Kendra Wilkinson has been promoting her reality show by oversharing about her life, which seems to the main reason she’s famous. It’s not that I don’t like Kendra, I just find her kind of basic. She seems like a nice person who means well, but I’m not sure what she has to offer beyond making us feel better about our own foibles. (And maybe there’s a market for that.)
In the latest news about Kendra, she’s not giving us TMI about her sex life or bodily functions, but is sharing some serious stuff – that she overdosed on cocaine as a teenager, spent time in a psychiatric ward, ran away from home, and was involved in a relationship in which did drugs constantly.Given that she moved in with Hugh Hefner at the age of 18, it must have been a pleasant change to sleep with an octogenarian in order to get free room, board, and an allowance.
Here are stories from different sources on Kendra, whose E! True Hollywood story aired last night. I know E! has Kendra’s reality show, but does she really merit a True Hollywood story? (You may have heard this a couple days ago, but there’s some new information and it’s news to me.)
On when she OD’d
Although Kendra Wilkinson is reveling in motherhood these days, she was once a troubled teen who abused drugs and spent time in a psychiatric facility! In the March 29 issue of Star, on sale today, we have details about Kendra’s shocking downward spiral that started when she was just 13. Raised by her single mother — and heartbroken over her father’s abandonment — she began stealing and cutting. Things took a deadly turn when she attempted suicide and was placed in a mental hospital. Even that didn’t change her — it took a terrifying cocaine overdose to finally knock sense into her.“I was bleeding from every hole in my body,” she bravely reveals on The E! True Hollywood Story: Kendra, which premieres tonight. “I really thought I was going to die that night!”
That incident was the ultimate turning point in her life. She vowed to stay on the straight and narrow — and later caught the eye of Hugh Hefner and became a reality TV queen with her footballer husband Hank Baskett and their 3-month-old son, also named Hank. – From Star
On her addiction to drugs
Years before she shot to fame as a Playboy playmate, reality star and married mom, Kendra Baskett survived some dark, dark days as a troubled teen.In her new E! True Hollywood Story, Baskett, now, 24, says that she was “about 13” when she had her first experience with cocaine.
“All of a sudden [my friends] broke out this white stuff,” she recounts. “I started feeling pretty good. That was the start of my drug days.”
By the time Kendra was 15, she was abusing drugs, “feeling suicidal” and “cutting myself,” she says. After Kendra admitted to swallowing a “a half dozen or so medications” at school, her mother Patti decided to check her in for two weeks at a secured psychiatric facility.
“It was crazy in that place,” Baskett tells THS. “We didn’t see daylight. We weren’t allowed outside. It was basically a jail, but it was a hospital.”
Her grandmother, Mary, admits, “None of us had ever had a situation like that in the family. Her mother and I did a lot of crying.”
Yet the future star’s hospitalization “did not change me at all,” Baskett says. “I think it made me worse because in my heart I didn’t want to change. People were forcing me, and that’s something that does not work with me.”
By her sophomore year of high school, Baskett was a runaway. “I was still on drugs,” she says. “I met a guy and I ended up running away with him.”
That boyfriend was bad news, she admits now. “All throughout sophomore year I lived with this guy and I did drugs for that long. Every day, every minute.” – From US Magazine
On her cutting
“I ended up becoming suicidal, and I started cutting myself. I had so much pain that I just wanted to die. It wasn’t that I was trying to die, it was just that my pain took away from my pain inside,” she reveals in this exclusive clip.
– From E! Online
[Thanks to Cali at Gossip Rocks for compiling these sources]
My heart goes out to Kendra and good for her for turning her life around and managing to become famous for being one of Hugh Hefner’s girlfriends. Do we really need to know all this about her though? She’s like the Kardashians, but nicer and more likable. I feel bad talking smack about her, because as Kaiser says about Jessica Simpson, it’s like kicking a puppy. Maybe it’s more like pushing the puppy away because it’s bugging you and peeing on the carpet. It’s still cute, you just don’t want it around.
Kendra at the NY ‘Bounty Hunter’ premiere on March 16, 2010. Credit: WENN.
Saw it and i instantly fell in-love with her. She must be a strong lady to share this secret with the world. She is indeed a survivor. Look at where she is today. Her story is motivational because it doesn’t matter how your ystady was, what matters is how your tmoro will be. Love you kendra.
I love that she shared her tough struggles and their outcomes. Young people today need to know that no matter how low they get, there’s always light at the end of the tunnel. They also need to know that drugs can lead down a very bad road. She told it like it was, which didn’t glamorize drug use, stealing and running away. Kudos to Kendra for speaking out, and for getting herself together.
Is there a way to cut Kendra out of that pic and just make it Gerard? 😉
STFU Kendra – nobody cares about your sad little life. You’re so boring.
Really – everyone has their own sh*t to deal with – you’re being just like Fergie now.
Baskett, now, 24
***********
Ok, if they lie about their age I can’t believe a thing they say.
If she hadn’t started dating Hefner, she would never be where she is now. So there’s the lesson for all you young, depressed, yet attractive young ladies out there – just start dating a filthy rich old man and then your problems will go away.
Seriously, I like Kendra okay, but I’m getting sick of her talking about all her issues. I don’t wanna know about her sexual dysfunction and all the times she cut herself.
And really, is she happy now? She’s married and has a pretty baby, but is she happy? I ask because in every. single. photo. her smile NEVER reaches her eyes. It doesn’t even reach her cheeks.
She’s supposed to be 24? Wow. Truly must have been some hard living years.
I’m glad for her that she managed to get through it all, but really have a lot more respect for people who actually do something with their lives. I don’t watch her show or anything, but all I ever hear about her is personal stuff. I guess getting married and having a baby is enough to have a reality show now? What about the other millions of women who do that every year?
As for her having a THS, E is the king of self promotion. Every other picture on their website is this girl or some Kardassian.
Just out of curiosity, why would Kendra NOT merit a TRS? She’s relevant enough to merit yet a second season of her show. Some people may not like her, but enough like her to support her show.
She may be annoying to some, but she is certainly entertaining. I LOVE Kendra, and I think she has come a long way in her life. Good for her! GO KENDRA, GO KENDRA!
i’m with Lway. STFU about your problems past and present. so annoying.
Good for her family support and doing something about her issue.
just love how her mother’s ‘tude toward her since gnd is a complete 360.
her grandma (bless her heart!) loved on her thru both the good & bad times. so so sweet when she surprised her before the baby came.
I watched the THS and loved it!! I cried during the part about her Poppop !!! Love you Kendra!
I was just gonna say, I sure love her grandma.
When GND first aired I didnt really like her; then I realised that EVERYONE that age is annoyed (well they annoy me anyway), but you can see she is maturing into a nice girl. I am reading the Bunny Tales book which is ace it mentions that she was also a stripper too. The THS hasnt aired in the UK yet but I am looking forward to it. Big thumbs up for not turning into Lohan
I guess I’ll repost this here,
It’s really sad, but all too common, that women who get into p0rn/prostitution have had very troubled childhoods, often having been molested, and later go on to be exploited by men.
I’m not saying she was molested, but she definitely had a troubled childhood with the drugs, etc.
Still, it’s a choice people make on how to deal with that.
And I’m with GatsbyGal, she’s famous for basically becoming a prostitute for a dirty old man?
It’s a nice message to send to young women that they shouldn’t give up, etc., but I’d hardly call her a role model.
PS. it looks like Gerald is pulling her ‘doll string’ and making her ‘fake’ smile.
confirming what i have long believed- anyone who’ll pose for a dirty old man like heffner must have some emotional issues.
And this skank is famous because….?
Well isn’t this a lovely new trend? Has-been celeb’s barfing out their TMI to try and obtain some kind of relevance?
Like I said before, STFU!
“good for her for turning her life around and managing to become famous for being one of Hugh Hefner’s girlfriends”
Personally, I’ve always thought there was something highly wacky about these women being celebrated for making sex tapes (Paris and Kim K) or joining a harem and sleeping with an older man to get ‘fame’. I like Kendra and all but she is a new mother, maybe she should tone it down a bit for the sake of her kid. Who wants to read this stuff about their mom?? There are still some things that kids should be innocent about.
That girl’s desperate need for attention is just so ridiculous. It’s like she’s always screaming, “look at me, look at me.” So she blathers on about all these personal details. They might not even be true, I truly believe her and others like her will say or do anything when interest in them begins to lower.
I can’t stand her or the other ones from that stupid ass show (Holly whatever) because they do such a disservice to women. Thanks for helping the cause.
Remember how she achieved fame – by sleeping with a man many years her senior so dont feel to bad ragging on her.
How can any of the girls who got infamous via sex tape or whoring themselves out to a man about to croak live with themselves? EWWW! Id rather be poor and unknown than whore myself out for fame. I just hope young girls DONT look to them as role models or want to be like them.
I don’t think any of you people obviously watched the girls next door.
In the show Kendra mentioned that she was there because Hef took her in because she was going through some things and he wanted to help her get better.
Also, when the show ended Kendra basically admitted that she wasn’t really Hef’s girlfriend and that she wasn’t sleeping with him like other girls were. It was also obvious on the show to me that Kendra is was not romantically interested in Hef at all. He was just a father figure…
There are far worse things a person can become famous for..read Paris Hilton.
I think Kendra is one of the most genuine celebrities we’ll come across and applaud her for making the decision to stop the drug abuse. One she made before she met Hef – if you watched the show. She may be ‘basic’ but she’s honest and you can’t judge that.
Wow! I am shocked! *eyeroll*
You’d have to have a past like this and be very 4ucked up to enjoy being one of 7 girlfriends to a crusty old fart like Hugh Hefner for publicity.
Aww, good for her for being able to talk about it and for overcoming all of that stuff.
p.s. what is this, haterade friday, no one is perfect and people do usually “act out for attention” when they’ve gone their whole lives being ignored.
Self-harm or “cutting” is the result of childhood sexual abuse and/or physical abuse. It’s likely that she was molested as a child. Most molested girls grow up with issues on their sexuality. Many are very promiscuous, become strippers or prostitutes or go the other way entirely to make themselves less attractive to men with anorexia or severe obesity. And as with any childhood abuse, many grow up to have trouble with alcohol and drugs.
A poster above said how a person deals with it “is a choice.” Not really. Overcoming trauma is extremely difficult. Some do well, some don’t. It’s a process.
I predict a she’ll be reveling more about the root causes in the future. Her behavior was far more than attention seeking. It goes way deeper.