different lifeguards: Jeremy Jackson, Parker Stevenson, Erika Eleniak, Alexandra Paul, Nicole Eggert, David Charvet, Yasmine Bleeth, Gena Lee Nolin, David Chokachi, Donna D’Errico, Traci Bingham, Angelica Bridges, Kelly Packard, Brooke Burns, Jason Momoa (yes, THAT Jason Momoa), Krista Allen, Brande Roderick, Carmen Electra, and Pamela Anderson, just to name a few of the more recognizable names.
That… is a lot of different lifeguards.
Fun Fact #2: Carmen Electra only appeared in one season of Baywatch and Pamela Anderson only appeared in four of the show’s 11 seasons. (Jason Momoa appeared in seasons 10 and 11, in case you were wondering.)
As for some of the other ladies who wore the famous swimsuit back in the day…
Erika Eleniak says that she loved the suit so much she hasn’t “worn a bikini in probably 30 years.”
Carmen Electra revealed that she has her suit framed “and when people come over to the house, they get really excited. It just has this effect on people. It was empowering.”
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Kelly Packard eventually had to wear a suit previously worn by Alexandra Paul because the one she was issued “was barely covering anything.”
Nicole Eggert also loved the suit, but didn’t like the tan lines it created, saying it looked like she “wore a white one-piece” when she was naked.
That could be problematic.
Read the entire fascinating piece and bring back some fond memories over at the New York Times.