Nicole Eggert is opening up about the not-so-glamorous side of starring on Baywatch.
On a recent episode of the Still Here Hollywood podcast, the actress, best known for playing Summer Quinn, shared what it was really like behind the scenes after she joined the hit series in 1992.
Eggert originally signed on for a planned Baywatch spin-off, which she described as a high school-style show — think Beverly Hills, 90210, but at the beach with teenage lifeguards in training. But when Baywatch exploded in popularity, that spin-off was scrapped.
“They were like, ‘Forget the spin-off. This is what’s working, and we’re sticking with it,’” Eggert recalled.
She stayed on Baywatch for two seasons but eventually left — not because of drama, but because the show had turned into something very different from what she’d envisioned.
“I had this idea that if I walked away, I could distance myself from the stigma the show had created for all of us as actors — which, looking back, wasn’t realistic,” she said.
That Baywatch reputation followed her off-screen too, especially in her dating life.
“People already had these ideas about who I was. And it makes it harder for someone to really get to know you, because they’re bringing all these assumptions to the table,” she said. Eggert added that she’s nothing like the characters she’s portrayed, which often threw people off.
When host Steve Kmetko asked what it was like being on the world’s most-watched show, Eggert didn’t sugarcoat it.
“Weird,” she said simply. “We were being torn apart in the press.”
Despite the show’s success, Eggert said the media attention was overwhelmingly negative — and it hurt her career. Casting offers stopped coming in.
“We were labeled ‘Baywatch bimbos’ — just eye candy on the beach. It was all about T&A,” she said. “And yet it was the No. 1 show. Total contradiction. It was a mess.”
Although she left the series in the mid-’90s, Eggert returned briefly in 2003 for the reunion movie Baywatch: Hawaiian Wedding.
Looking back, she told People magazine in 2024 that she didn’t fully understand what she was signing up for back in the day.
“I remember showing up on day one thinking, ‘Wait, we’re going to be in bathing suits every day?’” she said. “All the girls were tiny and fit, and I was like, ‘Uh-oh.’ And those one-piece suits? Not flattering. I hated wearing them.”
At just 18 years old, during a break from filming, Eggert chose to get breast implants — a decision she later regretted.
“I look at young girls doing it now and think, ‘Just leave your bodies alone!’” she said. “But when you’re that flat in a one-piece suit and it’s literally pleating across the front… there’s nothing you can do. You can’t pad it. You can’t fix it.”
Over the years, Eggert underwent multiple procedures. In 2015, she appeared on Botched seeking a breast reduction. Then in early 2024, she shared even more personal news: she had been diagnosed with breast cancer.
Eggert first noticed something was wrong in October 2023. She had gained 25 pounds in three months and felt intense pain in her breast, which she initially thought was menopause-related. But during a self-exam, she found a lump.
“It was throbbing and really painful,” she told People. “My doctor said I needed to get it looked at right away — but the earliest appointment I could get wasn’t until the end of November.”
She was eventually diagnosed with stage 2 cribriform carcinoma, a rare form of breast cancer. Both of her parents also battled cancer.
Despite all she’s faced, Eggert has continued to speak honestly about her journey — from body image issues in Hollywood to her health battle — shedding light on what life behind the fame is really like.
