June 08, 2005 |
Gilligan Seduces Baywatch Beauty
by Daniel R. Coleridge
Former Playboy pinup and Baywatch babe Erika Eleniak — who was the resident blonde bombshell before Pam Anderson stole the show — has found a new reason to don a skimpy bikini on TV. Eleniak and fellow model-actress Angie Everhart are the two competing Gingers in the second season of TBS' The Real Gilligan's Island, which debuts tonight at 9 pm/ET. Inspired by the classic sitcom and created by The Bachelor's Mike Fleiss, this goofy reality show pits two teams of "stranded" copycat castaways against each other for a $250,000 jackpot. While the rest of the contestants are civilians, the Ginger slots are filled with D-list celebs. Last season they were Rod Stewart's Aussie model ex, Rachel Hunter, and Nicole Eggert from Charles in Charge and Baywatch. Did Eleniak — who at least enjoys a thriving B-movie career — have any trepidation about following in their footsteps? "Oh, sure," she tells TVGuide.com. "This is my first time doing reality TV and, hopefully, it'll be well received. By the grace of god, and I say this very gratefully, I work. I've had several movies over the past few years. You want to make sure you're adding to [your employment momentum] and not taking away from it. "But I would be a liar and hypocrite if I [said no to Gilligan] because I'm the biggest reality TV fan on the planet! Plus, there's a lot of celebrities doing it now and making it work for them. What was raw, nasty steak last month is steak tartare this month! And this show just seemed right for me — especially with Ginger's 'movie star' spin. That's really cute!" Of course, there's always a downside: "The hardest thing for me to do was to relinquish my privacy," Eleniak says. "Cameras are even on you when you're showering! So you're very careful. That was a huge challenge, because I'm a fiercely private person. There's also lots of scheming, which we love to watch on TV — let's be honest — but it's not fun to be in it." Eleniak insists there was no scheming or rivalry between the Gingers, however. "Angie and I worked together about nine years ago in Tales from the Crypt Presents Bordello of Blood with Dennis Miller," she recalls, laughing. "So we knew each other and we're friends. We were joking that we already kicked each other's asses once. She was Lillith the vampire and I was the little Bible banger. We had a fight scene and I won because, of course, good always wins over evil!"
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