Winter 97/98 Volume III Issue 1

A couple of minutes pass. You've stared through the sliding glass doors and seen the pool, the bird houses, and B Real's imposing dogs. Five minutes slip by, looks even better - softer, rounderfaced, and far less sex-kittenish than she does on SMOKE's cover, which - you'll surely agree, redefines sexy. And she's warm and talkative and willing to chat about anything and everything. So, we do just that, beginning with a basic query: Exactly who is Carmen Electra, and how did this 25-year-old kid from Cincinnati, Ohio, wind up as a protegee of The Artist Formerly Known As Prince, Jenny McCarthy's replacement on MTV's "Singled Out," and one of the new babes on the single most popular show on the planet, "Baywatch?"

"I always wanted to be a star," Carmen admits with no hesitation. "When I was three years old I sort of decided that this is what I wanted to do. I took ballet lessons and loved them. Also, my father was in a band and they always played in our basement. I'd dance while they played. My mom used to be a singer. So, I came from a musical family and entertaining was what I always wanted to do.

"I used to spend weekends with my grandmother, and she'd take me to this little dime store where you could buy candy and stuff. The manager would say 'You're going to be a star some day!' It's weird how many people used to tell me that. In my mind I'd be thinking, 'God, I wish I could be a star, but I live in Ohio and nobody makes it out of here.' Most of the kids my age were getting pregnant, getting married, getting stuck at home, or quitting school. I wanted to get out of Ohio. I worked at a place in Ohio called King's Island. It was an amusement park, and I danced there in a magic show. It was a cheesy magic show, I might add. My ultimate goal was to go to New York and be on Broadway, because of my singing and dancing background. I never really thought that much about acting. I saved my money and moved to L.A. A week after I got here, I met Prince, and everything happened from there."

Prince, as he was then known, took Carmen under his wing. That was his thing: Unearth a pretty young thing with talent, relocate her to his Paisley Park complex in Minneapolis, and groom her. The result of their professional relationship, the 1992 Album Carmen Electra, yielded the modestly successful dance hits "Go Go Dancer" and "Get On Up." There's been much speculation about the scope of Carmen's association with The Artist, and she knows it. "We were only friends," she says, setting the record straight. "I met him and he was willing to help me out. He was really sweet. We went into the studio and we just started working on music. I'll always admit that I was very attracted to him and that I had a crush on him. But with our schedules it was just impossible for us to get together."

After the release of her album, Carmen returned to Los Angeles, determined to make it as an entertainer. She danced on "Soul Train." She posed for a Playboy celebrity spread. She guest-starred as a recurring character on "Baywatch Nights." She then stepped into Jenny McCarthy's high heels as the co-host of MTVs dating game, "Singled Out," made a cameo appearance in the kiddie film Goodburger, and won a coveted role as a regular - Lani McKensie, a Hawaii native who aspired to a singing and dancing career - on " Baywatch. " Each week, one billion viewers in 140 countries on six continents tune in to watch Carmen and her colleagues fill out their famous Baywatch red bathing suits as they save the occasional swimmer from sinking into the California surf.