Kendra Leigh Baskett (nee Wilkinson born June 12, 1985) is an American television personality and glamour model. She is well known for her role on the E! reality-television show The Girls Next Door, on which her life as one of Hugh Hefner’s three girlfriends was documented. Although not a Playboy Playmate, she has appeared in nude pictorials with her Girls Next Door costars and fellow Hefner girlfriends Holly Madison and Bridget Marquardt. Her own reality series, Kendra debuted in June 2009.

Kendra Wilkinson Biography

Kendra Wilkinson now known as Kendra Baskett was born in San Diego, California and is of English and Ukrainian descent. She is the elder of two children; her younger brother is Colin. Her mother, Patti, was originally from Cherry Hill, New Jersey, and had been a cheerleader for the Philadelphia Eagles. Her father, Eric, was raised in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania and Ocean City, New Jersey before moving to San Diego, California at age 15. He received a degree in biochemistry from the University of California San Diego, and went on to found several biotechnology companies, before retiring at the age of 48. Patti and Eric married on November 5, 1983. They divorced on March 25, 1994 when Kendra was nine. Wilkinson grew up in Clairemont, a middle-class community in central San Diego, and attended Clairemont High School, from which she graduated in 2003. She played softball for six years with the Clairemont Bobby Sox.

Kendra Wilkinson’s Career

Wilkinson met Hugh Hefner at his 78th birthday party in April 2004, where she was hired to be one of the “painted girls” (women who are nude except for painted-on accessories). Hefner had apparently seen her picture, shot by photographer Kim Riley, on a fax machine at the Playboy Mansion and wanted to know who she was. Shortly after they met, Hefner asked Wilkinson to be one of his girlfriends, and he moved her into the Playboy Mansion along with her dogs, Raskal and Martini.

She was featured on the E! reality television series The Girls Next Door, which followed the lives of Hefner’s then-girlfriends: Wilkinson, Holly Madison and Bridget Marquardt. She moved out of the Playboy Mansion in 2009 and filmed her own spin-off reality show for E! called Kendra. It is planned to cover her living on her own and planning her wedding.

Wilkinson has made several cameos on different programs such as Las Vegas and Entourage. She also appeared in Akon’s music video “Smack That”. While on the set of the video, Eminem poured a bottle of water on her head, though the two later reconciled. In 2006, she appeared in the Playboy Special Editions Sexy 100. In 2007, she appeared in Nickelback’s music video of “Rockstar”, along with Madison and Marquardt. They also had a cameo role in the 2006 film Scary Movie 4. Wilkinson also showed her creative side as a rapper on MTV’s Celebrity Rap Superstar which debuted on August 30, 2007. She rapped to Ludacris’ “Fantasy”, in response to the question asked by the show’s host, “Can Kendra move her mouth as fast as she moves her booty?”. She went on to take second place, losing to Shar Jackson.

Wilkinson’s stated career goal is to become a massage therapist or sports announcer. In December 2005, she became a regular blogger columnist at the website of the Philadelphia Eagles, a team for which her mother had been a professional cheerleader, and for which her husband plays professionally.

Wilkinson stars in a spinoff of Girls Next Door, titled Kendra, which focuses on her life after leaving the Playboy Mansion and getting engaged to Philadelphia Eagles receiver Hank Baskett. The Girls Next Door executive producer Kevin Burns serves in the same capacity on the series. Kendra premiered on June 7, 2009, and had record breaking numbers for E! with 2.6 million viewers, and was the highest-rated reality debut for the network since 2002’s premiere of The Anna Nicole Show. E! ordered eight episodes.

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