BAYWATCH turned a group of little known US actors into the sun-kissed stars of Saturday night TV in the nineties.
More than a billion viewers worldwide tuned in to follow the twists and turns of the lives of the Los Angeles County Lifeguards.
But the fame and fortune came with a price for many of the stars who ended up battling drug addictions, stolen sex tapes and finding themselves at odds with the law.
And it’s not just the stars that are struggling as Jeremy Jackson’s (who played Hobie Buchanan) ex-wife Loni Willison has tumbled from a comfy life thanks to a crystal meth addiction which caused her breakdown in 2016.
The former model was spotted homeless and barefoot in southern California this week, picking through bins.
We look at just how many stars of the show have been hit by the curse of Baywatch.
DAVID HASSELHOFF, 64 (MITCH BUCHANNON)
Baywatch helped The Hoff launch a lucrative pop music career, with huge success in Germany, and he became a regular on UK television screens.
But after David, 64 – the star and also the show’s producer – left Baywatch he slumped into the grip of alcoholism.
At his lowest ebb, he checked into the Betty Ford Clinic in a desperate bid to get the professional help he needed, but fled rehab after just one day.
He checked into a nearby hotel, drained the minibar and slipped into unconsciousness.
His two marriages to US actress Catherine Hickland, 61, and Pamela Bach, 53, did not last and the tragic extent of his addiction was brought to light after his daughter Taylor Ann, 26, posted a video online of him in a drunken stupor.
In the footage David was sprawled on the floor clawing at a burger, while his daughter could be heard begging him to stop.
He eventually admitted: “I’m a recovering alcoholic”.
But he managed to get his life back on track and is now established as a TV favourite, with stints as a judge on both Britain and America’s Got Talent. He is engaged to 36 year-old Welsh beauty Hayley Roberts, who he is expected to marry this year.
PAMELA ANDERSON, 49 (CJ)
At the height of her career, THAT body made ‘Pammie’ a pin up for teenage boys everywhere.
Pamela was on more Playboy covers than any other model, but soon after she quit the show in 1997, her life went into freefall.
First there was the disastrous marriage to Mötley Crüe drummer Tommy Lee, 54, in 1995. They had two sons, divorced in 1998, remarried and divorced again in 2001.
She has recently revealed that the widely circulated stolen sex tape she made on board a luxury yacht with Tommy Lee was the biggest mistake of her life.
And she said: “It made for a very uncomfortable talk with my sons – you have no idea. But, looking back, at least my hair looked good.”
After their split she married model Markus Schenkenberg, 48, but it was over in under a year.
She went on to tie the knot with rap star Kid Rock, 46, but that relationship did not fare much better and ended in a bitter divorce.
She married poker player Rick Saloman, 49, divorced after a year but then the couple got married again in 2014. It was over by April 2015.
Pamela, 49, has endured an addiction to painkillers and has been diagnosed with the life-threatening disease Hepatitis C.
YASMINE BLEETH, 48 (CAROLINE HOLDEN)
Brunette beauty Yasmine’s three-year stint on the show made her a regular in FHM’s World’s 100 Most Sexiest Women between 1996 and 2001.
But her fame on Baywatch also brought her drug addiction issues sharply into the spotlight.
Within months of leaving Baywatch in 1997, she spent the night in jail after police found cocaine in her handbag following a car crash.
She later revealed that her habit was so bad she collapsed at a glossy magazine photoshoot and once went without sleep for five days.
She admitted: “People had been telling me that drugs would kill me…and this was my proof.”
Yasmin, 48, met Paul Cerrito in rehab – shortly after he had been released from jail for drug offences. The pair were arrested together for possession of cocaine and carrying needles in 2001.
And after being found high on cocaine while driving in Detroit she was sentenced to 100 hours of community service and another stint in rehab.
She is still now married to Paul, who is strip club owner, and is a full-time fundraiser for charity Breast Cancer research.
JAASON SIMMONS, 46 (LOGAN FOWLER)
His character’s winning smile hid the unhappiness actor Jaason Simmons felt while on the show – quitting in 1997 after a battle with producers over pay.
He had blamed his heavy workload for the collapse of six year marriage to wife Romey but later said: “Everybody knew (I was gay among the cast). I just didn’t speak about it publicly. I was quite shy and introverted.”
He is believed to have attempted a series of failed relationships with women – rumoured to include co-star Alexandra Paul – before eventually revealing he was gay.
He initially fled to a Welsh monastery to escape his fame, where he met long-term partner and Irish actor John O’Callaghan.
They now have a son, Odin, who they adopted from Uganda. Jaason and John divide their time between London and Sydney.
GENA LEE NOLIN, 45 (NEELY CAPSHAW)
The blonde beauty was such a popular cast member that she was paid a staggering £1MILLION to appear nude on the front cover of Playboy in 2001.
But despite her smiles for the camera Gena was suffering from a crippling autoimmune condition that went undiagnosed for years. She was tired, depressed, suffered hair loss and mood swings.
She said: “The weight issue was made worse as I also had to pour myself into a bathing suit. So I would starve myself. I’d eat a salad or a can of tuna a day and that was it.
"I was exhausted. I soldiered on with the help of anti-depressants.”
Gena also coped with the breakdown of her eight-year marriage to second husband Greg Fahlman, the father of her son Spencer.
She found love again with former NHL hockey player Cale Hulse and went on to have two more children with him.
Mum-of-three Gena now works full-time as a consultant for other sufferers with crippling Hashimoto’s syndrome.
CODY MADISON, 49 (DAVID CHOKACHI)
He was Pamela Anderson’s on-screen squeeze for nearly four years and has since made a success of himself in Hollywood and on US TV shows.
He was happily engaged and making wedding plans when he landed the role of Cody but said the supposed perks of fame put him off sex and women for life: “Lots of girls make offers,” he explained. “When a women is interested in me now, I don’t know whether she likes me for who I am or the fact I’m a TV star.”
But now dad-of-one David, 49, lists his job as raising awareness for environmental campaigns.
ALEXANDRA PAUL, 53 (STEPHANIE HOLDEN)
She was the Baywatch’s very-own on-screen goody two shoes.
But after walking away in 1997 Alexandra became well known to the US cops after clashing with them at political rallies.
She was arrested a number of times and once spent four days in a county prison.
She joined numerous political protests, including one at the Nevada Nuclear Test Site where she ended up behind bars: “I was arrested because I committed civil disobedience to protest the testing of nuclear weapons,” she said. “I was in jail at 24 for not paying a £90 fine which I thought would have gone to the government to buy more weapons.”
She also endured a court battle with a stalker from Germany who followed her around the world.
She is now married to fellow actor Ian Murray. In 2015, she became a full time life and health consultant.
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