2004–2009: Playboy and The Girls Next Door and
Bridget Marquardt, 2006 Wilkinson met
Hugh Hefner at his 78th birthday party in April 2004, where she appeared as one of the "painted girls" (women who are nude except for painted-on accessories). Hefner had seen a photo of her shot by 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. 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 after meeting her future husband,
Hank Baskett, and filmed her own spin-off reality show for E! called
Kendra. The first season was about 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 Edition 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 on the website of the
Philadelphia Eagles, a team for which her mother had been a professional cheerleader, and for which her husband played professionally.
2009–2011: Kendra, marriage, and motherhood 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 not tied to any payment from Olive Garden. In fact, the company was reported as viewing Wilkinson's endorsements with "mixed feelings", as well as something on which the restaurant was reluctant to comment, since it emphasizes a family-friendly nature. On September 22, 2008, the
International Business Times reported that Wilkinson was engaged to then-
Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver Hank Baskett. Wilkinson initially denied this, but she later admitted she was in a relationship with him, 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 had proposed the previous Saturday at the
Space Needle in
Seattle, Washington. Wilkinson married Baskett on June 27, 2009, at the
Playboy Mansion. Although it was initially announced that
Hugh Hefner would give the bride away, Kendra's brother Colin walked her down the aisle. Wilkinson's family was in attendance, as well as former
Girls Next Door stars
Holly Madison and
Bridget Marquardt. On the wedding episode of
Kendra, she said that she would be taking Baskett's last name. They lived in
Calabasas, California. On June 11, 2009, Wilkinson announced her first pregnancy. The baby, a boy, was born in December 2009. Wilkinson's friends hosted a baby shower on September 9, 2009. She told
E! News that Hefner would be the child's
godfather. but later denied this. In an interview after the birth of their son, Wilkinson revealed she had suffered
post-partum depression: "After giving birth, I never brushed my hair, my teeth, or took a shower. I looked in the mirror one day and was really depressed." She attributed her depression to moving to
Indianapolis, where her husband played so soon after the birth, and feeling isolated. Wilkinson starred in a spinoff of
Girls Next Door, titled
Kendra, which focused on her life after leaving the Playboy Mansion and getting engaged.
The Girls Next Door executive producer
Kevin Burns served in the same capacity on the series.
Kendra was 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, making it the highest-rated reality debut for the network since 2002's premiere of
The Anna Nicole Show. The show's 33rd and final episode, the third-season finale, debuted on January 9, 2011. The show was not renewed for a fourth season. In 2007, Wilkinson appeared on an episode of
WWE Raw with
Bridget Marquardt. On July 6, 2010, Wilkinson published a memoir,
Sliding Into Home. Her second book,
Being Kendra: Cribs, Cocktails, and Getting My Sexy Back was published on October 20, 2011, by
It Books. In the book, she discusses her life after having a child, motherhood and marriage. Wilkinson was a contestant in the
twelfth season of
Dancing with the Stars, partnered with
Louis Van Amstel. She was eliminated in the seventh week on May 3, 2011. Kendra launched her personal website KendraWilkinson.com in November 2011. The digital community offers space for Kendra to answer all her fans questions, and connect with each other while talking about family, friends and laughter. On March 17, 2010, Wilkinson's
E! True Hollywood Story premiered on
E!. During the hour-long episode, she discussed her rocky road to stardom. In May 2010, a video recording of Wilkinson having sex with a then-unidentified man surfaced. The recording was acquired by
Vivid Entertainment, who planned to distribute the tape as
Kendra Exposed. Wilkinson contested the release and threatened to sue should it be released.
RadarOnline reported that in 2008, Wilkinson herself set up a company Home Run Productions LLC, through which she made several attempts to sell sex tapes. Sources have reported that Wilkinson was paid $680,000 for the film that was made by her high school boyfriend Justin Frye when she was 18.
2012–2019: Kendra on Top, theatre and divorce After parting ways with
E! in 2011, Wilkinson and her family started a new reality show on
WE tv,
Kendra on Top. It premiered June 5, 2012. The show ended in 2017. The end of the show led to a four-year period where Wilkinson wasn't leading her own show. (Since 2005, Wilkinson starred in
The Girls Next Door, Kendra, and
Kendra on Top.) On February 26, 2013, Wilkinson appeared on an episode of
Celebrity Wife Swap with
Kate Gosselin. On April 20, 2013, she was involved in another automobile accident on a California freeway. Her injuries included having a minor
hemorrhagic stroke. On October 31, 2013, Wilkinson announced that she was pregnant with her second child. During her pregnancy, she worked as a celebrity
blogger for
People magazine. She gave birth to a daughter in May 2014. In November 2014, Wilkinson was a contestant on the
14th series of the British reality television series ''
I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!, finishing in sixth place. On April 28, 2017, Kendra, Baskett and her mother were one of the families featured on the WE reality show Marriage Bootcamp: Family Edition
. In 2017, Wilkinson portrayed Robyn in the play, Sex Tips for Straight Women from a Gay Man at Anthony Cools Theatre. The play debuted in May 2017 and got extended from a three-month run to an eight-month run. Las Vegas Review-Journal'' wrote in a review: "But it’s Kendra you’re likely paying to see. And the more time she gets to spend on stage with Rodriguez, the better she’s going to be." On April 6, 2018, she filed for divorce from
Hank Baskett, seeking restoration of her maiden name in the process.
2020–present: Focus on real estate career In 2020, Wilkinson began taking
real estate classes and passed the California real estate exam in June 2020. One month later, she was hired as a real estate agent by The Agency, a luxury real estate company founded by
Mauricio Umansky. She has since joined real estate company
Douglas Elliman and Carswell & Associates. On November 17, 2021,
Discovery+ premiered her new reality series,
Kendra Sells Hollywood, which covered her new career as a real estate agent for Carswell & Associates in Los Angeles. It was renewed for a second season on February 3, 2022. The second season premiered on May 26, 2023, on
Max. The show was cancelled after two seasons. In a January 2024 interview with
People magazine, Wilkinson revealed she has been struggling with depression, saying: "It’s not easy to look back at my 20s. I’ve had to face my demons.
Playboy really messed my whole life up." == Philanthropy ==