Gena Lee Nolin: Motherhood Is Sexier Than Baywatch
Part One of LimeLife's exclusive three-part interview with legendary Hollywood bombshell Gena Lee Nolin.
Gena Lee Nolin is back and better than ever. No, seriously. With two "mommy" shows in development and a motherhood-related book in the works, the former babe from Baywatch and The Price Is Right is trading in her bombshell credentials to portray what she was born to be: a devoted wife, a tireless mom, and a woman who's very self-assured in her identity and her career.
Since 2004 Nolin has been married to retired pro hockey player Cale Hulse. She's taking her experience as the family matriarch of her 12-year-old son Spencer, son Hudson who's three and a half, and 10-month-old baby girl Stella to reach out to other mothers and share the female experience. In this first part of LimeLife's exclusive three-part interview with Gena Lee Nolin, check out how her life has changed since the world-famous - but "difficult" - red bathing suit days.
LimeLife: Gena, you're a busy wife and mom and a working woman with three projects in the fire. Dare we ask, what's a typical day like for you right now?
Gena Lee Nolin: Typical would be waking up about six-ish, starting breakfast and getting one [of my little ones] going, and then the next one wakes up, and then I have to get my 12-year-old up for school and get him going. There isn't a lot of downtime. And then I take my 12-year-old to school, load the kids up...It's busy! It's just what every mom out there - I'm sure - handles. That's exactly what I'm going through.
LimeLife: Looking back on your early career, how did your shift occur from being the sizzling Baywatch babe to this mature woman and committed wife and mom?
Gena Lee Nolin: The shift came for me with time. I'm a mom now, this is my life. This is who I am. [Being a mom] doesn't mean that you're not sexy, that you're not pretty or not still in the game so to speak. With age and the direction my life has taken, I think that's the shift. I'm aware of the every day goings-on as a mother, and I want to help. Being a mom doesn't mean that you're not capable of having that sex appeal. I'm proud of my new shift.
LimeLife: Do you feel that perhaps you've grown even more attractive now that you're a mom?
Gena Lee Nolin: I definitely have. I feel better now at 37 after three children than I did at 25 with no children on the number one show in the world in a red bathing suit. I feel incredible. I'm healthy, I can keep up with my kids, I exercise, I feel I'm in the best shape of my life, I eat healthy. With age you become wiser, and you get it. Not saying my twenties and my early thirties weren't incredible and exciting, but it's different [now]. It's a different sort of knowing - and I think there is a sex appeal to that, definitely.
LimeLife: When you look back on your days of being that gorgeous young Hollywood actress, what emotions does that evoke for you?
Gena Lee Nolin: It was a great time in my life...but it was a difficult time. It was transitional, I didn't really know what I was getting into - moving to L.A. and going from a waitress to a Barker Beauty [ed. note: legend has it Nolin beat out over a thousand other women for her role on The Price Is Right] to suddenly being on the number one show in the world. It was crazy, like winning the lottery. But overall it was an awesome experience and it took me to great places. I have a lot of stories for my grandbabies, that's for sure.
Stick with LimeLife later this week for part two of our exclusive interview with Gena Lee Nolin. Meantime, if you love Baywatch scoop, read why David Hasselhoff was hospitalized in London last week, and what Gena Lee Nolin's Baywatch co-star Nicole Eggert wants you to know about women's bodies.
