Kendra Wilkinson
Getty Images (2)Former Playboy model and reality star Kendra Wilkinson He is no stranger to the public eye.
The 39-year-old first caught attention in 2004, when she showed up late Playboy publisher Hugh HefnerHis 78th birthday party. Shortly after the event, she was asked to move into the iconic building Playboy Palace and began dating Hefner.
“Hef asked me to be one of his girlfriends, to live in the mansion and I said, ‘Fuck, yeah, I’m here!’” the California native recalls. I'm a celebrity, get me out of here! In 2014. “I was living in this little apartment with this ugly bitch. I was praying for anything to get me out of there. …I moved in and weeks went by and I didn't know it was about sex. I didn't know anything about him PlayboyI just graduated from high school.
Wilkinson's relationship with Hefner – along with his concurrent relationships with the former Playboy Models Holly Madison and Bridget Marquardt — documented in the hit E! Reality series Neighbor's girls. The reality series premiered in August 2005 and ran for five seasons. All three of their romantic relationships ended in 2008.
Since then, Wilkinson has appeared in numerous television shows, including… footnote, how i met your mother and Horror movie 4. She has also written two books and starred in her own reality television show, Kendra is on topwhich documented her relationship with the former NFL receiver Hank Baskett. (The couple married in 2009 and had two children before divorcing in 2018.)
In 2025, Wilkinson made headlines after his ferocity Defending its weightShe told the naysayers that she was “not the girl I used to be.”
“Yes, I have gained weight. Yes, I am getting older,” Wilkinson wrote via Instagram on January 12. “Yes, I am not the girl I used to be (playboy girl) but for once in a long time “I feel good and mentally healthy.”
Read on for some of Wilkinson's most memorable moments over the years, from Playboy playmate to devoted parent:
2004
Wilkinson, who was born and raised in San Diego, California, attended Hefner's 78th birthday party as a full-body paint model after the late Playboy founder found a photo of Wilkinson.
“I wasn't wearing anything. I was wearing a pair of rhinestones — it was the craziest thing,” Wilkinson said during a previous interview with the magazine. E!. “We had to tape these things one by one to my body. That's when I first met Hef. I think I caught his eye—I'm sure the rhinestones, I mean you can't miss me. That's the night that changed the rest of my life.”
Wilkinson went on to explain that Hefner asked her to be his girlfriend before the couple met in person.
“He asked me to be his girlfriend before he met me,” she added. The photo was sent to Playboy Palace for me to be hired as a body paint girl to work at the party. For some reason, this gave me a sense of comfort. I was just watching him and I was like, 'He's a good guy.'
2005
Wilkinson and her multiple affairs with Hefner — which also included Madison and Marquardt — were documented on the hit reality TV show. Neighbor's girls. any! The series premiered in August 2005 and ran for five seasons, primarily following Madison, Marquardt, and Wilkinson as they navigate the vagaries of the wilderness in Playboy castle.
“At the end of the day, it's a very awkward situation because we're not like The Spice Girls,” Wilkinson said on Fox 5's Good Day New York in 2015 and of her relationship with her fellow actors. “We dated an 80-year-old man at the same time. It's so embarrassing.”
In the same year, Wilkinson appeared in an episode of a television series footnoteTitled “Aquamansion”. In the scene, Wilkinson played a playmate.
2008
By 2008, all three of the former Playboy The models ended their relationships with Hefner. During the final season of the reality show Neighbor's girlsNew girlfriends Crystal Hefner (nee Harris) and twins Christina and Carissa Shannon Join the show.
2009
Wilkinson makes a cameo in an episode of a television series how i met your motherTitled “Benefits”. In the scene, Wilkinson appears on the cover of a magazine owned by Marshall (Jason Siegel), who finds it difficult to use the bathroom at work.
That same year, Wilkinson married former NFL player Hank Baskett. The pair tied the knot in Playboy The palace was attended by Hefner, and they later welcomed their son, Hank Baskett IV.
“We have already decided to name our son Hank Baskett IV,” Wilkinson wrote on her now-defunct blog months before welcoming her son into the world. “Hank's father and grandfather's name was Hank, so it was very important to us to carry on the family tradition.
2010
Wilkinson published her memoirs for the first time, Slide into the housewhich revealed the highs and lows of her journey from Playboy A mansion for my stay-at-home mom.
2011
Wilkinson appeared as a guest contestant on season 12 of Dancing with the stars Together with a professional dance partner Louis van Amstel. The model was ultimately eliminated in the seventh week of the competition on May 3.
In the same year, Wilkinson published her second book, Be Kendra: Cribs, cocktails, and getting my sexy back back. The so-called “tell-all” memoir details her journey as a mother trying to maintain a long-distance relationship while meeting the demands of her TV career.
2012
wilkinson reality tv show, Kendra is on topdebuted on We TV, which followed the lives of her family of three at the time. The show ran from 2012 to 2017.
2014
The couple welcomed their baby girl, Alijay Marie, in May.
“I had a dream about little Hank holding his little sister for a long time,” Wilkinson said. the people Shortly after birth. “Little Hank had a big smile and now he knows he really is the big brother.”
Wilkinson and her ex-husband later made headlines after rumors surfaced that he had been unfaithful while Wilkinson was eight months pregnant with their daughter.
“I messed up,” Baskett said a year later in an interview with the people. “I put myself in a bad situation. And everything through me brought pain to this family. I wasn't involved in anything… It was like a bank robbery. You never know when you're going to freeze. I don't know if it was a few seconds or 15 seconds, Because all I was saying was: Get out, get out, get out.”
2018
Wilkinson officially filed for divorce from the former NFL player, citing irreconcilable differences and listing a separation date of January 1, 2018. The couple requested joint legal physical custody of their two children.
2019
Wilkinson and Baskett's divorce was finalized.
“I went through a divorce, and I lost everything I knew, which was my TV show. I had a TV show every year until my divorce,” Wilkinson said during an Aug. 22 appearance on the radio show “On Display with Melissa Gorga.” “Then my divorce happened and all of a sudden, and now I didn't get married, I couldn't attend, I had to move into a small house – I didn't understand what was going on and all of a sudden I had to do some intense healing.
2021
Wilkinson returns to reality TV with a new show, Kendra sells Hollywood.
The star said exclusively: “The beginning of my show and the beginning of filming was (also) the beginning of my new journey.” Us Weekly on November 9 while promoting her show. “It all started at once, including the decision to start dating. It just kind of happened.”
She continued: “I needed to do some healing. When those cameras rolled — and I was ready to start my new career — all my self-confidence came back at once. I don't know what happened. It wasn't ego. “It was trust.”
The show aired for two seasons.
2023
Wilkinson made headlines in September when she had a panic attack that sent her to the hospital. we It was confirmed at the time. In November of the same year, Wilkinson shared on Instagram that she had “completed treatment for depression and anxiety.”
2025
Wilkinson had more than a few words to say to the naysayers online who disparaged the former Playboy Model weight.
“For those who hate my new weight, and my 40 year old face, please know that I am happy, healthy, and finally at peace in life,” she wrote on Instagram in January. “Leave me alone and respect that I'm where I want to be in the end together.”
