April 1998 – The National Enquirer
t’s sink-or swim time on “Baywatch” – where some of the hottest bodies on TV have been thrown to the sharks! “It was a major hatchet job,” said a Hollywood insider. “The producers want a whole new feeling for the show – better actors, better storylines, and ultimately a higher-quality show. So they decided to make wholesale changes.” Victims of the “Baywatch” beach babe bloodbath include Traci Bingham, Marliece Andrada, Angelica Bridges and Donna D’Errico, sources say. Curvy Carmen Electra is also leaving to take a shot at her own sitcom.
Only Gena lee Nolin and Kelly Packard remain – and Gena Lee is considering taking a hike. “I’m still standing, but it’s 50-50 right now whether I want to go back,” Gena Lee told The ENQUIRER. “All the producers, including David Hasselhoff have asked me back. But I don’t know whether I’ll come back.” Once wildly popular, the show’s ratings are dropping and it has lost hundreds of thousands of viewers.
And the show’s producers are to blame, said the Hollywood insider. “They hired a bunch of people who looked great in swimsuits at reasonable salaries. But now they’re looking to bring in actors with more experience and more talent – someone like Hunter Tyler. They made her an offer and she was very interested. then she got the terrible news that her new-born baby had cancer and she had to turn it down. Now the producers may start raiding soap operas for new faces. they even plan on adding a glamorous mother figure to the cast.” It won’t be easy though. “They’ve been casting since February for new girls,” said a source close to the show, scheduled to start it’s 9th season this fall. “But they’re not having any luck because they aren’t offering enough money. Besides that, a lot of actresses they’ve approached think the show is on it’s last legs.
They don’t want to tie their careers to a sinking ship.” (Wonder if they auditioned for “Titanic” instead? Ho-Ho)
