Yasmine Bleeth's acting career came to a highly publicized end after a drug addiction scandal that saw her lose her most well-known role. Eventually, the actress steered clear of the public eye, and little is known of Yasmine Bleeth now.
Bleeth shot to fame for her role on the hit '90s show, "Baywatch," famous for its iconic red swimsuits and slow-motion running scenes on the beach.
Playing the role of Caroline Holden alongside Hollywood stars David Hasselhoff and Pamela Anderson, it was not long before Bleeth landed other acting roles and her career became littered with award nominations.
Yasmine Bleeth at the 100 Episode Celebration of "Baywatch" on October 22, 1994. | Source: Getty Images
However, after a drug addiction scandal and losing her role as a lifeguard on "Baywatch," Bleeth decided to step away from acting altogether.
Bleeth co-starred in four seasons of "Baywatch," bringing her total to seventy-two episodes over five years. However, her successful acting career was not without its downside.
Yasmine Bleeth during NBC's press tour in California, on July 19, 2000. | Source: Getty Images
Her former "Baywatch" cast mate said Bleeth was often mistreated in the media and recalled an incident when Bleeth was publicly accused of using drugs when she was not at the time. Gena Lee Nolin said:
I remember Yasmine Bleeth was at the payphone where we filmed... and she scratched her nose, and the Enquirer had three pictures of her, like the front cover, 'Yasmine Bleeth — there's drugs' or whatever."
According to reports, Bleeth's substance abuse problems did not arise until the late 1990s, when she appeared in "Nash Bridges." But the producer of "Baywatch," Douglas Schwartz, said otherwise.
He recalled Bleeth's substance abuse becoming "too difficult to deal with" as she would arrive on the set of "Baywatch" late and have difficulties with men in her love life. According to Schwartz, these were why she was let go from the show.
Yasmine Bleeth during 4th Annual VH1 Honors on April 11, 1997. | Source: Getty Images
Bleeth was able to salvage her career for a while. After she departed from "Baywatch," she landed roles in other projects such as "Nash Bridges" in 1998, "Goodbye, Cassanova" in 2000, and "V.I.P." in 2002, among a host of other movies and T.V. shows.
In 2003, she reunited with her "Baywatch" co-stars to film the movie "Baywatch: Hawaiin Wedding," but did not appear in any other projects for nearly two decades.
"Baywatch" creator/writer Michael Berk said Bleeth's disappearance from the acting scene was because she would turn down roles. However, although she was young when she began acting, Berk said Bleeth was good with money and invested.
Yasmine Bleeth at Nickelodeon's "The Big Help" in 1997, in California. | Source: Getty Images
After turning to drug use, the former "Baywatch" actress said it affected not only her relationships but also her physical appearance. Bleeth shared:
"By the end of 1999, I'd stopped looking like myself. I'm a fleshy girl, very curvy and round, but I'd lost my softness. My friends said I looked like an alien, (and) that my eyes were bulging out of my face."
After her father and close friends confronted her, Bleeth decided to get help in rehab in 2000. And after entering Promises, a celebrity rehab clinic in California, she met her future husband, Paul Cerrito, that same year.
Yasmine Bleeth and her husband Paul Cerrito at Carmen Electra and Dave Navarro's engagement party in California on February 13, 2003. | Source: Getty Images
However, in 2001, Bleeth hit a bump in her recovery journey when she was arrested for possessing cocaine following the investigation of her car crash. Cerrito was present in the car, but no one was injured.
Like Lana del Rey, Bleeth's weight gain became the center of attention after she made headlines when tabloids compared her current "unrecognizable" appearance to her looks in her youth.
In a series of tweets, fans took to social media to defend Bleeth. In response to photos of Bleeth outside her home, one user wrote, "In a 'rare' outing at her home??? STALKER alert to get that special photo! Sick sick sick."
Another fan said, "Why do people expect people to still look like they did in their twenties?" drawing a parallel between Bleeth and Aubrey O'Day.
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