If you have never been a fan of the Playboy franchise, you can be forgiven for thinking that Kendra Wilkinson was once a Playboy Playmate. Kendra Wilkinson’s road to fame was bumpy, to say the least, and it began when Hugh Hefner saw a picture of her on a fax machine.
The glamour model and television personality also have an entrepreneurial side to her. Since her time with Hugh Hefner and the Playboy Mansion, she has built her brand by working with old friends and family. Kendra has appeared in a number of music videos for A-list artists and has made two reality TV series about her life after her time with Hugh Hefner. She was also part of the reality television series of E! Entertainment, The Girl Next Door.
ALSO READ: Alexis Arquette Bio, Life, Death And Cause Of Death, How Did She Die?
Kendra Wilkinson Wiki
The television star was born on June 12, 1985, as Kendra Leigh Wilkinson and grew up in Clairemont, San Diego. Her parents, Eric and Patti, married two years before her birth. Patti was a cheerleader for the Philadelphia Eagles of the NFL in her day, and Eric made a career in biotechnology. In 1994, when Kendra was eight years old, her parents took time out of their marriage.
Kendra showed some athleticism when she played softball for six years as part of the Clairemont Bobby Sox team. She did not care about college education and instead went looking for work after high school. During this time she worked as a glamour model and then as a dental assistant.
After seeing a picture of Kendra that he liked, Hugh Hefner decided to find out who she was. They finally met at the Playboy Mansion when the womanizer celebrated his 78th birthday in 2004. Birthday celebrated. That was shortly after Kendra graduated high school. Later he brought her into the house as one of his painted girls and girlfriends.
Kendra took the opportunity and while she was with Hefner, she was living and working with two of his other girlfriends at the time: Holly Madison and Bridget Marquardt. The trio worked together on a reality series created by E! and Playboy, which premiered as The Girls Next Door.
A few years after moving to the Playboy mansion, she met Hank Baskett, who was playing soccer for her mother’s former team, the Philadelphia Eagles. Soon after, Kendra left Hugh and the Playboy Mansion to plan her life with Hank. This period after Playboy was documented and turned into a self-titled reality series Kendra, which was produced by E!
While she was still at the mansion, Kendra Wilkinson became a video fairy when she appeared in music videos by well-known artists, such as in Akon’s “Smack That” with Eminem and Nickelback’s “Rock Star”. The model also had cameo appearances in Scary Movie (2006) and General Hospital (2007) as well as in programs such as Las Vegas and Entourage.
Wilkinson’s reality shows Kendra was E!’s best debut reality show at the time, reaching a record of 2.6 million viewers. The show ran for three seasons and ended in 2011. After the show was not extended for a fourth season, Kendra and her family moved to WEtv, where they broadcast their new reality television show Kendra on Top. It debuted on the channel on June 5, 2012.
She also found time to do other things besides her reality show. In 2007 she had an appearance on WWE raw together with her friend Bridget Marquardt. Three years later her memoirs “Sliding into Home” were published.
In the same year, a sex tape of Kendra and her high school boyfriend Justin Frye appeared and caused some serious tension in her life. The tape was bought by the scandalous label Vivid Entertainment. It was also reported that the model, who was 18 years old at the time the tape was made, received a $680,000 payment for her involvement.
Kendra’s husband, Hank Baskett, and Kids.
In September 2008, the news surfaced that Kendra Wilkinson was engaged to marry Hank Baskett, who was a wide receiver for the Philadelphia Eagles at the time. She would confirm their relationship with Chelsea Lately the following month, and shortly thereafter they got engaged.
On June 27, 2009, Kendra Wilkinson became Kendra Baskett in an elaborate ceremony at the Playboy Mansion, where her younger brother Colin led her to the altar. Kendra’s friends and family attended the ceremony.
Her first child, Hank Baskett IV, was born on December 11, 2009. She initially decided to make Hefner her child’s godfather, but later denied having considered Hugh in a later interview. After the birth of her son, Kendra Wilkinson went through a period of depression and weighed 140 pounds. She attributed this to the instability in her life due to her husband’s profession and the resulting feelings of isolation and loneliness. At that time her family had moved to Indianapolis when Hank was transferred to the Indianapolis Colts.
ALSO READ: Lara Spencer Bio, Net Worth, Salary, Is She Married, Who is Her Husband?
Kendra announced in October 2013 that she was expecting her second child. On May 16, 2014, she gave birth to a daughter, Alijah Mary Baskett.
Things didn’t really get any better in the relationship, and in April 2018 they announced that they would separate. The divorce was completed months later.
What is Kendra Wilkinson’s Net Worth?
The girl from San Diego was with big brands from the beginning, enough to make good money. You only have to consider her work with A-musicians, her TV appearances, her involvement in reality series, and her time with Playboy. All this makes it easy to understand why their net worth is estimated at $6 million.