“When it was good, it was amazing, when it was bad, it was the worst,” former TV babe explains on Where Are They Now

Oct 21, 2014 13:42 GMT  ·  By
Carmen Electra gets teary-eyed speaking of her mother’s death on Oprah’s Where Are They Now
   Carmen Electra gets teary-eyed speaking of her mother’s death on Oprah’s Where Are They Now

Carmen Electra, former MTV VJ and “Baywatch” babe and apparently permanent resident hottie, was one of the three guests on the latest episode of Where Are They Now, the Oprah-hosted talk show on OWN that helps fans catch up with their favorite celebrities from back in the day.

Carmen was featured on the same show as Internet sensation and “Glee” star Charice and singer Macy Gray. As the video below shows, most of the chat was focused on her very volatile and highly mediated relationship and marriage to Dennis Rodman.

The 42-year-old star blamed it on being too emotionally distraught from her mother’s death.

Drowning sorrows in alcohol and a lifestyle that didn’t represent her

Choking on tears, Carmen recalls how she got the call that her mother had a brain tumor right as she started working on her first movie, at the age of 26. She rushed home to be by her side and, within days, she died.

Carmen believes that this was the breaking point for her. Soon after, she met Dennis, one of the highest rated NBA players, but also one of the most troubled men in showbiz at the time. They hit it off instantly, she says with a smile.  

“I remember meeting Dennis and Dennis was the life of the party. He was fun,” she says. “He had a reputation for being a bad-boy. What I saw was a gentle giant in a lot of pain. We understood each other.”

She started drinking, and by the time she realized it, she’d married him in a chapel in Las Vegas, in 1998. A year later, they were getting a divorce, and to this day, their union is listed among the shortest in Hollywood.

“Our relationship was very passionate. When it was good, it was amazing. And when it was bad, it was the worst,” Carmen explains. “I had made my life chaos and blocked that out. It took quite a bit of time, getting myself back together.”

Carmen bounced back on her feet quickly after that

And get herself back together is what she did. After breaking up from Dennis, Carmen focused on her career and constantly found ways to keep herself relevant and make money: she released workout DVDs, she became a Playboy Bunny, she did movies, she recorded music, and she even had a brush with reality television.

She was never again as huge as she was in her youth, but she continued to work steadily, which is way more than many other stars can boast of. The fact that she made it on Oprah’s segment is proof that she can still command attention, even if it’s only to speak of things that are dead and buried, like her marriage to Rodman – and have been so for 16 years.