Former Baywatch and Playboy star, 55, rocks different image 36 years after finding fame on hit series

She shot to fame in the 90s as a Playboy cover star and Baywatch pin-up, but this actress looks very different while spotted on a rare outing.

She shot to fame in the 90s as a Playboy cover star and Baywatch pin-up.

More than three decades on, actress and model Erika Eleniak, now 55, looks very different with two tattoo sleeves.

Erika was pictured walking her pet dog in Los Angeles in a black T-shirt and shorts, with a fanny pack around her waist.

Former Baywatch star Erika Eleniak was pictured recently walking her dog in LA. Picture: Mega Agency

She looked to be makeup-free on a sunny day in California as she strolled in a pair of slides.

Best known for her role as lifeguard Shauni McClain, Erika is still quizzed about her time on set to this day.

Last year, she admitted playing a beach beauty, famed for her red swimsuit, was much harder than she was given credit for.

The actress and model now has a more alternative style. Picture: Mega Agency

“Running on sand is really hard,” she told UPI. “Running in and out of the water is really hard.

“It doesn’t always look cool, either, so trying to make it look good and do it well is definitely not easy. I don’t think anybody ever thought any of it was hard.”

Not only did the cast need to look good and be super fit, they also needed to learn emergency first aid skills such as cardiopulmonary resuscitation.

While Baywatch is now most famously linked to Pamela Anderson as C.J. Parker in the mid-’90s, original beach babe Erika still has a cult following.

Erika is best known for playing Shauni McClain, seen here on set in the 90s with co-star Billy Warlock. Picture: Alamy

She previously told Media From the Heart that her decision to leave the show came organically after it changed direction.

“Originally, this was written as a serious look at lifeguarding. As soon as it changed and became a music montage show, it was so lovely, but for me, it was time to go,” she explained.

“I will say I had really strong storylines the second year, which was great.

“And I did get some juicy parts, but the show became something else. So for me, it was no longer where my heart was.”

Erika attended the premiere of the special Baywatch: Moment in the Sun screening in Santa Monica last August. Picture: Michael Tullberg/Getty Images

Erika starred in the 1992 film Under Siege with Steven Seagal. Picture: Presley Ann/Getty Images

Immediately after her exit from Baywatch in 1992, she starred in action flick Under Siege, alongside Steven Seagal.

Breaking out in the way Pamela Anderson famously wanted to with her 90s flop Barbed Wire, Erika played fictional Playboy star Jordan Tate, who helped bring a hijacked battleship under control.

Feature films The Beverly Hillbillies and Chasers followed, before she became a fixture on reality TV with shows The Real Gilligan’s Island and Celebrity Fit Club.

Erika joined the likes of co-stars Carmen Electra and Nicole Eggert at the Disney Entertainment Television Summer TCA Press Tour panel in July 2024. Picture: Disney/RICH POLK

The actress said she left Baywatch in 1992 after three years because her heart wasn’t in it anymore. Picture: Disney/RICH POLK

The twice married mum-of-one struggled with an eating disorder and abused laxatives before going on the VH1 show.

Thankfully, she has overcome her issues and also shed her clean cut image for a more alternative look.

Though Erika began getting tattoos in the ’90s, her colourful arm inkings were only completed in the last few years.

She explained: “Most of my sleeve work is probably within five years. It’s been a work in progress over the years of starting and stopping, so not really consecutive.”

This article originally appeared in The Sun and was reproduced with permission

Originally published as Former Baywatch and Playboy star, 55, rocks different image 36 years after finding fame on hit series