Kendra Wilkinson

Kendra Leigh Baskett(née Kendra Leigh Wilkinson; born June 12, 1985), professionally known by her maiden name, is an American television personality and glamour model. She is widely known for being one of Hugh Hefner's three girlfriends and for her role on the E! reality television series The Girls Next Door, on which her life in the Playboy Mansion was documented.

Although not a Playboy Playmate, she has appeared in three 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.

Personal life

On August 13, 2008, the Wall Street Journal reported that Wilkinson was Olive Garden's "Biggest Celebrity Fan." Wilkinson has described Olive Garden's cuisine as "my soul food." The newspaper emphasized that her repeated enthusiastic public endorsements of the family restaurant were genuine, personal and were not tied to any payment from Olive Garden. In fact, the company was reported as viewing Wilkinson's endorsements with "mixed feelings," and something on which it was reluctant to comment since the restaurant emphasizes its family-friendly nature.

On March 17, 2010, Wilkinson's E! True Hollywood Story premiered on E! Entertainment Television. During the hour-long episode, she discussed her rocky road to stardom.

On September 22, 2008, the International Business Times reported that Wilkinson was engaged to Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver Hank Baskett. Wilkinson initially denied this, but she later admitted she was in a relationship with Baskett on October 7, 2008 in an interview with Chelsea Handler on Chelsea Lately. On November 6, 2008, E! Online announced Wilkinson and Baskett were engaged, after he proposed the previous Saturday at the Space Needle in Seattle, Washington.

Early life

Kendra Wilkinson is of Irish, Ukrainian, and English 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 eight. Her grandmother Gloria Wilkinson died in December 2004.

Career

2004-2009: Playboy and The Girls Next Door

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 Rascal (a Pembroke Welsh Corgi) and Martini (a Jack Russell Terrier)

2009-present: Kendra and current endeavors

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 then Philadelphia Eagles receiver Hank Baskett. The Girls Next Door executive producer Kevin Burns serves in the same capacity on the series. Kendra is produced by Prometheus Entertainment, Fox TV Studios, and Alta Loma Entertainment. 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. The show's third season finale, and 33rd episode, on E! debuted on January 9, 2011. In 2010 she published a memoir, Sliding Into Home.